Emily's Blog about Incest...

http://mrsbrightsideemilyyy.blogspot.com/2010/04/incest.html

Without saying anything about how I feel, when searching 'Incest' into Google, I felt absolutely sickened by the site that was titled, "Incest Sex Site", vile.

I really don't think that there can be ANYONE who agrees with Incest! And unlike any of my blogs, I can't really find the words to write a positive side of it :S

Yet a few times now, I have read in magazines storys about people being in Love with their parent, or with their sibling. Personally, the thought of it makes me want to throw up.

If there are kids produced with the incest relationship, they could suffer all sorts of problems, there are also a lot of health issues with kids from an incest relationship if the cell becomes mutated.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Does_incest_cause_birth_defects - If a couple aren't related, there is a 3-7% chance of birth defects, however if they are related, there is a 51% chance.


Emily's blog mentioned the Josef Fritzl case, which totally shocked me. I'm sure I wasn't the only one shocked by this story when it was published in the media.


Here is a story of incest that happened in Sheffield - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheffield_incest_casehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheffield_incest_casehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheffield_incest_case, the Father raped his two daughters, and fathered 9 children between them both.

Vicki's post on Porn..

http://vickimcconnell.blogspot.com/2010/04/pornography.html - Vicki will be glad to know; she's not the only person who isn't bothered or turned on by porn. I've never once thought, Oh tonight I really fancy watching a bit of porn! I just don't see the point. I do agree with her that it does seem to be more males who enjoy watching it or looking on the internet, but maybe some girls are just too embarassed to admit it?

http://internet-filter-review.toptenreviews.com/internet-pornography-statistics.html - Every 39 minutes, a porn film is made in the U.S for the porn viewers outthere to enjoy...

The pornography business is one of the biggest businesses in the world, up there with the likes of Microsoft and Yahoo.

As I said before, I've never seen the point in it and have cringed at the thought of watching two (or maybe more) people behaving in that way, and I know some people who have been in relationships and have introduced porn into their sex lives, I know if that was me I would just start laughing! It doesn't seem right getting turned on by other people having sex.

Barmy Armyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!

I love football, this may be odd for me being a proper girly girl into her make up, clothes and Louis Vuitton, but I'm a season ticket down the Molineux. Part of the reason why I enjoy it so much is because of the fact that I go with my Dad, Uncle & Brother, and I see it as a bit of a day out. However I guarentee you could ask some of the fans and they would say they love fighting for their team. Ok i feel passionate about Wolves, I love to see them win, hate to see them lose. That's as far as it goes. I would never put myself in danger for the club!



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subway_Army - The Subway Army; WWFC's famous hooligan brand.



Going away to the Baggies when I was younger was the first time I ever really experienced the dangerous side of football. The police were there with their cameras recording us, I felt so wierd, as if I was already a prisoner or something, even though I'm completely harmless. Anolther experience I had was when Cardiff came down to Molineux and the away fans started to fight amongst themselves at half time, how strange is that? The police stormed in with their dogs (which are enough to put me off the idea of fighting!)

I couldn't even start to think about what to say about this picture, but I wouldn't mind putting a few quid on the fact that he'll be fighting for his club when he's older! However, as he is so young, I can see that some kids may be influenced by their parents when they go to the match. Luckily, my Dad goes into complete tunnel vision and doesn't say a word from kick off until half time, which wierdly I prefer to him swearing and everything, it takes the fun out of it I think.

3,172 fans were banned from seeing their favourite football team forever in the season of 2007-08 and that just makes me think, is it really worth it?

http://paddytheflea.wordpress.com/2009/12/23/the-hooligan-stats-wolves-are-sheep-in-comparison/ - This shows that Wolves have the highest number of fans banned from games - a total of 98.

Domestic Abuse

This is something that I can never ever ever imagine being involved with or imagine how it feels. Yet in our society there are so many people in relationships who are being abused but feel like they can't talk to anyone or are too scared to talk to anyone about it.

However in my opinion, I feel like it is something that is brushed under the carpets in our country, even though it really shouldn't be. Some people only think that it is women who are abused in their relationships, forgetting that there are also men being abused everyday. To be honest, I wouldn't have really been so alarmed by it if I hadn't witnessed a girl walk on to the famous Jeremy Kyle show and completely wack her boyfriend, it so shocked me! It really made me think.

I don't even think how somebody could hurt someone that they 'Love'.

Publically, Chris Brown hit Rihanna, leaving her with visible injurys, but he blamed his behaviour on his abusive father when he was younger, but personally I don't think there's any excuse, everyone is responsible for their own actions!

http://womensissues.about.com/b/2009/02/13/rihanna-and-chris-brown-bring-teen-dating-abuse-and-domestic-violence-out-in-the-open.htm This article shows that even though it was a horrible thing that happened to Rihanna, abuse can happen to anyone.

http://www.womensaid.org.uk/domestic_violence_topic.asp?section=0001000100220036&sectionTitle=Statistics - Here are some statistics about domestic abuse, disgustingly, two women are killed a week due to Domestic Abuse.

