Sex & the Children

On the news was a story about Sexting. It is a whole new craze among young people. They send nude pictures of themselves to each other.

The reason why I am blogging about this is for a number of reasons.
1) A tweeter, tweeted that because of Sexting we should ban Facebook & Blackberry BBM.
2) A while ago there was a story about a young girl who posted a video on YouTube before committing suicide. her name was Amanda Todd.

It is so easy to blame social media, but what about the programmes that they watch.
All programmes aimed at young people, especially those heading into puberty, are so highly focused on dating, sex & being attractive.



This report by Channel 4 News, despite the increase of smartphone technology in the hands of young people, the times have changed. I am not saying that this is a good thing, far from it.
This report indicates that we (adults) have forgotten that we are putting the pressure on young teenagers to be more sexual explorative. We have programmes like Skins, Hollyoaks & even the movies, that portray so much sex, that it is impossible for young people to escape the pressures.

I enjoy my online social networking, but I don't think that it is the problem in regards to Sexting & young people becoming promiscuous.

This story worries me, because people have such low self-esteem & this will cause much more in the way of esteem issues. One of the young guys on the New Report stated that relationships are now formed on whether the girl who has sent a picture of her body has a nice body & that indicates whether they want to date her. It is not based on what is inside.
This will cause an increase in young people (male or female) who have eating disorders, or any body image issue.

The idea that the PSHE teacher Sarah Mills has in regards to a website, is a very good idea, as it answers the questions that young people need answers to & educates them via the medium that they have become accustom to.

One thing that has got me worried though, is my use of smiley's, which have taken on a new meaning after the report.
I will not repeat it, but if you watch the Channel 4 report closely, you'll know what I mean...




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Because We Can

Life is short, but some people take life for granted. In this world there are people who don't have the luxury to take life for granted because they are spending their day trying to survive.

Living in the western society we are so ignorant to the third world, despite we are shown images everyday. We see the Oxfam, UNICEF & other charity advertisement, but have we become desensitised?
Charity has become a fad, we do it to make ourselves feel that we are giving back to society. Pretending that we care, but do we really understand the problems some people face? I don't think so!



We protest for free money to live, when we have the 'choice' of going out to work. We moan about how much money we earn, but we earn much more than some countries citizens.
Looking at what some people's daily life consists of can we appreciate what we have? We live day-to-day without incident. Children going to school isn't a trek through a mine field, getting water isn't a matter of life or death & we get free medical care services which is not an issue to get to as we have ambulance services. Bearing this in mind, how to you face life situations?

The Meaning of Christmas

About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David's town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant. While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel. (Luke 2:1-7 MSG)

Christmas is a celebration of life, the life of Christ. We respect all religious celebration, but those that are Christian are regarded as a commercial holiday.

Christmas is a time to celebrate a birthday, but we seem to celebrate by giving expensive presents to each other without understanding the real reason for the giving. We all have a birthday that we celebrate & receive gifts, but Christmas needs to be more than selfishness. We need to start to think about those that are alone, homeless or poor. They have nothing & will receive nothing over Christmas, because they are forgotten.

While enjoying Christmas try to remember those that are usually forgotten & if you have made more than enough food for your guests, maybe find a local homeless shelter & give them some of the food that would otherwise be thrown away.

Question: Do you know the real meaning of Christmas? Or is it just another holiday to get more stuff?

Significant

Women of all ethnicity need to feel beautiful. I have seen photos of women in Africa who have had their faces mutilated, lips & noses cut off. Women from all walks of life taken from their family & sold on the streets. Women staying in abusive relationships because they think they can't meet anyone better.

There are so many charities that focus on building up women & there is no surprise as to why. One thing that is clear is that these charities are very obscure. Not highly publicised.

There are so many women in need of support, who have seemingly "normal" lives. It is so easy to wear a mask, walk around as though everything is alright, even when it is not. As women we need to be aware that there are places to go for support & comfort.



It is hard to trust, especially Jesus. He is not here to see, to speak, to hug, but trusting him is all you have. There is a story in the Bible about a woman Jesus cured. She was seen by all as a nothing. This woman was to become a world famous name, known by many. Her name was Mary Magdalene, she was the first person Jesus appeared to when he rose (Mark 16:9/10; John 20:1; John 20:11-18). The honour of being the first to see the risen king was given to woman, in the time of the Bible this was clearly significant, as women were & still are in some places deemed lesser beings than men, but The Lord & Saviour of mankind gave a privilege this great to a woman.



Women need to start building each other up. Show support to one another. Love is so easy to expect, but so hard to give. Show love to another women in your life that you don't particularly want to, it will be hard, but if you can do that, then you can expect to receive love.