What is your freedom?

When you feel that you are free?

Read the two articles below and jot down the main points based on facts and opinion:

Children in Harmful Professions

By Adya Tiwari

Today in our country, only 40 per cent of the total children go to school. What about the other 60 per cent of the children? What do they do? The answer would shock many. The bulk of our child population is employed in hazardous and menial jobs. We see them in hotels and dhabas (roadside eateries) as waiters, working in factories and in houses as domestic help.

The government has laid down no provision for them. Some of them, who are not even lucky to get a job, earn their living as rag pickers, sweepers, toilet cleaners etc. This is their age to read, write, play, go to school etc., but it is not so. They should also have an equal right to education and comfortable living as the other 40 per cent of the children have. 

Take the example of Shravan Kumar who is employed in a fireworks factory. He is only 12 years of age. He makes crackers, bulbs, electric rods etc. This is the age to play, read and write, but he is helpless. He has a mother and four sisters to provide for. There are thousands of children like him who need attention and love.

The children are the future citizens of our country. If the bulk of our child population is in this pathetic condition, our country can't progress. It is a bad example of our society and country. It is now up to us to do something for these children. We should co-operate with the government in finding a solution to this problem. It is a grave matter, which merits immediate attention.

Adapted from: http://www.pitara.com/community/upage/articles/

Article

What Freedom means to me...

Compiled by Parul Dewan; Illustration by Shinod AP

Freedom means many things to many people. When we spoke to some children in the age group of 8 to 14, we were amazed to learn the different meanings they gave to that one word 'freedom'. Here they put their ideas exactly the way their thoughts arose in their minds... 

Radhika Jain (8 years)

·         "I don't have to study."

·         "Being able to watch my favorite channel Star Plus, Cartoon Network whenever I like."

·         "Cycling in the morning instead of going to school."

·         "Eating as many ice creams as I want."

·         "Going for school tours. Only 4th and 5th class students go for tours. We 3rd class students are not allowed."

·         "Not getting up early in the morning."

Saloni (11 years)

• "Doing what I like but should be right...
• I will never do anything bad against rules like corruption.
• I won't go against the government rules but only if the rules are right. Out of 100 percent if 80 percent say a rule is bad then it.

Damini Bansal (14 years)

• "Freedom is something different in everybody's way of thinking - a student would probably like to raise a revolt against all the obnoxious rules of his or her school and as a grown up one might want to have lesser responsibilities i.e. being free of all reponsibilities.
• "Freedom according to me is the power bestowed in me to make some of my life's decisions on my own. But as always this lucrative "freedom" comes with the arduous tag of doing it right."  "I know it never comes easy but atleast I didn't have to struggle with the enemy as much as my elders needed to and I'm glad to have it that way.
• "And this Independence Day will be a lot more different than our first one in 1947 when people actually came to know what it was like to be free, for them it was the dawn of a new day, it was a day when they could do what they felt was right and did not need to worry about the conequences of their acts in the near future. "
• "We have come far from all of this, we now no longer see the Independence Day as a day of very great importance -for the students of my class (and most of the children of my age) the most important value is that it is a holiday."
• "It is shocking but it is true the perception of freedom has changed over the years and one shudders to think about what will be its state some 20 odd years from now."
• "Will people misuse their freedom or will they achieve greater heights? These questions will continuously plague our mind."

Arihant Jain (12 years)

• "We can do anything we want like not going to school."
• "Everything should be free. We should not pay money to buy anything."
• "Can go anywhere I want... to the playground when exams are on."
• "Chatting on phone as long as I want."
• "To eat dinner outside everyday."
• "In school being able to play sports and not study."
• "Flying Kites."
  
  Sujeet (11 years)

• "Political Independence- final throw of the British from India."
• "Generally having proper rights."
• "Not having any studies at all."
• "Independence day is a holiday when I can do whatever I like."

Adapted from: http://www.pitara.com/community/upage/articles/

SOCIAL PROBLEMS AMONG TEENAGERS

Dear pupils,
Read the following extract and comment:

     " A social problem is a condition that at least some people in a community view as being undesirable. Everyone would agree about some social problems, such as murders and DWI traffic deaths. Other social problems may be viewed as such by certain groups of people. Teenagers who play loud music in a public park obviously do not view it as a problem, but some other people may consider it an undesirable social condition. Some nonsmokers view smoking as an undesirable social condition that should be banned or restricted in public buildings.

      Every newspaper is filled with stories about undesirable social conditions. Examples include crime, violence, drug abuse, and environmental problems. Such social problems can be found at the local, state, national and international levels.

      There are many social problems that teenagers go threw.  Drugs and Teenagers Drug use is the increasing problem among teenagers in today’s high schools. Most drug use begins in the preteen and teenage years, these years most crucial in the maturation process. During these years adolescents are faced with difficult tasks of discovering their self identity, clarifying their sexual roles, assenting independence, learning to cope with authority and searching for goals that would give their lives meaning. Drugs are readily, adolescents are curious and venerable, and there is peer pressure to experiment, and there us a temptation to escape from conflicts. The use of drugs by teenagers is the result of a combination of factors such as peer pressure, curiosity, and availability. Drugs addiction among adolescents in turn leads to depression and suicide.

      One of the most important reasons of teenage drug usage is peer pressure. Peer pressure represents social influences that effect adolescents, it can have a positive or a negative effect, depending on person’s social group and one can follow one path of the other. We are greatly influenced by the people around us.

      According to the lecturer from Faculty of Leadership and Management (FKP), Islamic Science University of Malaysia (USIM), Madam Marina Muneera Abdul Muttalib said that, in today’s schools drugs are very common, peer pressure usually is the reason for their usage. If the people in the social group use drugs there will be pressure a direct or indirect pressure from them. A person may be offered to try drugs, which is direct pressure. Indirect pressure is when someone sees everyone around him using drugs and he might think that there is nothing wrong with using drugs. Person might try drugs just to fit in the social norms, even if a person had no intentions of using drugs one might do it just to be considered “cool” by his friends."



Posted by: fizyaa | April 3, 2008

Welcome to iEARN Journalism 2.0

I and Ms Fatima Shakaiba Zakir(SM) welcome the YOUNG JOURNALISTS (grade 6ths students) who are now the part of Journalism 2.0 iEARN.The countries we will be collaberating with are educators in Ecuador, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Thailand and their peers in the United States.
Ms. Dina Guirguis the Grants Program Coordinator, from iEARN USA informed the participants that iEARN in all participating countries are expanding its successful high school journalism education program to engage young leaders who are eager to understand and to have a voice in local and national events and communities. iEARN’s GCE will feature: youth journalism certification course, English language learning support; community action projects; professional development and mentoring workshops; summer internships at media outlets; online and print school newspapers; and global classroom-to-classroom teleconferences. Participants will use cutting-edge journalism tools and social media to create, produce, publish and distribute news stories to a national and global audience.
During the next 18 months of the program, iEARN Pakistan which is a program of Society for International Education will organize “Reporting Labs,” in some of the participating schools with training, tools and resources to conduct their journalism education programs. As part of the program students will be able to design, conduct and compare observations and coverage of their local social, political and community activities and share stories through multiple interactive platforms and social media.