WW1 Propaganda

What can you see in this image?

I can see the Germans hiding from the maori people with their ancestors protecting them. 

How are the different figures in the image portraid?

To me the figures look like that the maori people will be protected by their ancestors and that they will win the fight against the German Soldiers.

Who is the Target Audience?

Maori people over the age of 20 to try to convince them to enter the war.

What is the purpose of this image?

The purpose of this image is to get the maori people to fight                                                                     along side England in the war

      

How effective is this?

I feel it wasn't very effective but it seemed to be at the time because a lot of people under 20 signed up for the war

Why were recruiters at the time specifically targeting the Maori?

Possibly because of the tribal fights they usually do, and they thought this could also be a good opportunity to send more maori people off to fight so then less English people could die from the war.

                                                              

                                          

WW1 Propaganda - Reha

World War One - Examining their persuasive techniques and reasonings

• What can you see in this image? A warrior leaping forward to kill his enemies.  • How are the different figures in the image portrayed The Māori is killing a German. • Who is the target audience? How do you know? Maybe people who don't want to go to war so that is they look at the image they might change their mind. • What is the purpose of the image? To make people change their mind about war. • How effective is it? It wasn't very effective for me because I think war is too violent and too gruesome. • Why were recruiters at the time specifically targeting Māori? Not sure.

Propaganda learning

What can you see in this image?

I see a ghost/ancestor  helping/saving a fighter in the war  kill the other guys.

• How are the different figures in the image portrayed?

The ancestor is helping the fighter, the two other fighters are very terrified about what is going to happen.  Maori vs German.

• Who is the target audience? How do you know?

the maori that don't want to go to war, to promote war and see how COOL it is.

• What is the purpose of the image?

To promote war and make people want to go and fight for some countries

• How effective is it?

For me it is not very effective, it does not promote war and make me want to go.For other people I think it might be effective.

• Why were recruiters at the time specifically targeting Māori?

Because of the treaty they signed and, so they have more fighters to save the countries.

  DO YOU WANT TO STOP YOUR CHILD'S LAZY EYE 

The scientists of Auckland university have recently come up with a way to help/fix the problem of the lazy eye 

I have created a presentation to inform you about the experiment if your child has brung the form home please have a look at this 

                                                                          Presentation

Minecraft Movie full

Hi guys here is the full Minecraft movie hope you enjoy. Please commment and watch in HD it has been uploaded in that. We decided to use Minecraft as a publishing, narrative tool. We decided to do this as we find it a really engaging way to depict a story. First we had to create our own original world, that couldn't be burnt down! We had to be really determined during this process and it took us quite a while. Once we had our world and storyboards planned out, we used screen capture to capture the footage, that we wanted, from different angles. All that was left then, was to add our own voice overs, to create the narrative plot. We really hope you enjoy our movie and please leave comments below! By Matthew, Zeb and Lawson.

Hello,
I am in New York City we have had the most amazing week but I will just tell you about today but if you want to see more about my trip to the U.S.A at Laura in the U.S.A. Today we went to the United Nation were NZ got a seat. Here are some facts about the UN
The United Nations is an organization between governments it began on 24 October 1945 this happened to help different countries to co-operate . A replacement for the ineffective League of Nations, the organization was created following the Second World War to prevent another.

The UN makes decisions by voting for them, for example one country wanted to bomb another country and the UN had to vote to decide if it should go ahead or not in the end it went ahead.

Here are some photos of our week.

National History Musem

Statue of Liberty

My chocolate doggy

My new white Shoes and grace's new blue shoes

My cousin Paul telling us about where he works and how he got the NZ seat he works at the UN

In the train station there was a busker 

Manaiakalani Film Festival 2014 - Stonefields is Awesome

Using GoPro technology and professional filming equipment, learners in hub 9 created this awesome compilation video. It shows the senior students showcasing their awesome sporting, musical and creative talents and helps show what makes Stonefields such a great place to learn.

