Category: Communication

Recently an article was written by Samantha Taylor about teenagers using social media and texting to contact and connect with each other. The article portrays an teenagers using social media as being anti-social. I feel humiliated and very offended and I’m sure other teenagers that viewed your article would feel the same. The article will have an influence on how people look at teenagers.

Yes, there are some negative points about using social media that can be addressed in the article informing teenagers on how to stay safe whilst using it, however, at the same time there are a many positive points about using social media.

To begin with, Jonathan Franzen mentions that teenagers have become a generation that can’t relate face-to-face. With little evidence, Franzen is unable to accurately blame social media for this. As Franzen refers to us as a ‘Generation that can’t relate face-to-face’ he is giving others an impression that he finds teenagers a disgrace as we are changing the generation into an anti-social society. This is unacceptable language to use to describe teenagers. As technology improves giving us easier ways to communicate, we adapt to the technology that we are born into. As technology is forever improving so we will keep adapting to it. This article is quite bias as not every teenagers does and is what is mentioned in it. This gives Franzen no right to talk about the ‘future generation’ as all we are doing is adapting to new technology.

In fact, social media makes it easier for people to socialize with others, (i.e. friends and family) without having to be face to face with them. This is a good thing as they’re able to speak to other people without having to be in same place. Another reason why social media has made a beneficial impact on us, is that we are able to speak to new people that we may have not been able to talk to in person, and if all goes well, manage to meet them whilst following safety terms.

Additionally, the second point that I picked up from the article was when, Samantha mentions an interview on TV with American comedian Louis CK. He mentions that he wouldn’t give his daughters mobile phones for fear they wouldn’t develop empathy. But this is wrong. Very wrong. Social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Skype allows us to communicate through the internet. Youtube is a social network where people can post and watch videos then gather feedback from people from all around the world. This gives different emotions whether the feedback is good or not.  Skype is a good example of how empathy can be linked with social networks. As you are able to video call, this is equivalent to seeing someone face-to-face.

Facebook also can be used as a “noticeboard”. For school, teachers can create a group in Facebook and add the students into it and post a reminder  message for students in the group. With this, students will be reminded when is their upcoming test and study for it and will not miss on any important things because the teacher can pass the message through Facebook and even if the students were absent, he or she will get to know. A teacher could also share and recommend a hyper-link of a web page with the students that may help them to revise. So this isn’t just beneficial with socializing, it is also beneficial for education.

Furthermore, there are undoubtedly disadvantages too such as;  One of the most important of these is the intrusion into the lives of others. Some teenagers are obsessed with social networks.Teenagers who are obsessed to social networks often go online with their phone almost every hour to have their status updated. Some of them even do that during lesson and will affect their studies. But these problems can easily be resolved with help from their parents. For example, their parents taking control of how long they use their social networks.

There are advantages and disadvantages connected with social networks. With the help of parents guidance, social network will be better and safer for teenagers.

Aatif Muhammad

A student at London Nautical School

Many pregnant females have made the decision to have an abortion. An abortion is to kill your baby before it leaves the womb, in other words; to have an operation to end pregnancy. There are many ways why people make this decision. Abortion is wrong, each time it is done an innocent life is being killed.It is exactly like killing a alive person however the only thing that differs is that the unborn child does not have a say on why they should stay alive, and that is why I am here to speak for them!

Think of a beautiful loving child all alone in a dark place, he/she is confused but has it’s mother to protect it from anything, and it does have a clue that something will kill it, and even if it did it does not have any way to stop this from happening.

Many people disagree with abortion, whether their christians, muslim or catholic, the majority of religions disagree with it. Some people believe that abortion is murder and that, once the egg is fertilized it becomes a human being, therefore it is entitled to have all the rights that human beings are entitled to by law. So if abortion is murder then it should be illegal as it is breaking the law. Others may see it as killing a fetus or fertilized egg and may believe that this is just like killing a baby thats been born.

On the other hand some people believe that there is nothing wrong with abortion because it is not mention in the bible as a wrong thing, but of course it isn’t because at the time there was no such thing as abortion. Also the bible may not mention anything about abortion but it does mention “Thou shalt not kill”, this shows us that killing in any form of way is forbidden and should not be done. It does not have to mention anything about abortion for us to know that it is wrong.

