Month: February 2015

The big, bright, bodacious sun had finally peaked and now towered over all living things below. The scorching sunlight caressed the little boy as he frolocked about in a nearby forest. The trees stood as tall and strong as sacred pillars. The grass danced merrily as the wind blew ever so softly. The birds sang ever so beautifully, as the leaves on the trees were blossoming. Then at once a loud shriek of joyful laughter could be heard.

It was the young boy speeding around without a care in the world. He was enjoying a good game of Pirates, influenced by a television show he used to watch when he was younger. The boy loved this show as he loved the fact Pirates were free and did not abide by the rules of society.

Deeper and deeper. Darker and darker. This was no longer the safe, warming and welcoming forest the boy knew. The forest had now transformed into something less safe, more dangerous. Something less warming, more cold. Something less welcoming, more hostile. The further and further the boy went into the forest the more and more terrified and worried he became. Instead of turning back and running, it was if a strange and ominous force was pushing him insisting he should carry on. Until he hit it.

A fence. It stretched for miles and miles and it had barbed wires on top. It was a metallic grey and it had a sign on it which meant anyone who dared to touch it would get a nasty surprise. The boy stood and watched it, daring not to take his eyes off it for a second, He was worried that if he wasn’t sharp or alert he might regret it. All life on the other side of the fense was deserted and derelict. Then almost instantaneously there was movement. The little boy darted for cover but never took his eyes off the fence. The boy watched in amazement as he saw figures flood out from a distant, old, aging, worn down building.

The boy stayed hidden but now watching the figures in the distance as they got closer. The boy could now see them clearly, in their striped clothing. Then a wave of excitement slid across his face. He had found someone who looked his age. As the idea of making a new friend was the only thought capable at the time,  he stepped out of hiding, got as close as he could to the death trap without touching it and called over to the boy in stripes in the quietest squeak anyone could manage. He did this to make sure he didn’t catch the attention of anyone else. Luckily the little boy in the striped clothing heard him first time.

The boy in stripes walked over and they both stared at each other, not letting one intimidate the other. They both looked so different compared to each other.  On one side of the fence you had one boy who had a soft face, neatly groomed hair and big round belly from all the pampering he had received. The other, so skinny that you could see his bones with ease. The silence was strong and no one dared to fill it. Then finally, “What’s your name”, said the little boy bravely. “I’ve forgotten”, whispered the boy in stripes slowly starting to get his courage. “How can you forget your own name, mine is Steve”, chuckled the little boy. “They just call us by our numbers now, i am number 5.6.2.”, proclaimed the boy in stripes. “Ohh…. I like stripes it matches what you are wearing, I shall now call you stripes”, Stevey proclaimed with a wide grin, he was proud of the name he had thought of.” The boy in the stripes quietly repeated, ”Stripes, stripes…. Yeah stripes thank you I really like it.” “By the way, why are you wearing striped pyjamas?”, Stevey questioned. “ I don’t know, all i know is that they came and took me and my family and brought us here where we was made to work and were given numbers”, Stripes sorrowfully said. “That’s unfair!”, Stevey said regretfully. There was a long pause and nobody said a word. The silence grew stronger and stronger enhancing the tension and making it more powerful. “Would you like to play with me? I’m playing pirates”, Stevey asked innocently. “Maybe tomorrow”, Stripes replied. “Why?”, Stevey looking more and more depressed. “it’s going to rain soon”, replied stripes wisely. Almost instantaneously rain started to pitter down from the sky above. within 10 seconds it was now raining heavily. It almost felt like rocks were coming down from the heavens to punish the two boys. “ I have to go now, sorry”, Stripes said sadly. “okay but you have to promise to play with me tomorrow”, the little boy exclaimed happily, glad he had found a friend. “I promise….”. Stripes ran off into the distance and as soon as he was out of sight, lightning hit.
The next day Stevey travelled again through the forest, less scared than he was the first time. He reached the fence which was now familiar to him and he waited. 8 hours passed, yet Stripes never returned…

The big, bright, bodacious sun had finally peaked and now towered all living things below. The scorching sunlight caressed the little boy as he frolocked about in a nearby forest. The trees stood as tall and strong as sacred pillars. The grass danced merrily as the wind blew ever so softly. The birds sang ever so beautifully, as the leaves on the trees were blossoming. Then at once a loud shriek of joyful laughter could be heard.

It was the young boy speeding around without a care in the world. He was enjoying a good game of Pirates, influenced by a television show he used to watch when he was younger. The boy loved this show as he loved the fact Pirates were free and did not abide by the rules of society.

Deeper and deeper. Darker and darker. This was no longer the safe, warming and welcoming forest the boy knew. The forest had now transformed into something less safe, more dangerous. Something less warming, more cold. Something less welcoming, more hostile. The further and further the boy went into the forest the more and more terrified and worried he became. Instead of turning back and running, it was if a strange and ominous force was pushing him insisting he should carry on. Until he hit it.

A fence. It stretched for miles and miles and it had barbed wires on top. It was a metallic grey and it had a sign on it which meant anyone who dared to touch it would get a nasty surprise. The boy stood and watched it, daring not to take his eyes off it for a second, He was worried that if he wasn’t sharp or alert he might regret it. All life on the other side of the fense was deserted and derelict. Then almost instantaneously there was movement. The little boy darted for cover but never took his eyes off the fence. The boy watched in amazement as he saw figures flood out from a distant, old, aging, worn down building.

The boy stayed hidden but now watching the figures in the distance as they got closer. The boy could now see them clearly, in their striped clothing. Then a wave of excitement slid across his face. He had found someone who looked his age. As the idea of making a new friend was the only thought capable at the time,  he stepped out of hiding, got as close as he could to the death trap without touching it and called over to the boy in stripes in the quietest squeak anyone could manage. He did this to make sure he didn’t catch the attention of anyone else. Luckily the little boy in the striped clothing heard him first time.