Manaiakalani Film Festival - Minecraft Movie

We decided to use Minecraft as a publishing, narrative tool. We decided to do this as we find it a really engaging way to depict a story. First we had to create our own original world, that couldn't be burnt down! We had to be really determined during this process and it took us quite a while. Once we had our world and storyboards planned out, we used screen capture to capture the footage, that we wanted, from different angles. All that was left then, was to add our own voice overs, to create the narrative plot. We really hope you enjoy our movie and please leave comments below! By Matthew, Zeb and Lawson.

Manaiakalani Film Festival - Penguin Wars #2

We continue our Penguin Wars Manaiakalini Festival tradition, by entering the sequel to last year's "Penguin Wars". What you see before you is the result of endless hours of designing, modelling, placing, shooting, remodelling, placing, shooting, re-remodelling, moving, adapting, hair tearing and celebrating. We used stop motion filming to simulate the illusion of movement and action for our penguins. This meant that we had to shoot each frame individually and edit them together, very quickly. We really hope that you enjoy our film and please don't forget to comment! By Maddy, Victoria, Sophia, Helen, Alex and Yanni.

Manaiakalani Film Festival - Kids react to........

We have all been entertained by the varied and original work of the Fine Brothers youtube channel, "Kids React". We especially enjoyed the episodes where kids reacted to objects from different historical periods, because we were able to make connections to our own lives and learning experiences. We decided to choose the school cane because it shows how far our education system has come in the last 50 years and how lucky we are to be going to school, in New Zealand, in the 21st century! We hope you enjoy and please comment on our film. By Elliot and Ollie

Manaiakalani Film Festival - Success Criteria for School

We all know that success criteria helps us to structure our learning. We decided to create a humorous parody about how these success criteria could be applied to just getting through the school day. From the possibly nerve-wracking situation of sitting a test, to a unique approach of confronting a bully, we hope you like our original take on the "Success Criteria for School". By Samo, Jackson and Ben

Manaiakalani Film Festival - I am waiting

This spoken word poem was created during our poetry unit in the hub.

We began by building our knowledge of other spoken word poets on YouTube and hearing Joshua Iosefa perform his Brown Brother poem at our school. From this we were challenged to find our own voice as writers.

My aspiration was to speak out for those who couldn't speak for themselves and to empower others to find their voice and speak out against bullying. If you are being bullied, go to a trusted adult, friend, or teacher and tell them what is happening.

It's time to find your voice.
I am waiting...

Sebaan

Kids should get paid for grades.

How is school different to a job?

You work hard at a job,

You work hard at school,

You learn from a job,

You learn from school,

You make changes in your job,

You make changes in school,

You get paid for your job... What about school? There are many kids that struggle with learning all around the world most of them aren't motivated enough to try and that end’s up to them giving up and failing. If they don't try at school or drop out how do they become well educated? Statistics show that on average 8,300 students drop out of high school everyday, and thats just in America! Think about how many students drop out daily around the world! But its not just that they drop out, the crime rate shows that 60% criminal activity is from people that have dropped out of school. Do you want your child leading up to a life like this?  How do you motivate them? Money could be a huge step to help motivate students to improve on their grades...

How could we get money for kids increasing in their grades? There are many solutions to adding a fund to help pay for students after succeeding in a grade for example we could increase the tax on cigarettes because that can help people that are quitting as well as fund schools with money after increasing in their grades. Many kids don't like school or pay attention because they don't get anything out of it. People opposing say it is just bribing them to work; what about a career? Is that bribing you to work too?

If kids are paid for better grades, they will want to do better in school. You don’t have to pay kids for bad grades or no improvement, this is rewards for good grades or huge improvement, not just for being at school. When students are paid for good grades, that will motivate them to push harder for an higher reward. The reward doesn’t have to be a huge amount either but you should get a bigger payment for the bigger you improve, also the more you achieve.

Kids should have a reason to get good grades. Students will definitely do better in school and try harder in school if they were getting paid to get good grades. Paying students to get good grades could just be the motivation some students need to do well. Also paying students to get good grades could keep many kids not dropping out.

Dogs are better than Cat’s

Introduction:

The cleaning , the slaving away everyday scratching their stomachs feeding cleaning and , and what are you awarded with, consistent scratches in the curtains. Time and time again we slave our lives away to animals that give us nothing back but evil stares and restrictions of being with our friends with allergy's believe me there are many people in the world with cat allergies . the cost of allergies including cats is 7.9 billion in the us every year, think how much money that is wasting.