DANGEROUS driving!

Seeing as everyone has been doing blogs and responses on Drunk Driving, I'd like to do a blog on just dangerous driving in general, because I don't think that some idiots have to be drunk to think that they are Lewis Hamilton!

I've drove around some days, and even though I'm not one to swear, some drivers wind me up so much that I do have to f and blind sometimes!

Driving home one night at 11, a car overtook me, jumped a red light and then sped of at a silly speed. Now I'm not saying that everyone should drive around at 30mph 24 hours of the day, but I definately think that there is a line and some people must love to cross it and drive around at 100mph!

Another thing that has always confused me also, is why even though people aren't allowed to talk on their phone whilst driving, we can get away with smoking, drinking and messing with ipods whilst driving? Surely they all require the driver to take their eyes off the road and one hand off the wheel too, just like driving!

http://www.articlesbase.com/insurance-articles/dangerous-driving-the-harsh-reality-617689.html - This article backs up my point that the most dangerous thing on the roads isn't talking on the phone or tiredness, it is speeding. However, it has been proven that since the mobile phone law has been enforced, there have been less incidents on the road, http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=1208.

Like I said before, I don't think that everyone should be driving round at an annoyingly slow pace, or it would just work us drivers up, however I think What is the point in driving around like a maniac? It just makes you look silly, and you would look 3798753897 times more silly if you hit someone over....

Volcanoes behaving Badly...

This is something that I totally wouldn't care about if I wasn't affected by it, but unfortunately my parents were stuck in New York almost double the time they should have been there, leaving me with an empty house and a lot of boredom.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/15/iceland-volcano-eruption-ash-earthquake

Personally, I think that there was a total lack of organisation by the air companies. Fair enough, the ash cloud was there and they couldn't do anything about it, but my mom and dad were stuck in New York not knowing when they were going to come home. Luckily enough, they had nothing at home that they were tied down to, unlike some people who had jobs, weddings etc that they needed to get back for. Now they don't know if they will be paid any compensation for the time that they have spent there completely fed up with nothing to do!

Emily's Blog on Procrastinating...

http://mrsbrightsideemilyyy.blogspot.com/2010/04/every-students-enemy-procrastination.html

Being a student at the end of the semester, I can totally understand where Emily is coming from putting off her essays till last minute. Nowadays there are so many distractions for us students whilst doing essays, need I say the f word? Facebook. Half the time you find yourself not even doing anything on it, yet its so addictive!?! And the facebook group, "Call me Mr.Facebook, I can make your grades drop" proves my point. So thank you Mr Facebook for making me sit at my computer watching peoples' status updates when my essays sitting there and it won't write itself.

But for some reason students seem to have this attitude that they hate their essays hanging over them (because lets face it, we'd all rather just get into our pj's and watch tv) yet they put it off and off until the midnight before the essay is in!

http://www.quotegarden.com/procrastination.html - Here are some quotes submitted by students, all rather funny but oh so true!

I do see the side of some people who leave it till the last minute though, because most people work better under pressure, as Emily admits to herself.

95% of people are prone to procrastination and 20% of people are chronic procrastinators. Good Luck to them!

Steph's Blog on Theft

http://misshadley-stephyyyy.blogspot.com/2010/04/stealing.html



Personally, I can't believe that I haven't already done a blog on stealing. Unlike some of the topics that I have done a blog on, I don't see any side of it that could be excused. When I was in year 9, I had my mobile phone stolen while I was in a P.E lesson. The thing that upset me wasn't that I lost my phone, it was the principle that that was my property and that someone had gone through my bag intentionally to steal my phone, I wanted to find the person who stole it just so that I could say, "Get your own phone, you scrubber!"

As I said before, it can never be excused and I could never imagine doing it myself, I'd be too scared! In relation to my other blogs, I also see it as a form of backstabbing. You're going behind someone's back and stealing their property.

One thing that I have always said would terrify me would be waking up in the middle of the night and seeing someone raiding through your wardrobes.

Another form of theft is identity theft, which seems to be growing more and more common nowadays, it even happened to one of my best friends when her card was cloned at a petrol station's cashpoint!



http://www.spamlaws.com/id-theft-statistics.html


I do think that there should be more to help cut down theft, however whatever you do, I think it's in the person that they are able to steal without feeling guilty and this is something that you can't change.

Mean Girl?

One of my all time favourite films of all time is Mean Girls, and you know why? Because of all the bitchy quotes and comments that prop up here and there and even though it is an extreme immitation, it reflects secondary school life so much! Bitch, Bitch, Bitch.

I don't think there's one person out there who has never said a bitchy comment about someone, with it being their hair, clothes, shoes, make up, you name it... we've all been there! If there's one person who says they haven't, they're lying.

The Definition of Bitchy; http://www.thefreedictionary.com/bitchy

However, I believe that having a bitch once in a while doesn't make you a bitch, and the quote from Cady in Mean Girls proves it...

