At first when i thought of this idea, i immediately told jasmine and we started planning. After a while i thought, what a stupid idea.. what am i doing this for. Today, i gave out the cards and i hope the cards stays by your side for at least 10 years, till we meet again.
I hoped you guys enjoyed reading the cards put together by us and the help of a few of us. (?! sentence structure weird weird)
Thanks and have a good holiday ahead.
Anyway, chalet will most probably be in Jan next year, the week before school reopens. So keep that week available for it :)
Yesterday was the last day of school. It really didnt felt like it. It felt like any other ordinary friday. Why.. Am i the only one who's going to miss having lessons with the class and teachers? Thanks for all the memories you've given me 4D. I will never forget.
Never explain yourself to anyone. Because the person who loves you doesn't need it and the person who dislikes you won't believe it. hy
Eh... since no one has written anything i figured i'd get the ball rolling. Didn't have time to read the books provided by Ms Yee since I was already occupied with one. So I shall review this book. Er and I haven't really got to finish the whole book, left with about 80 pages or something.
Book Title: Nineteen Minutes Author: Jodi Picoult
Nineteen minutes is a book that tells the story set in Sterling, New Hampshire, a peaceful and small town. The seams that existed in the society bred a killer - Peter Houghton - otherwise known stereotypically as a geek. Violence erupted in nineteen minutes in Sterling High as 10 people were shot dead and many others wounded. The story includes perspectives from many different people through telling stories in their shoes, and included key events that contributed to character and plot progression. I believe that Peter Houghton was a victim of both himself and the circumstances. He was a victim of torment and bullying for the simple reason that he was less physically-developed as other boys in the school, and had no inclination toward sports. According to the book, he had sought help but received none, thus leaving him alone and helpless, and without any moral support, having developed a mindset of a killer. Indeed, he had sought help from teachers in the school, but (this was one of the seams of the society) the teachers simply brushed him off with a mere comment or two. At home, he did not receive help from his mother, whom I believe was probably at the extent of spoiling him, but nonetheless a caring mother. Peter could not communicate with her and didn't relate his problems to her, which I felt was one of the first mistakes made. Presented with the circumstances, it is difficult to put the blame on either of them for the lack of warmth at home. She was ignorant for two reasons: she was not attentive enough to the signs of bullying, and Peter not having trusted her enough to talk about it. I feel that this story forces the Sterling society and all readers to challenge their perspective on the effects of school bullying, and the standards imposed to counter that. The thing is, people do not question the norm. In this case, it was purely the norm for Peter, who was a few years late in puberty, to get picked on by the jocks. When this was the norm, you would not question what was wrong, you had to live with it. In other words, it was the norm because people have accepted that things were meant to be this way, and even trying to fight for your own rights - and that usually meant doing that alone - was going to be a gruelling experience. Few were standing on your side, most could not be bothered. And if the majority did not see a problem with the society, no one would pay attention to it, and it would never be solved. It took an extreme case like this one, where Peter struck the foundation of society's build up with an act of violence, one that came shockingly and devastatingly enough to force everyone to rethink their values. Originally, bullying meant nothing. It was part and parcel of school life, but what if it had been as much torture as had been to Peter Houghton? He suffered everyday for reasons that did not exist. It's easy to say that the society's against it. But how easy is it to tackle the problem? More importantly, why hadn't anyone noticed that bullying was a prominent problem in schools? Or did they? Being reflective. It's one of the virtues that our school upholds and wishes to instil in us. For some reason, mankind does not constantly reflect upon his actions. Be it due to the overload of information, or something else. Something tragic and overbearing had to hit them, before they could realise that what they've been doing all along was wrong. And by the time they realised, it had been too late. The damage is done. Idealists would say, "well, things are never too late". Personally, I scoff at the viewpoints of idealists. Yes, it would bring change for the better in future, but what about the past or the present? For example, people never knew that the Industrial Revolution would bring about excessive discharge of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, or could not be bothered for that matter, being too absorbed in the new enticing yet mysterious world of creation, like toddlers fondling with their Lego blocks to build something that would satisfy their inner cravings, while never wondering where these Lego blocks came from, or if they would ever be out of supply. It took global warming to shake the people hard enough to snap out of their frenzy. Experts may have predicted it, but it took a real and pressing problem to earn some attention from the world. A high price had to be paid. Now that the problem is presented, the situation cannot be reversed, but only stopped at best, and the ozone hole would always exist. What grips me the most about the whole story is how it took one major incident created by one single and otherwise seemingly frail boy to shake the society and force it into reflection. It isn't about how prominent the bullying was, or how failed communication between teenagers and parents were. The problem lies with the complacency of the society, and how similar problems could arise in the real world, that may not be specific to school bullying only. Till the day comes when another problem arises, mankind will be faced with a new catastrophe, and history will repeat itself, again.