Does this sound familiar to you well it comes as no surprise that these are some of the most common  traits of a cat.

Time and time again this topic has been debated since we have taken this animals to be our companions. dogs of all are the most loving and humble creature that us humans have had the fortune to come across. they offer comfort respect and no matter what we do they will always be by your side. But enough of that, here are some more of the crucial facts which prove more than evidently that dog ARE better than cats.

❝Owners of dogs will have noticed that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they will think you are god. Whereas owners of cats are compelled to realize that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they draw the conclusion that they are gods❞

Paragraph 1:

Dogs are our oldest partners enabling us to hunt and play with the reward of eternal joy of chewing on a bone . In fact we've been partners with dogs since the Ice age. but cat’s were originally our predators. caesar whom owns a very successful dog show in the states explains that dogs have something more than looking up to us they are part of the the pack when you own a dog you are with them in your own pack and just like a trait with humans you look after your own and then help others.

Paragraph 2:

Research shows that dog when someone close to them passes away they feel sad and as if a part of them is missing this is something that cats do not share there have been recounts of dog visiting their owners graves and where they died and some have traveled miles across countries to search for their missing companions  . And what we want as a human is to have an animal which is different and will always stick by us no matter what. tell me have you ever seen a cat mourn on the sofa with a tub of ice cream watching the TV?

Paragraph 3:

Now on to dogs jobs, no by this I mean life saving jobs from fighting fires to drug busts all the way to bringing down some of the toughest criminals that roam cities. But this is no picnic for the working dogs that protect us , sometimes with their lives. Yet again have you ever seen a cat solving crime ? I dont think so. Time and time again there are things that dogs can do and how do cats compare , well they don't. Fact If you live alone with a cat recent and historical events show that the cat will eat you in 2008 a Romanian woman's corpse was consumed almost entirely by her cat. no respect. cats see you as a disposable servant.

Now the reason that cats snuggle up with you on the sofa. Research shows that cuddling in the animal world is a sign of dominance. When a cat comes and sits on your lap it's like there saying this is my property and Im going to keep it that way .

Conclusion:

So this brings me to my conclusion  cats cause over twice as many allergies than dogs making it hard for some people to have fun, and even sometimes live comfortably dogs are loyal and will make you smile guarantee with their antics and quirks they are all different So you may of had cat’s in the past but just think about the facts and do you see cats doing any of these amazing things that dogs do

Smokers should pay a health tax

Have you ever been walking through a park just to find your favourite spot is filed with the stench of smoke. Did you know that 350 children die per year  from second hand smoke and that's just in New Zealand. And every time you walk past a smoker who is smoking the poisons from the smoke is affecting you too. So these people are killing their family and the other people around them. So why aren't they paying for this killing act that they are doing and how always be  much is one persons life worth.

Smokers are everywhere and there will always be people who smoke but they need to know that they are killing people around them. If you smoke you are exposing the people around you too, middle ear infections, lower respiratory illness, the onset of asthma and worsening asthmatic symptom, reduced lung growth, meningococcal disease. second hand smoke kills baby and young children unexpectedly. These children are dying from someone deciding to take a puff.

So Ive told you about these killers they are slowly killing their friends and what are they doing about it nothing so why are they not paying the government for their obsessive habit, Why aren't these people going to prison or paying a fine. The lives of other people are on the line and theres no punishment, Except adds that try making people feel guilty, But is this doing anything to some people its in one ear out the other so why don’t we make them pay.

People are putting the price of cigarettes up but will this do anything? A few dollars a year in extra price is not going to do much, But make them pay a hundred dollars per pack and half your smokers can't pay 200 and almost no one can pay.   So the money   per pack is enough to fund a cure. There are over 1 Billion smokers worldwide If you put a mass tax on it and you’ll   have a huge  amount of money to stop the and cure  the illnesses that come from smoke.