"I know it may look like I had become a bitch, but that's only because I was acting like a bitch."

Steph's Blog on Gambling...

http://misshadley-stephyyyy.blogspot.com/2010/04/gambling.html

Steph's blog about gambling mentioned how she was shocked that bingo was classed as gambling, yet I think that these are the forms of gambling that can be most addictive. Even when I go on the machines atdown the pub, I end up putting about £5 in them, but never win anything and end up wasting valuable money that could be spent on pints! But I do think, that if i ever did win, I would want to play again and again and again. I can see how the vicious circle works.

People all over the world are in debt because of their Love for gambling, and I do know of people who have gambled their way out of marriages. I don't see anything wrong with a bit of fun, eg. doing the lottery, going to bingo or putting a bet on at the football match, but I think when the numbers get into triple figures, you're in trouble!

Here are some facts and more info about gambling;
http://www.overcominggambling.com/facts.html

Sex, Drugs & Rock n' Roll. Role Models?

Growing up with my brother idolising Kurt Cobain was a scary experience for me being a 5 year old girl... Walking into his room with his music blaring and him shouting at me the moment I stepped foot into his swamp was some sort of terrifying moment for me. Yet I'm certain that around that time, my brother was not the only young, adolescent, hormonal male who was going through this stage with Kurt being his King, Hero & Role Model.

However, it's not only Kurt Cobain that has had this sort of influence of people of all ages, there are people in the media such as Amy Winehouse, Katy Price, Bob Marley, David Beckham and John Terry who inspire and influence people in their lives. Yet the question that needs to be asked is is this a good thing for these people? Especially looking at Amy Winehouse, people who see her as a role model have witnessed her on a downhill slope, but are they still inspired by her actions? Where does the obsession stop? Do they want to live her lifestyle full of drugs and alcohol binges also?

Reading the paper the other day, I found an article where a girl had plastic surgery to look like Katie Price (Jordan). Now personal opinion, but I would never want to look like that. However this girl had spent thousands of pounds trying to look like her role model and with the downfall of Katie Price, came the downfall of this young girls happiness, with people hurling abuse at her in the streets. In my opinion, this is an inspiration taken too far.

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/showbiz/785661/I-paid-85k-to-look-just-like-Jordan-and-everyone-despised-me.html

I do believe it is ok to have a role model, however sometimes taking it too far could cause problems. Celebrity circles and 'normal' circles are very different and celebrities live completely different lives to normal people, yet somehow seem to get away with it.

Vicki's Blog on Drinking..

http://vickimcconnell.blogspot.com/2010/04/binge-drinking_22.html

I completely agree with what Vicki said about there being 'bigger problems' in the world than people going out on the razz once a week. However, I do believe that it is where problems could start. For example, I used to be able to go out and not drink but still have a good time, but now I look forward to going out and getting drunk. I'm not saying I'm alcoholic, but its what I do... and I'm sure I'm not alone! I think it's harmless going out and getting a bit messy! You pay the price the next day!

After having been drinking on a regular basis for a while now though, I know what drinks I should avoid. Take wine for example, I know that I'll most definately have a banging headache the next morning if I drink it.

However, recently I went up town and drove up. I went to Walkabout and I was completely sober, and I was actually cringing at the way that some people were acting once they had a few drinks down there neck! I sat there thinking, Oh god I hope I don't look like this! It is true that some people completel change once they've had a drink. The quietist and most shy person could become a violent person once drunk and like Vicki said, this is when the trouble starts.

http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs04/r216.pdf

After reading that ^, I discovered that women are at most risk of being sexually abused when they are drunk or when their other half is drunk, which shows the dangerous sides of a few cheeky drinks up town.

Sweetest Drug...

In the news its hard not to hear health risks to do with certain types of food. Nowadays nearly everything can increase your chances of having cancer.

I personally, find myself addicted to Diet Coke, I cannot go a day without at least 2 or 3 cans. Yet even though it only has 1 calorie per can, and hardly any sugar or fat, it is still seen as something dangerous to people's health. Here is part of a forum with men talking about the risks that come with Diet Coke;

http://www.menshealth.co.uk/chatroom/topic/313259

But I believe that if you enjoy something, why shouldn't you eat or drink it? We can't all just go round eating what the government suggest, or we'd be going round eating salad leaves. I think there are worst things that you could be addicted to, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes which are all much more dangerous for one's health, so why can't we indulge in our favourite treats now and again?

Emily's Blog on Homophobia.

http://mrsbrightsideemilyyy.blogspot.com/2010/04/being-gay-being-bad_17.html

Everything Emily said about being homosexual and homophobics. Reading about her best friend truly shocked me and I couldn't believe the actions that the parents took when her best friend came out about being gay, but I'm sure that they aren't the first parents, family members or friends to be acting this way,

http://www.thesite.org/sexandrelationships/sexuality/exploration/whencomingoutgoeswrong

I'm glad, however, that homosexuality has become more socially acceptable in our society, but I still think that there could be more acceptance for homosexuals.