At first when i thought of this idea, i immediately told jasmine and we started planning. After a while i thought, what a stupid idea.. what am i doing this for. Today, i gave out the cards and i hope the cards stays by your side for at least 10 years, till we meet again.
I hoped you guys enjoyed reading the cards put together by us and the help of a few of us. (?! sentence structure weird weird)
Thanks and have a good holiday ahead.
Anyway, chalet will most probably be in Jan next year, the week before school reopens. So keep that week available for it :)
Yesterday was the last day of school. It really didnt felt like it. It felt like any other ordinary friday. Why.. Am i the only one who's going to miss having lessons with the class and teachers? Thanks for all the memories you've given me 4D. I will never forget.
Never explain yourself to anyone. Because the person who loves you doesn't need it and the person who dislikes you won't believe it. hy
Eh... since no one has written anything i figured i'd get the ball rolling. Didn't have time to read the books provided by Ms Yee since I was already occupied with one. So I shall review this book. Er and I haven't really got to finish the whole book, left with about 80 pages or something.
Book Title: Nineteen Minutes Author: Jodi Picoult
Nineteen minutes is a book that tells the story set in Sterling, New Hampshire, a peaceful and small town. The seams that existed in the society bred a killer - Peter Houghton - otherwise known stereotypically as a geek. Violence erupted in nineteen minutes in Sterling High as 10 people were shot dead and many others wounded. The story includes perspectives from many different people through telling stories in their shoes, and included key events that contributed to character and plot progression. I believe that Peter Houghton was a victim of both himself and the circumstances. He was a victim of torment and bullying for the simple reason that he was less physically-developed as other boys in the school, and had no inclination toward sports. According to the book, he had sought help but received none, thus leaving him alone and helpless, and without any moral support, having developed a mindset of a killer. Indeed, he had sought help from teachers in the school, but (this was one of the seams of the society) the teachers simply brushed him off with a mere comment or two. At home, he did not receive help from his mother, whom I believe was probably at the extent of spoiling him, but nonetheless a caring mother. Peter could not communicate with her and didn't relate his problems to her, which I felt was one of the first mistakes made. Presented with the circumstances, it is difficult to put the blame on either of them for the lack of warmth at home. She was ignorant for two reasons: she was not attentive enough to the signs of bullying, and Peter not having trusted her enough to talk about it. I feel that this story forces the Sterling society and all readers to challenge their perspective on the effects of school bullying, and the standards imposed to counter that. The thing is, people do not question the norm. In this case, it was purely the norm for Peter, who was a few years late in puberty, to get picked on by the jocks. When this was the norm, you would not question what was wrong, you had to live with it. In other words, it was the norm because people have accepted that things were meant to be this way, and even trying to fight for your own rights - and that usually meant doing that alone - was going to be a gruelling experience. Few were standing on your side, most could not be bothered. And if the majority did not see a problem with the society, no one would pay attention to it, and it would never be solved. It took an extreme case like this one, where Peter struck the foundation of society's build up with an act of violence, one that came shockingly and devastatingly enough to force everyone to rethink their values. Originally, bullying meant nothing. It was part and parcel of school life, but what if it had been as much torture as had been to Peter Houghton? He suffered everyday for reasons that did not exist. It's easy to say that the society's against it. But how easy is it to tackle the problem? More importantly, why hadn't anyone noticed that bullying was a prominent problem in schools? Or did they? Being reflective. It's one of the virtues that our school upholds and wishes to instil in us. For some reason, mankind does not constantly reflect upon his actions. Be it due to the overload of information, or something else. Something tragic and overbearing had to hit them, before they could realise that what they've been doing all along was wrong. And by the time they realised, it had been too late. The damage is done. Idealists would say, "well, things are never too late". Personally, I scoff at the viewpoints of idealists. Yes, it would bring change for the better in future, but what about the past or the present? For example, people never knew that the Industrial Revolution would bring about excessive discharge of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, or could not be bothered for that matter, being too absorbed in the new enticing yet mysterious world of creation, like toddlers fondling with their Lego blocks to build something that would satisfy their inner cravings, while never wondering where these Lego blocks came from, or if they would ever be out of supply. It took global warming to shake the people hard enough to snap out of their frenzy. Experts may have predicted it, but it took a real and pressing problem to earn some attention from the world. A high price had to be paid. Now that the problem is presented, the situation cannot be reversed, but only stopped at best, and the ozone hole would always exist. What grips me the most about the whole story is how it took one major incident created by one single and otherwise seemingly frail boy to shake the society and force it into reflection. It isn't about how prominent the bullying was, or how failed communication between teenagers and parents were. The problem lies with the complacency of the society, and how similar problems could arise in the real world, that may not be specific to school bullying only. Till the day comes when another problem arises, mankind will be faced with a new catastrophe, and history will repeat itself, again.