So in conclusion we could save millions people around the world  from lung cancer and second hand smoke diseases  the extra  amount of money can fund cure s for hundreds of illnesses and help people stop smoking by over pricing the cigarettes. So lets stop smoking and save lives its up to us to stop smoking.

By Zeb

We should use electric cars instead of petrol cars

So, it’s the 21st century and you’re looking to buy a car to replace your 1996 Toyota Corolla. You see many loads of car brands like Mercedes, Volkswagen, Toyota, Mazda. But then it hits you. Day by day petrol cars are effecting the environment and contributing to global warming, this kills innocent forms of life. That’s why people must start using electric cars. Since we have already gone too far with global warming. Not many people own them in New Zealand, in fact they only came out on sale a few months ago in March.

Although they are new to New Zealand, you can actually go out and buy one as I'm writing this on Oct 15 2014. Although They are quite expensive right now, soon they will dramatically come down in price. The benefits of them are that you can run on electricity for long distances plus it won’t contribute to the hole in our ozone layer also since they are new cars it has better technology, that means things like backing cameras and recently there was an electric car which used sonar technology to track cars in the distance which can be useful in foggy weather.

Also the electric car that used sonar technology could hit top speeds of up to 241 km/h (150 mph) absolutely unbelievable for an electric car especially because petrol is a lot more powerful than electricity. Every year global warming gets worse and worse so it’s time to do something about, that’s why electric cars are such a good idea. Even if you run out of electricity you can just have a backup pair of batteries. Now that global warming is at crisis state people must know about electric cars now because species are dying off because of global warming and the ice caps are melting at an extreme rate.

So by now you’re probably thinking that electric cars are the new awesome technology that is completely new to the public, the truth is though that electric cars were invented in the 80’s the 1880’s that is. Now that may seem impossible but you see the basic invention of an electric car is simple in fact it is almost like a RC electric car but on a bigger scale, same deal with RC petrol cars they have a fuel tank but are faster because petrol is more powerful than electricity. So really it would have been reasonably easy for someone who had access to electricity.

So we come to the conclusion that while petrol is a lot more powerful electricity there are alternatives that are better for the environment and can sometimes go just as fast or even faster. And while people might moan about how it might be a bit impractical because there aren’t many electric car refueling stations in Auckland and even New Zealand in the long run it is a lot better for the environment because it isn’t giving off fumes.

It should be a law for families to have a natural disaster survival plan

If a tsunami hit Auckland would you have a natural disaster plan for your family? Natural disaster plans are the things that help us not freak out when something happens such as a hurricane or a tsunami. If you and your family had to evacuate, do you know where you would go? The time to decide that is before the disaster happens, not when the warning has come.

I am alarmed by the lack of evacuation plans that this country has, we aren't necessarily prone to disasters in NZ but we still have to take the caution that we would have if we were prone to natural disasters. Prior, to disasters in the past there has still been lack in plans, even if it’s just a community plan. Its not other peoples responsibility to sort out your family and make sure that they are safe.  

Natural disasters are striking the world because of climate change (tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, freak storms). In 2005 Southern Florida and the Gulf of Mexico got hit by hurricane Katrina, over 1,833 people died, in it’s path it  destroyed homes and towns. About 70% of those people didn't have a survival plan.

The reason why it should be a law is because then it will be compulsory for every family or person to have a natural survival plan, and that also means that the death toll will go down after a natural disaster because people will know what they are doing when a natural disaster happens. It also doesn't put all of the problems on the shoulders of the government.

Therefore, that is why I think that it should be a law for families to have a natural disaster plan. So it makes you and your family safe, also so you are prepared for the risk when a natural disaster happens.

Persuasive Writing - Students Shouldn't Wear School Uniforms

Have you ever felt uncomfortable in your school uniform, unfashionable, plain or bland.  Students should not be living under the hand of school uniforms. In New Zealand students should be able to wear whatever they want.

If New Zealand students didn't have uniforms, but their ordinary clothes, everyone would be able to show their personality and style. If a few students personality was quirky, then their clothes would clothes would have a quirky, weird feel like groovy hats or spenders, or if their were some students with a sporty and athletic most likely they would wear, shorts and sneakers.This is the best reason for uniforms to be replaced with Mufti Clothes, so everyone can show their personality and style.