Personally, I don't know how my parents would act if any of my siblings or I came out as being homosexual, yet I'm sure that they wouldn't be as strongly opinionated as the parents that Emily was talking about in her blog. At the end of the day, parents, family and friends should have unconditional Love.

I also strongly agree with the point she made that if you are completely comfortable with your sexuality, you are able to joke and mess about about being homosexual and you wouldn't mind being around homosexuals either.

I am always unsure what to say when people say "Are you born gay or do you turn gay?" I remember being about 6 and saying I wanted to marry Ronan Keating and to be honest, I still wouldn't turn him down, but I wonder if there are any boys who said the same thing at the age of six, or if there any girls who said that and then now say that they would love to marry Beyonce? Its a question that could possibly never be solved.

A celebrity who I strongly admire is Stephen Gately, who passed away last year, as he was the first member of a boyband to come out as homosexual and at the time he was proper slated for it, but looking back he will always be admired for it. It is strange how the times have changed, because now it seems 'cool' to be a celebrity and be either homosexual or bisexual, Lindsay Lohan being an exceptional example of this, one day dating a man, next day being engaged to a female. The confusion will never end.

Discrimination.

There are so many different types of discrimination happening in all sorts of areas. Such as the workplace, school, sports clubs etc. Even though it isn't as strong as it was a few years maybe decades ago, there are still people being discriminated for their sex,age,race or disibility. In my opinion, despite any of these things that may make these people in the slightest bit different, I still think that people should get fair chances to do what they want to do in life.


Clearly, the government believe in this aswell, as it is now against the law to discriminate people in the workplace;

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/ResolvingWorkplaceDisputes/DiscriminationAtWork/DG_10026557

Yet there are still some bosses who think that to get the best performace in their business, they need to choose the best people and they have an idea of who they want to employ.

http://www.urbanministry.org/sexism-and-gender-discrimination-statistics

Comedians? How about No...

I am the first person to put on a dvd of Peter Kay when I need cheering up, yet there are some comedians who I have never found funny, because of their racst remarks. There are comedians such as Peter Kay and Michael McIntyre who just make people laugh just by pointing out funny moments that happen in everyday life, for example Peter Kays wedding dance. Genious.

However I can never quite understand how some people can sit and laugh at a man standing on a stage being completely racist.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1972565.stm

Reading that article, it's clear that I'm not the only person who believes that the racist jokes aren't funny. Peter Kay is proof that you can be funny without making fun of other races.

A comedian that was famous for his racist jokes was Bernard Manning;

Emily's Blog about Abortion....

http://mrsbrightsideemilyyy.blogspot.com/2010/04/abortion.html

I thought that this poem was so emotional, yet so true... and all of the reasons why I don't think that I could ever have an abortion. Firstly, because of being Catholic it is in my religious beliefs, it is seen as a form of murder, Secondly, I've been brought up by my family to not agree with abortion, yet never get myself into a situation where I would need an abortion and finally, reading Emily's poem, all of those reasons. Reasons why I could never do it. For me, there are always better choices. Finding out that there are around 42 million abortions a year makes me feel sick, including other statistics that I read,

http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsStatistics/DH_099285

Tattoos, Being Bad?

Honestly, I can't understand why tattoos are seen as Being Bad. I wouldn't mind having one myself. It's never quite been understood by me why having a visible tattoo could decrease your chances of getting a job either.

For me, tattoos look nice. I don't have a problem with them. The best part of New Moon was the scene of Jacob Black walking in the rain with his new image, including his tattoo.

Also, the tattoos on David Beckham make him 10 times as beautiful (if that's possible);

So why is it that tattoos are sometimes frowned upon in the society?

After reading this article, I can understand the girl's point of view,

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/5079470.stm

Surely if you are discriminated for your tattoos it is the same as being discriminated for your race, gender etc. Just like piercings or plastic surgery, it is the persons choice if they want a tattoo, but these wouldn't make people turn you away from a job interview. Personally, I think that it is stereotypical behaviour. Just because someone has a tattoo, it doesn't say anything about their personality, just that they want to be more individual and stand out from the crowd, which to me isn't a bad thing.

Social Networking.

I can't go a day without going on Facebook and see whats happening with people, whether it be people making up, breaking up or putting up pictures from parties. I love putting pictures up from nights out and I can gaurentee that throughout a night out someone will say, "These pics have gotta go up on Facebook asap!" Going out without a camera now seems odd, and personally I think if social networking sites such as Facebook or Myspace didn't exist for us to put our pictures on, we wouldn't even take a camera out with us!

But where does the social networking go too far? I have my profile set as private, but there are some people who's pages are accessible to anyone out there, and in my opinion that's really creepy.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/mar/08/peter-chapman-facebook-ashleigh-hall

Reading that story makes you realise that you can't really trust anyone, part of the reason why I don't accept 'Random Adds', as you don't know who's lurking out there ready to pounce. The poor girl didn't know that he was a convicted peadophile did she? And the frightening thing is that I'm sure he isn't the only one who has done this before, and I'm sure Ashleigh wasn't the first girl to talk to someone who she thought was someone her age, but to find out it was someone probably old enough to be her father! Sickening really.