Right now you may be thinking about what should women should do if they can’t have an abortion if it became illegal but they are unable to look after the baby or they were raped and they do not want any thing to do with it. But this is why we have social workers, foster carers and adoption centres, to find someone who will look after your child safely and well. You may be thinking that you would not want someone else that you have never met or you don’t know to look after your child. However wouldn’t it be much better to tell them when their older that you were unable to look after them properly so you gave them for adoption or to care, rather than telling them that you were unable to take care of them so you were thinking about have an abortion to get rid of them. Think about how would they feel? They would have to live with the rest of their life knowing that you was thinking about killing them and there would of been nothing they could do about it.

Abortion is wrong, it is murder, there are better alternatives rather than killing your unborn child.

Drivers were aborting their cars and running for their lives, trying to get off the motorway on foot. Turning frantically, cars were trying to prevent themselves from being crushed to death. They were trying to avoid the large tank driving on the wrong side of the road, approaching opposite traffic. It was unstoppable. No one had any idea what to do. What could they do?

At the wheel of the tank, there was Corporal Smith, an ex-Sniper recently diagnosed with post traumatic distress disorder. Raging, he gathered speed, screaming out different names from his past experience in the war. He was trained to fight in war, however this training wasn’t used for war, but his own country, on the civilians.

The civilians were confused. A tank is a military transport, and the military’s job is to protect the people from any life threatening danger. But this tank was attacking innocent people. Why?

The damage and gave Corporal Smith a shiver of thrill as he grinned at his destruction. Some people just managed to escape death as the massive tank was accelerating speed, crushing any abandoned cars in it’s way. Some of the unfortunate ones who were unable to flee from the danger were terminated. People who were at a safe distance from the tank were horrified from the deaths and injuries caused by the Smith. He chuckled with spite as he created more damage on the motorway.

Trailing behind was a disaster. It was almost as if he had left a roadway to hell. The grey toxic smoke from the fires smudged the blue skyline as if i it was a ruined painting. The tracks of the tank left a long deep scar across the demolished road. Aborted cars congested the motorway as if it was a full car park, leaving a pathway that had been made by the tank.

Sobbing, weeping and crying, left in tears as they watched their loved ones killed. Smith dominated the motorway, there was nothing that could match him with that tank. Jeeps and Vans were no use, trucks may have slowed him down but he didn’t stop, once he got through it he quickly gained speed again.

The motorway started becoming empty. Drivers were warned about the attack going on ahead and instantly made U-turns on the opposite side of the motorway, to avoid coming face to face with the tank, knowing they had no chance of surviving. This was not good for Cpl Smith as people were escaping the road, preventing him from doing any damage. He started to operate the main gun, aiming at the cars and people who were trying to scatter away to safety.

Still driving down the wrong side of the road with an aim at the people and cars, the tank fired multiple shots. This caused large explosions and more louder screaming. Smoke covered the area from the fire. People screaming for help and others scrambling away and others running to the tragic scene, trying to save innocent and loved ones who may have had a chance of surviving. Smith aggressively frowned as if it to show that this was only the start…

This still did not satisfy the tank driver as he continued to speed down the motorway. All three emergency services, The Police, Ambulance and Fire Brigade entered the scene including the S.W.A.T Team. The Ambulance service went straight to aid the injured, whilst the police and swat cars/van were trailing behind the tank trying to stop it. Helicopters from the emergency services and news reporters surrounded the chaos at a safe distance.

The tank approached a tunnel, with the emergency services still trailing behind. More emergency services were on the other side of the tunnel with a barricade waiting for the tank, trying to stop it. They were aiming to trap the tank in the tunnel, as if it was a mouse. The tank entered the tunnel, accelerating speed, leaving the emergency services trailing behind it at far distance.

Smith reached the middle of the tunnel with a sharp halt, with knowledge that the other side was barricaded. The Emergency services caught up with the tank and stopped surrounded it. The S.W.A.T  team hoped out their vans, with all body armour and weapons as they walked up to the tank slowly with all guns aimed. Two of them climbed onto the tank opening the entrance. It was empty. The mental and dangerous fugitive, Corporal Smith had gotten away…