Ever complained about how uncomfortable uniforms can be? Everyone’s been down that road, but the only uniform I’m going to complain about is Stonefields School Uniform. Not a lot of students wear this uniform but the most annoying and uncomfortable piece of clothing is the skorts. It’s so uncomfortable that the boys don’t even wear it! Probably because girls are supposed to wear it instead. What’s wrong with skorts? you’re probably asking, their so uncomfortable because their tight, they get in a tangle, and really frustrating when putting them on (since their half shorts and half skirts). The shirt is quite uncomfortable as well, since the material is tight. The jumper is comfortable but when it comes to the washing machine, the warmth in the jumper wears out and it doesn't really help when it comes to winter.

The most annoying thing that parents hate about the school uniform is the price. Most jumpers are about $15 - $20 as when the Stonefields School uniform jumper is $80. At stores T-shirts are

$5 -  $10 where the school T-shirts are $40 - $50. No one really buys skorts but at the uniform shop they are $50 - $60, and the shorts are about $50. The second most annoying thing about uniforms is when you grow out  of the size. Guess you need to buy new shirts and skorts.

Want to give up on reading? Well I’m not done! The next complainment would be how unfashionable the uniform is! The style and the colour are the main things when it comes to fashion and the Stonefields School uniform doesn’t have any of them. First the colour, the colour is plain and boring, Cornflower Blue for the jumper and shirt and charcoal black for the skorts and shorts. Next the style, the style is simple and bland. Plain shirts, jumpers, skorts and shorts.

In conclusion, students shouldn't wear uniforms at school for several reasons. How bland and plain the colour and style is. How expensive the prices are. And how students can express their individuality through their own clothes, instead of hiding it under their school uniform.

Why Tweens should be able to choose their bed time.

Why Tweens should be able to choose their bed time.

 *Tween- age 10-12

 Did you know that tweens need more sleep than both adults and children? This is why lots of parents control their tweenagers (age 10-12) sleeping times But the truth is, most tweenagers would enjoy choosing their own bedtime and it is true that they should be able to. Tweenagers should be able to choose their bedtime because it would offer them flexibility and teach life responsibility as well as extra opportunities. By the time kids have reached 10-12 years, parents should be allowing some freedom and a sense of maturity and giving up the sleeping structure is a perfect way to encourage this.


 Responsibility is important for tweens and this is a valuable way to teach it. If you were irresponsible and you stayed up too late for something unnecessary then you would have to face the consequences of being unbearably tired the next day. For instance, if you had to go to school earlier the next morning for something, then you would know that you couldn't stay up too late. Therefore you would have to be responsible about what time you chose to go to sleep. Choosing your bedtime each night would also offer flexibility because if you had a homework assignment that was due the next day but you were too tired to think then you could go to bed earlier and then wake up earlier to finish the homework.

 The ability to choose your bedtime would also allow valuable opportunities that you could plan out. It is recommended that 10-12 year olds get approximately nine hours sleep. So if you usually woke up each morning at seven to get ready for school, But your parents never let you watch a programme on TV from 8:30pm-9:30pm the night before because they never thought that you would get enough sleep. If you were allowed to choose what time you went to bed then you could be sure that if you were asleep by 10:00pm you could wake up at seven, having slept for nine hours.


 Research has shown that if Tweens go to sleep too early at night then they can’t help waking up far too early in the morning (2am-4am). Only you can tell when you are truly tired so this once again proves that a structured bedtime doesn't usually fit with your natural sleeping patterns. When you reach about 10-11 years old you go through a sleeping shift that will last until you are about 16. This means that your body clock will move forward one or two hours, making you sleepier 1-2 hours later. This may sound fine because you’d still get enough sleep by sleeping 1-2 hours later in the morning, right? Wrong. Early school starts ensure that you don’t have time to sleep in then next morning causing you to become sleep deprived. This leads to your brain malfunctioning and your school grades going down, it can also lead to Depression later in life. Being able to choose your bedtime would put a stop to this because you would know when you had to go to sleep and when you had to make up sleep to stop losing the sleep that allows you get on with your daily life.