I think Social Networking sites are good for what I mentioned earlier in the blog, you can catch up with your friends, upload your pictures from nights out and keep in touch with family members who may live abroad, but I do think it is unsafe for vunerable people, who may not fully know or understand the dangers of these sites. But hopefully, as bad as it is, Ashleigh's story has raised awareness that you may not be talking to who you think you are.

Doesn't Cost Much..

Something that I completely hate, hate, hate is a lack of and bad manners! I think the saying is completely true, manners don't cost Anything! I always say please and thank you, and hold doors open, I can't stand it when other people don't, it's just rude I think. Where I work, we hold a play scheme for children during the school holidays and I must say that the children have such poor manners! The way that they order you around clearly shows the way that they behave at home and the lack of education of manners, yet when I was younger, everything I asked, I had to say the 'magic word' else I wouldn't get what I asked for! I do think manners are effected by how you are brought up. If you are brought up around people with good manners, you will also have good manners later on in life.

Another thing that I associate with bad manners is swearing, I rarely swear and I definately don't swear in front of my parents. Even though I am 18 nearly 19, I'm sure they wouldn't be happy. I don't see any need in swearing, there are other ways of showing your anger or irritance, and as for using swear words for every other word in a sentence, that's just annoying!

http://www.wikihow.com/Have-Good-Manners - this webpage has a guide on how to have good manners, even though some of them are a bit far fetched, they have a good idea of what it is to be polite and have good manners.

Celebrity Stalking.

Ok, I am big big big fans of JLS, but not big enough to want to watch their every move or contact them 1 million times a day, personally I think there are better ways to spend your days. But some fans become so obsessed with their celebrity crushes that they want to get in contact with them and sometimes hurt them. That is something that I don't understand, sometimes they want to hurt them and destroy their lives, something that I'd never try and do if I met some celebrity that I was totally obsessing over!

http://investigation.discovery.com/investigation/crime-countdowns/stalkers/stalkers-01.html - Mark Chapman was John Lennon's stalker and ended up killing him.

There are some people who have stalked TWO celebrities, for example, William Lepeska stalked both Anna Kournikova and Scary Spice, which is wierd as the two have no similarities AT ALL. Maybe there is some thrill that they get for following round celebrities and making them scared. Maybe they want the celebrity lifestyle and that's the closest thing to it? Who knows...

Prostitution..

There are two forms of Being Bad to do with prostitution. There is first of all, the male just using the woman for sex and secondly, this male could be cheating on his partner with this prostitute.




In a way, I feel sorry for prostitutes. I don't see how one part of their job can be enjoyable. The thought of kissing some of the vile slimy men who must come to visit them makes me sick, so I don't know how they must feel having to take things further. However, I do accept that when times are hard and they have a family to cater for, I admire them for what they put themselves through to supply for their family.



However, I do believe that their are countries where Prostitution is higher and much more common, I must say that I haven't seen many prostitutes where I live.

Reading some statistics though, I saw that there was another worse side to prostitution that we are all unaware of (or maybe it was just me!)

These were the statistics of prostitutes to do with rape:

Raped more than five times: 73%

As a child, was hit or beaten by a caregiver until injured or bruised: 49%

Sexually abused as a child: 65-95%

Another thing that was so shocking was that 32% of prostitutes had been made to do something that they didn't want to do.

More of the statistics that were equally as shocking are on this page - http://powerhouse-ministry.org/annielobert_prostitution.aspx

Surely there are safer and less torturting ways to make money for their family than have to go through this everyday?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1462628.stm - This article tells us that there is now a new form of prostitution; Child Prostitution. Personally, all I have to say on this matter is, It's not right or fair!

Betrayal...

Everyone at some point in their life has been betrayed by someone they loved and trusted. Whether it be a partner, friend or family member. It could be from telling someones secret to having a 2 year affair.

The wikipedia definition is - the breaking or violation of a presumptive social contract, trust, or confidence that produces moral and psychological conflict within a relationship amongst individuals, between organizations or between individuals and organizations.

Personally, I have been betrayed by both a best friend and a boy in one go, but i was more hurt by my friend's behaviour than the boy's. I think that it is hard to regrow trust after it's been broken. You have to think that they must not have cared that much if they were willing to stab you in the back like that, me personally, that's what hurt the most.

I have a small group of people who I would say are my true friends and I would or could never do anything that I think would hurt them. However, this makes me think that is it in your blood that you look out for yourself and nobody else? Or like me, do you put other peoples feelings first?

Even though watching Jeremy Kyle makes me think that if the people that go on there are a representation of our country, we are in bad state, I watch it and its covered in betrayal! Boyfriends sleeping with their girlfriend's sister, girls going with their best friend's boyfriend, couples sleeping with other people.