The boy in stripes walked over and they both stared at each other, not letting one intimidate the other. They both looked so different compared to each other.  On one side of the fence you had one boy who had a soft face, neatly groomed hair and big round belly from all the pampering he had received. The other, so skinny that you could see his bones with ease. The silence was strong and no one dared to fill it. Then finally, “What’s your name”, said the little boy bravely. “I’ve forgotten”, whispered the boy in stripes slowly starting to get his courage. “How can you forget your own name, mine is Steve”, chuckled the little boy. “They just call us by our numbers now, i am number 5.6.2.”, proclaimed the boy in stripes. “Ohh…. I like stripes it matches what you are wearing, i shall now call you stripes”, Stevey proclaimed with a wide grin, he was proud of the name he had thought of.” The boy in the stripes quietly repeated, ”Stripes, stripes…. Yeah stripes thank you i really like it.” “By the way, why are you wearing striped pyjamas?”, Stevey questioned. “ I don’t know, all i know is that they came and took me and my family and brought us here where we was made to work and were given numbers”, Stripes sorrowfully said. “That’s unfair!”, Stevey said regretfully. There was a long pause and nobody said a word. The silence grew stronger and stronger enhancing the tension and making it more powerful. “Would you like to play with me? I’m playing pirates”, Stevey asked innocently. “Maybe tomorrow”, Stripes replied. “Why?”, Stevey looking more and more depressed. “it’s going to rain soon”, replied stripes wisely. Almost instantaneously rain started to pitter down from the sky above. within 10 seconds it was now raining heavily. It almost felt like rocks were coming down from the heavens to punish the two boys. “ I have to go now, sorry”, Stripes said sadly. “okay but you have to promise to play with me tomorrow”, the little boy exclaimed happily, glad he had found a friend. “I promise….”. Stripes ran off into the distance and as soon as he was out of sight, lightning hit.

The next day Stevey travelled again through the forest, less scared than he was the first time. He reached the fence which was now familiar to him and he waited. 8 hours passed, yet Stripes never returned…

Dear Ms Samantha Taylor,

I have recently read your view on teenagers and their interactions in the digital world and I strongly agree. As a teenager myself I believe we don’t all depend on social media. In your article you mentioned how people think teenagers are unable to socialise face to face and how teenagers leave themselves prone to attack over social networking. Although I believe this to some extent I am writing this letter in response to your article and hopefully you will see things from my point of view.

In your article Johnathan Franzen said that we teenagers spend countless hours glued to Facebook and it has turned us into screen – enslaved social inadequates”. I believe that this description of us is cruel and harsh because even though we might text a lot on our mobile phones or spend hours on social media, we are still able to have physical relationships with others around us. This view is supported by Shira Lee Katz who stated that “Teenagers feel that social media has a more positive than negative impact on their social and emotional lives. It helps their friendships, makes them more outgoing and boosts their confidence.” A research study consisting of more than 1000 teenagers (13-17 year olds) showed that 28% believed that’s social networking made them feel more outgoing vs the 5% who made them feel less so. It also showed that 29% believed that it made them feel less shy vs the 3% who believed it made them feel more introverted. When it comes to relationships with friends, more than half (52%) of teens said social media has made them better versus just 4% who said it has negatively affected those relationships. However I do agree with the fact that us teenagers use social networking religiously; that can be seen as a positive as well as a negative because it will mean that we would be able to meet new people and expand our friendship groups. If anything I believe that teenagers spending a lot of time enables them to strengthen their more important relationships instead of weakening them as they will be able to keep in touch and speak even when they aren’t together.

In your article you mentioned that Jonathan Franzen said social media was creating a “uniquely shallow and trivial culture”. Shallow is defined as being superficial and not capable of serious thoughts. Trivial is defined as being of little value or importance. From these definitions it can be seen that you perceived teenagers relationships to not be deep and meaningful also that the relationships that social media is creating is of little value. I disagree with this because if you are far away from someone social media helps you stay connected with them meaning your relationship won’t weaken.and this is supported by a research that was conducted with teens whereby nearly 9/10 teens say social networking helps them keep in touch with friends they can’t see regularly. About half of all teens believe that it helps them stay more connected with  family and friends. 57% of teens have said that it has connected them with new people with whom they share a common interest or hobby. On a whole although it can be seen that teenagers can spend an endless amount of time on social media, the overall impact of social networking outweighs the negatives impacts.

Empathy is the capacity to share or recognise emotions experienced by another person or fictional being. In your article you said some parents fear that giving their teenagers mobile phones would stop them from developing empathy. Others believe that giving teenagers mobile phones could lead to the raising of a hedonistic generation who live only in the thrill of the computer generated moment and are in distinct danger of detaching themselves from what the rest of the world would consider the real world. By this I mean that teenagers who enjoy the thrill created on social media would

I believe that these statements are incorrect as social networking is part of the real world and in fact it actually benefits the real world on a huge scale also social networking actually improves empathy to some extent as you can tell the way someone is feeling by the way they text or by the emoticon they send. But equally you can say that a teenager wouldn’t be able to tell how someone is feeling by their facial expression but I believe that’s not true as this is a skill you grow up with and won’t be able to lose, no matter how much you text.

As you know already there are negatives to social networking such as cyber bullying and the underdevelopment of relationships, however research has shown that there are many positives such as teens being able to stay  touch with relatives e.g. cousins or siblings in a different country or friends who have changed school also it has allowed teens to meet with people who have the same interests as them which builds on their confidence.In my opinion I believe the pros outweigh the cons and i hope you can see this too.

Yours Sincerely,

David Ndanema