In conclusion, tweens should be allowed to choose their bedtime each night because of the responsibility and privileges that it would provide. Because only you know your sleeping patterns, it makes sense that you should be the one who decides when you go to sleep. As tweens need more sleep than any age group, they should be able to make sure that they get it. Parents should stand back because making their tween go to sleep too early causes them to wake in the middle of the night, shortening their sleeping time. So let your tween take charge of their sleeping times, because it will enhance their energy in their daily lives.

Country life is better than City life.

Intro

“The incidence of schizophrenia is almost doubled for individuals born and brought up in cities.” These values are a cause for concern. It is crucial you keep stress levels down so it doesn't triple in the next year.  Stress can be lurking by your side in the city but in the country stress is non existent. The agitation of living in a cramped city lifestyle when the country has limited population and broad spaces. Why don’t more people live in the country?

How peaceful do you think the city actually is? Well if you live in the country it’s peaceful environment non stress lifestyle makes you see it’s greenness other than stress lurking by your side in the city. You would think country life is cows mooing and early mornings but that’s rural life in remote places but country life isn't necessarily that country life is big spaces, small towns with under 10,000 people and quiet spaces with no busy roads and underpopulated spaces.

How safe are you?

Living in the country doesn't only decrease stress levels it also allows you to have a lower risk of catching a disease that could spread in days through a populated city. For example Ebola has spread in weeks through parts of Africa and the remote places haven’t been effected so living in the country comes in use when avoiding diseases.

How cheap would you like your house?

When you're in the city the house affordability doesn't make your stress levels any lower with an average house costing one million dollars. But for that price in the country it 25% more affordable. In the country there is not only nice views and affordable housing you can also enjoy the greenness of the country.

How to get a job?

In the city the main cause that people move there is because it has better opportunities for a job and you can earn more money but when you're affording things it makes you lose more money. And the country offers job to help run the community and it offers the same jobs except less of them but because there are less people living in the country.

Stress isn't good.

Scientists have found that the country decreases stress levels and that parts of the brain that deal with emotion and stress don’t handle the big crowds of everyday life in the city. The country is found. Stress can lead to lots of mental problems that you can avoid when living in the country.

Conclusion

If you have lived in the country you would think living in the country is the best but if you lived in the city you would think the city is the best but what if you have lived in the city and the country which would be better. But what really is better is where you feel at home.

Why we should give MORE money to the poor. Persuasive Piece by Matthew

22,000 children die each day from poverty according to UNICEF, that means 916 per hour and 15 per minute, 30 parents losing children per minute! Thats 62 TIMES the population of Stonefields School! Moe than 3 BILLION people live on less than $2.50 a day, but most of the people at our school live on at least $14.50 a day.

It has to be a law to give money to Charity for 3rd world countries.

3rd world countries at this current time are suffering from many deadly diseases such as Ebola, which is nothing to laugh about;  They have hardly any food or water to nourish them and also some of them are in horrible temperatures. Lots of people in poverty just live in little shelters made of blankets and sticks living next to poisonous snakes and and rats, they are living in no civilised ways. They can hardly find just a little nourishment to last them the whole day, but we live on probably more than 3 meals a day. We are very lucky that we don’t have any contagious diseases or pollution around us. The only major pollution we have in New Zealand is light pollution from all of the lights we have in the main cities! We are no-where near the top 20 polluted countries, we’re a 1st world country. Children in poverty die in some of the poorest villages on earth according to UNICEF.

Some of the big continents with poverty are Africa and South America which are major 3rd world countries, They have hardly any money; so they have to work for their food; hunt animals themselves and grow plants and they need to learn when their vegetables are ready for harvesting but they don't have any education to do so. Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names. 80% of the world lives on less than $10 dollars a day. There are some very rich people in these places, that are probably richer than you; but are not giving any money or food to charity to people that are actually suffering from these awful things, and keeping all the money to themselves and having more than 3 good meals a day. If you think they are greedy what about you, if everyone gives just a little money it will make a big difference.