A short story about betrayal - http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewshortstory.asp?id=12852

Can you ever forgive people who have stabbed you right in the back? I don't know....

Bullying.

Between 15 and 25 children commit suicide each year due to being bullying victims and 1 in 10 primary children experience Bullying everyday of the school term. Reading this shocked me so much seeing as school for me was something that I enjoyed everyday and it was somewhere where I have made friends that I hope will be friends for life. However I can't imagine how it must feel to wake up dreading school each day, it must be horrible.

Some statistics on bullying which may also shock you:

http://www.coastkid.org/si-sob.html

Seeing this picture also made me think of the new type of bullying that involves mobile phone cameras. With children bringing their phones everyday to school, it is so easy to humiliate someone by recording or taking pictures of children being bullied and then putting them on social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace.

People jump to think about bullying just at school with young children, however there is also bullying going on in the workplace. Women especially are vunerable to bullying in the workplace, with almost 60% of bullying victims in the workplace being women.

Personally, I think that there should be more laws and more action to be done to stop and prevent bullying in workplaces and schools, especially schools seeing as Education is compulsary for children.

Plastic Surgery.

I saw that in the module guide, we had a lecture on 'Body Modification' coming up. After seeing that and thinking about what it could be, I decided to do a blog on plastic surgery. This is something that has become more and more common with people, especially celebrities. To be honest, I can't see anything wrong with it if it boosts somebody's self confidence and self esteem. I've read many 'real life stories' in magazines about some boob jobs, nose jobs, face lifts or liposuction that have completely changed peoples lifes for the better.




I do think though, that you can go TOO far with surgery. When looking at pictures of 'Bad Plastic Surgery', i didn't think this person was real. I thought it was a barbie doll... but looking up close it is clear that it really is just a bad case of plastic surgery...

People never think of plastic surgery being 'medical' as it can help people who have, for example, been attacked by a dog and their face is damaged. Plastic surgery can remove scars and damage caused by the attack...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tees/8592955.stm

I do see how people can become addicted to getting plastic surgery, like many celebrities. Being a religious viewer of Katie Price's documentaries, it is fair to say and clear to see that she is addicted to going under the needle. You do have to think though, despite all the money in the world and the big houses that some of these people have, they still must have such a low self confidence to want to pay so much money (and so often) to get plastic surgery, as it doesn't come at a cheap price...

Rhinoplasty (A nose job) - £3,000 - £4,000

Breast Enlargement - £3,400 - £5,000

Facelift - £4,200 - £5,800

Liposuction - £1,550 - £5,000

But like any other surgery, there may be another big cost to pay... It can be quite dangerous and the risks are huge;

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/risks-dangers-plastic-surgery.html

This celebrity, Heidi Montag, had 10 surgeries in one day, including, brow lift, botox, ears pinned back, nose job, breast enlargement, chin reduction and liposuction and yet I still think she looked better before.

Praise the Rays....

Seeing as Smoking is seen as a topic that is 'Being Bad' because of the potential health risks, I thought that doing a blog on Sunbeds would be just as acceptable for a Being Bad blog. Even though it's not bad behaviour, it is causing harm to your body and can also become something that people are addicted to. It is also strange for me actually doing a blog about something that I have experienced, along with 3 Million regular sunbed users in Britain.

It is said that twenty minutes on a sunbed is equivalent to a full day abroad on the beach, so the idea of going on seems so attractive because lets face it, everyone looks better with a tan! However, with rises in skin cancer and melanoma in young women, it is obvious that sunbeds are causing trouble to these girls (including myself, I will admit) who could be called "tanorexics". Illnesses associated with UV ray damage are becoming more common than breast cancer in girls, so why aren't there more safety precautions involved in Sunbed use?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1168407/The-tanorexia-timebomb-Sunbeds-blamed-skin-cancer-soars-young-women.html

Unlike smoking, drugs or alcohol, there are no political campaigns or adverts to try and disaude the public to use sunbeds, there are no health risks plastered over the sunbeds, unlike cigarette packets and there are certainly no classes to help people stop with their addiction to Sunbeds.

It is said, however that sunbeds can be good for acne or psoriasis, however the question we really need to ask is it really worth getting Skin Cancer just so we can have a tan?

Vandalism.

When you're on a train journey, the amount of vandalism that you pass on the side of the track grows more and more. Some pieces, better than others.

There are some forms of vandalism which are just, in my opinion, pointless and... crap. For example on the science tables at secondary school you would find the "I Love Katie" or drawings of penis' across the tables, that despite teachers' efforts of painting the tables, it would somehow miraculously reappear. However, when walking through the subway in Chapel Ash, you see plenty of pieces that just like any other piece of art, you can admire. It is clear that the person who has done it has used the piece of art to express their thoughts, feelings and opinions and are trying to get some sort of message across with their art. However, unlike any other type of art, Graffiti is against the law. If you are caught you could be arrested and have to pay a £5,000 fine.

http://www.thesite.org/homelawandmoney/law/yourrights/graffitiandthelaw



This website tells people how to "Start out as a Graffiti Artist", and something that I was unaware of, was that there's websites, magazines and workshops for learning how to do graffiti, so it shows that for some people, Graffiti is a hobbie. Yet, why is it seen as 'Being Bad', when it is a hobbie just like any other, also, Graffiti is a piece of art, just like any other.