Imagine how this will change the world if we all contributed some money for charity we could provide better and warmers shelters with 4 walls around everyone one in the world. They could have 3 good quality meals a day, because at the moment 780 million suffer from chronic hunger, which means that their daily intake of calories is insufficient for them to live active and healthy lives.

They may still not be as lucky as us but they will have a much better lifestyle is we help them, and have some education so they can learn how to get work somewhere and earn money. This will make them feel appreciated. The world would be more equal if we helped these poor countries.

If we all work together we will have an even amount of money and life would be more fair. We need this law planted into the New Zealand Tax… This could change much of the world for a long time and the reason they’re suffering for these diseases is because they dont have good medical facilities and they cant pay for cures.

Children Should Not Have To Wear School Uniform

You wake up, mind fuzzy. You scramble out of bed, almost falling over as you do so. You hobble to your drawer, slowly opening it. Your heartbeat quickens and you start to panic, your uniform is nowhere to be seen. You stressfully search your room, looking under the bed and behind your door but still no uniform. You ask your mum if she knows where it lies, but she does not know either. You sit down on your bed and think to yourself, if you didn't have to have wear uniform all of this stress would have been avoided, you could have just grabbed a random pair of clothes and been ready to go off to school but no, yet again the hassle of school uniform has made you stressed and on-edge on what started off on a decent note. This is what many children go through when they go to get ready for school, it is a major hassle and does not make us in the mood to do any learning at school. I believe that if children got to wear whatever they felt comfortable in (so long as it wasn't too OTT) it would make things a lot easier and make us more comfortable so we can learn better. So, I believe that children should be able to wear normal clothes instead of school uniform because of the following reasons:

Costs

Parents spend lots of money each year on school uniform for their kids that they could spend on something else like food or water instead of on school uniform that the child will just grow out of pretty quick. Most full sets of school uniform cost around $150 including hat and jumper. That’s a lot of money that could be spent on other things that are more important.

Comfort

When you are comfortable you tend to be more calm about things, so if you were wearing something that you were really comfortable in during school then your mind would be clear and you would be able to work a lot better. So wearing something comfortable would actually increase your learning capacity because you would have a clearer mind to learn.

Accessibility

In the morning when you wake up and go to get changed it is a lot easier to just grab any pair of clothes to wear than spend ages looking for a wearable school uniform. Sometimes you can’t even find a wearable school uniform because the only ones you have are either in the wash or lost, and it makes some people really agitated. Being able to just put on any clothes let’s you get to school faster with hardly any effort.

Conclusion

Basically, children should not have to wear school uniform because it is:

Cheaper for the parents

Better for learning because of comfort

And easier to access making it faster to get to school

So based on these reasons I conclude that children should not have to wear school uniform.

The voting age should be lowered to 13

Voting is a no-brainer; either you like a party or you don't. Thirteen year olds can easily pick up on where views on an issue differ and decide on who they like better.  Children and young people under the age of 18 cannot vote. Yet they constitute one of the largest single blocks of citizens — more than twice the number of citizens of 65 years or older. Therefore why aren't we using all these votes.

Talking to your thirteen year olds  about elections and viewpoints across the board then giving the child his/her choice-vote can be a very nice family activity, can be educational and should instill into a Thirteen year olds the idea that s/he is important enough to make decisions on who and what should rule his/her country.

Thirteen year olds like to know they are important and have a say in this world, because at our age it is not likely that people listen to our views because what can we do about it. There has been many examples of children setting up agencies, websites even radio stations. Jonathan Krohn is a fourteen year old boy from america, and he gives advice to conservatives for future; and he does this on the news right over america. So this is just one example of the maturity of young teens these days.

In our multimedia-based society thirteen year olds are exposed to more information than ever. Television, Internet, and satellite news are available 24/7. Polar ice caps are melting, our troops are dying, and people are starving as we watch live. My generation is more aware of what is going on in the world than previous ones. My generation is more likely to be offspring of single-parent families, multi-racial families, and openly gay parents. The world has changed, society is different from when our parents grew up.

Many may say that thirteen year olds are not mature enough, to young and easily bribed, most thirteen year olds are mature and have an opinion, yes they can be bribed but most teenagers are stubborn and want to keep to their own mind.