It is understandable that the type of graffiti that we see on bus chairs, trains etc. is wrong and yes, that should be against the law and people SHOULD be punished for that sort, however, I believe that there's nothing wrong with a bit of paint and colour splashed across the town and like any other sort of hobbie where there are spaces available for it e.g. Swimming Pools, Tennis Courts, Football Pitches, there should be a place for people to express their thoughts through graffiti without being punished.

Steph's Blog about Lying.

When reading Steph's blog about lying, her views were completely the same as mine that I had recently done an essay on for Being Bad.


http://misshadley-stephyyyy.blogspot.com/2010/02/lying.html

Like she said, we were all told when we are young that lying is bad and that we should always tell the truth. Most of us were also told that our nose would grow like Pinocchio if we lied! But it is true what Steph says that sometimes it is better to lie. There are some times when you tell a lie and everything is forgotten, which it wouldn't be if you told the truth. The example I used in my essay was if you lost an item of clothing that you borrowed, it is easier to lie about what really happened.

However the sort of lying that I am completely against is where you know what you are doing will hurt the person you are lying to (name no names, John Terry), for starters the person shouldn't even get themselves into the position that they should lie about what they are doing, but to lie about it makes the situation worse.

Fair enough, we all tell a white lie here and there, but deceiving people conciously is just "Being Bad".

(If you think you're being lie to, have a look at this - http://www.blifaloo.com/info/lies.php)

Drugs

Who wants to look like this?!

After thursday's lecture, I have been thinking a lot about drugs, more than I've ever thought about them to be honest as they have never been part of my life and I have never been involved in them. I thought that the videos we watched of the LSD experiments (especially the ones with the soldiers) were extremely amusing, however I thought that these videos didn't reflect the 'ugly' truth that comes with Drug use.



The traits that came across with the experiments showed drug abuse to be somewhat, fun with the soldiers laughing, having a joke around, climbing trees and tumbling over. However what we didn't fully look at during the lecture was what happens when the drug taking turns into an addiction, where the person relies on the substances to cope everyday in their life and without it they would not be able to cope.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/article710911.ece

In the media we have seen certain stars in the spotlight suffer from drug abuse, for example Amy Winehouse, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Robbie Williams and so many more. Another one that we could (controversially, maybe?) suggest is Michael Jackson. Obviously, these stars turn to drugs to cope with the pressure of the media, their work load, or private life. I think the suffering of these people being so easy for us to view and access may reflect the harsh reality that there are people out there in the world who's lives are being ruined everyday by drug abuse with the physical effects, mental effects and even the money issues. Also there are the health issues that come with it, e.g. heart and respiratory failure.

So even though you may get 'the buzz' when you try the drug for the first few times, it seems that taking drugs doesn't seem to attractive a few days/weeks/months down the line and for this reason I don't think that drugs should be made legal, there are enough problems with Alcohol and Nicotine addiction that the NHS have to deal with, without more oppurtunities for people to get drugged up everyday, legally. However, I do see the other side of the argument that arose in the lecture debate that if drugs such as cocaine became legal, there wouldn't be such a craze about it, as it wouldn't be seen as a 'cool' thing to do if it's legal.

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Drug-misuse/Pages/Introduction.aspx

Infidelity.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2853658/Ashley-Coles-X-rated-photos-to-girl-number-TWO.html

Even though we have not had a lecture on the topic infidelity on this module yet, it seems impossible to go on the internet or read a newspaper nowadays without reading about celebritys who can't seem to be satisfied with their wife at home! It has become extremely apparent over the past few weeks with the likes of John Terry, Vernon Kay and (in my opinion one of the stupidest/blindest men alive) Ashley Cole! For me, the stories of these men struggling to be happy with the wife they have married is becoming both boring and disgusting.

However when talking about the whole Ashley and Cheryl Cole marriage a few days ago, somebody said to me they can't blame Ashley Cole for cheating as Cheryl Cole is never around for him, but in my opinion this is completely stupid as there are couples all over the world where one person may not be around as much, yet they can still stay loyal and truthful to one another! So why is it so impossible for these football players? It's like they are so used to getting what they want with their ridiculous wage packets that it must be the same when it comes to women and in a recent poll taken by 3000 women, it is obvious that I am not alone with my opinion. Ashley Cole was voted most hated man with John Terry being second,

Ashley Cole

John Terry

Abu Hamza

Tiger Woods

Mikey Carroll

Boris Johnson

Gordon Ramsay

Darren Day

Gordon Brown

Vernon Kay

And what do all the males in bold have in common? They have all cheated on their wives. Point proven I think! :)

Racism

Both my primary and secondary school were multicultural. As a result of this, I've always had friends from many different races, so I've always been against racism and never been racist towards anyone in my life. This makes it difficult for me whenever I am around people being racist towards people, as obviously I am against it.



However, what confuses me is that certain people who can easily make a racist remark are there supporting football teams with black players in, or listening to rappers such as Jay-Z or 50 Cent. In a way, I think that this is good as it is adding diversity into society and it is because of these singers and sports stars that there is less racism about. Even though I do think that there is less racism about than there might have been 10 or 15 years ago, it is clear that there is still racism about. I often attend football matches and still even in today's society, it is obvious that there are still racist opinions about. Another time when racism in football was evident was when England played Spain and the Spanish fans were hurling racist abuse at England player Sean Wright-Phillips,

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4024167.stm

Despite plenty of campaigns from the Government to help cut down racism in society and in sport, it is obvious that there is still racism present, however, in my opinion (and I'm sure that I'm not alone on this one), I see the new role of Barack Obama as president as being a great move forward in the world today as he is such a poweful human being and also so influential. I think that looking back over the years to when there was so much discrimination to black people as there is now, it proves that hopefully in years to come racism won't be present in everyday life with more different races being involved in sport, music and politics.

Emily's "Moment on the Lips" Blog.

I completely agreed with everything Emily said in her blog about girls, food, body image and the media.

http://mrsbrightsideemilyyy.blogspot.com/2010/03/moment-on-lips.html

As much as I think that like Emily said it IS a bad thing to over-indulge, there is no reason why girls should be acting the way that they do as Emily witnessed in the youtube video. I do also agree with the fact that the media plays a huge part in girls and their body image with pictures of size zero celebrity's being plastered all over our magazines. Even girls that used to be curvy are getting quite skinny, for example Kelly Osbourne.

Even though some days I do feel fat, I don't think I could ever put myself through what some girls do that are suffering with Bulimia and Anorexia, at the end of the day being skinny isn't the end of the world.


However, we have to ask the question that once the disorder becomes psychological is it really bad behaviour? As it is something that becomes an everyday occurence for them and it is what their life is about. It is also an illness like any other. Ok, the first few times they do it could be 'Being Bad', however when it becomes out of hand and they don't realise how out of control they have become, I dont think it is Bad Behaviour.

Some of the real life stories on this website shocked me:

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/eatingdisorders/Pages/Eatingdisordershomepage.aspx

Masturbation.

One of the first things that striked me when looking at the Being Bad module was that we had a lecture on masturbation but not a lecture on sex. I had never really thought about masturbation in such detail to think why it would be 'Being Bad', but then again IS it Being Bad?









It has not been proven that it can affect your health in a bad way (in fact, it has been proven choking the chicken once in a while can be good for your health; http://http//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3072021.stm) so why is Masturbation still so taboo in society?




It is not often that we see Masturbation on our screens whether it be at the cinema or at home, yet when occasionally it does come on, it seems to make the audience laugh. However when we see a couple having sex, after a certain age you stop laughing. Also, like I previously said about smoking, if a character in a film is seen masturbating, it is often for a reason and to portray that character in a certain way, take Kevin out of Kevin and Perry as an example.

Like in films, Masturbation isn't something that we often talk about in everyday life, take the lecture as an example, there was a lot of giggling and laughing, even though it is still a sexual act that we all take part in, but for years now Masturbation has been something that people see as a bad thing, with people trying to stop people doing it and it not being on our screens, where really we need to admit that nearly everyone does it and it does happen, however much we try and blank it out of our lives.

James Bulger case...

My monday morning this week was quite shocking, as I woke up to This Morning with Holly and Phillip, a story was being covered that I was completely unaware of as I was too young when it first happened. I was shocked after listening to the story that not only was one of the toddler's murderers going back into prison, I was more shocked that he had even been released from prison!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Bulger


Many things shocked me about this story. The first thing was that the two boys were so young, (aged 10), yet still capable of doing something so vile to such an innocent person. The description of what they did to the young child made me feel physically sick, "Facts established at trial show that, at this location, one of the boys threw blue modelling paint on Bulger's face. They kicked him and hit him with bricks, stones and a 22-pound (10.0 kg) iron bar. They then placed batteries in his mouth."

When reading more about the case, I found out that they had been inspired (if that's the right word :S) by watching videos that showed tortures. I was so shocked by this. Firstly, how could they get hold of such a vile form of video, but then why is stuff like this being made and more so, WHY is it being made? I thought that this could in a way be related to "Bad Cinema", even though this what they watched may not have been made to hit the box office, it was still a film being made about such a taboo subject, and in my opinion and surely I'm not alone when I say this type of film should not be made! Also, i was disgusted that they were only punished for their disgusting move for eight years and then their identities were changed. It has been proven that these eight years weren't anywhere near enough seeing as the one murderer John Venables has been sent back down to prison.