Perhaps only the politically aware should vote, whether they're 13 or 103, if you don’t know how your vote will affect everyone, or how a candidate will govern, then maybe you shouldn't cast your vote. So if the age of voting is lowered to thirteen it wouldn't hurt anyone would it.

Why downloading MP3 music for free should have stricter punishments

Why downloading MP3 music for free should have stricter punishments.

Katy Perry's album, Teenage Dream, took 4 million dollars to make. Sums like 100,000 were being passed over tables. The producers spent 250,000 on getting just the first single on to Top 40 radio. Did you know that there are sites out there, like the infamous LimeWire, to exploit this by allowing people to download it for free? LimeWire boasted while it could 11,000 songs infringing copyright laws. That is taking away all the money that goes to the producers, writers, and singer/s that work for sometimes months to produce music that might not even make back their investment. Their pay check gurgles down the drain as people exploit this loophole in the law... I call for harsher crackdown on these sites.

I know of people who have stumbled on one of these sites, not knowing what they are doing is wrong, and taken music. A famous saying is that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If people knew to step away from these sites, there would be no point in making such websites and then the whole illegal music business would collapse. Then, no interference would be needed from police to remove the content anyway!

Whole websites exist to illegally offer this content. A prime example is the website and organisation named The Pirate Bay. They were founded in Sweden in 2003. The Pirate Bay exists to share torrent files and magnet links that allow the downloader to use and share copyrighted material for free. Not only do they offer music, but tv shows, movies and podcasts are also available. They have avoided being shut down by constantly switching servers and encouraging users to use the ‘PirateBrowser’ that is downloadable on their site able to bypass internet censorship. Thousands of people use this website, most not knowing that what they are doing is wrong.

Did you know only one person ever in New Zealand has been prosecuted for pirating music? He attempted to illegally download a Rihanna album, incurring a few months in jail and a several thousand dollar fine. Many people who may have downloaded this same album have gone unchecked. The situation has gotten ridiculous.

If this illegal downloading business continues without penalty, then the billions of dollars being pumped into the economy because of lawful purchases of music will cease to exist. Even though it is not a primary source of income for a successful artist, it is their rightful money. It is the same as stealing a taco vendor’s tacos for yourself, meaning that the taco vendor will not make his money to feed himself that night.

So what could we do to stop this? First off, awareness, awareness, awareness. If people knew what to do in these situations, a huge amount of downloads would never happen. Then, an organisation perhaps could work on tackling these websites and repeat offenders. Fines would be the best thing to issue here, as then the artist and those who get paid every time people buy songs could get their rightful slice of the profit.

So, in conclusion, downloading music is wrong and should have harsher penalties. If everybody took this issue seriously, the music industry and pretty much every other entertainment department would be a much happier place. If you could take just one thing away from this speech, can it please be: You wouldn’t steal a handbag, you wouldn’t steal a car; PIRACY IS STEALING!

I love labels!

Why having a Pit bull is a bad Idea.

In the first 5 months of 2013, pit bulls (American Pit Bull Terrier) inflicted 93 percent of all dog bite injuries. So what you ask? Well at least half of the attacks were on children. I believe that having a  pit bull is a bad idea.

Pit bulls were originally bred to be violent. They were brought into dogfights and started to learn how to really fight. Pit bulls make up only 6% of the dog population, but they’re responsible for 68% of dog attacks and 52% of dog-related deaths since 1982. That is more than half of dog attacks. Would you really want an aggressive Pit bull who comes from a breed that is responsible for more than half the dogs attacks in your house?

Pit bulls are born to be aggressive but then is it really the dogs to blame? A lot of the time the owners don’t realize the danger that their dog is capable of causing. They will let their dog be around young children without a lead and only a few glances of supervision.  So then is it the dogs fault that their natural instincts are to be violent and aggressive.

Pit bulls will always have violence in them. They usually attack in groups. This gives them more power. This is not very good for us though because it usually takes 2 or 3 people to pull the dogs away from their victim.

Do you really want your kid in danger of a pit bull attack.

Ask yourself, would you rather have a dog full of personality and love then a dog capable of killing?