should ragging be condoned?

A STUDENT involved in what seemed to be a birthday celebration gone wrong had her video posted up on a popular online video-sharing site. The YouTube video showed a junior college girl being carried by her female schoolmates to the school's fitness corner, where she was bounded and tied to a chin-up bar. Her face was then stuffed with cake.

The video later showed a school staff berating the students for dirtying the compound.

'Also in the video, a teacher/staff noticed the incident and did not appear to have taken any action,' the STOMPer wrote.

The students involved in the incident are from Anglo-Chinese Junior College.

Responding to queries by The Straits Times, its principal, Mrs Kelvyna Chan said 'the college is aware of the incident which was a birthday celebration of a student who was popular with her peers. We understand that the student was prepared for the celebration, and that there was no malice nor bullying involved'.

'When a teacher saw the celebration, he immediately stopped it and counselled the students. The birthday girl also assured the teacher that she was not hurt physically nor emotionally,' Mrs Chan added.

Home > Breaking News > Singapore > Story
Nov 14, 2008

do campaigns work

'GOODNESS Gracious Me!' is a project by The Straits Times to get Singaporeans to think about others, starting with clearing their food trays after they eat.
Posters, stickers and mobiles with the slogan 'This mess is not okay. Please return your dirty tray', will be displayed at five outlets operated by our foodcourt partner, Kopitiam from Sunday.

the benefits of story telling

• Popular tales do far more than entertain,
• Why does our brain seem to be wired to enjoy stories? And how do the emotional and cognitive effects of a narrative influence our beliefs and real-world decisions?
• We tell stories about other people and for other people
• Stories help us to keep tabs on what is happening in our communities.
• The safe, imaginary world of a story may be a kind of training ground, where we can practice interacting with others and learn the customs and rules of society.
• And stories have a unique power to persuade and motivate, because they appeal to our emotions and capacity for empathy.
• Storytelling is one of the few human traits that are truly universal across culture and through all of known history
• People in societies of all types weave narratives, from oral storytellers in hunter-gatherer tribes to the millions of writers churning out books, television shows and movies.
• the best stories—those retold through generations and translated into other languages—do more than simply present a believable picture.
• These tales captivate their audience, whose emotions can be inextricably tied to those of the story’s characters. Such immersion is a state psychologists call “narrative transport.”
• The power of stories does not stop with their ability to reveal the workings of our minds. Narrative is also a potent persuasive tool, according to Hogan and other researchers, and it has the ability to shape beliefs and change minds.
• Advertisers have long taken advantage of narrative persuasiveness by sprinkling likable characters or funny stories into their commercials

Scientific American Mind - September 18, 2008
The Secrets of Storytelling: Why We Love a Good Yarn
Our love for telling tales reveals the workings of the mind
By Jeremy Hsu

is there a laziness gene

Have you ever wondered why you can't get off the couch and exercise — despite paying for an expensive gym membership, despite your New Year's resolutions, even despite the doctor's scolding at your last check-up? Turns out that your inertia may be coded right into your genes.

Based on some intriguing, preliminary studies in animals, J. Timothy Lightfoot, a kinesiologist, and his team at University of North Carolina, Charlotte, suggest that genetics may indeed predispose some of us for sloth.

why, given all we know about the overwhelming health benefits of physical activity, do so many people still choose not to exercise.

There are two theories, genes may affect either the way muscles work — perhaps causing them to use energy more efficiently and preventing fatigue — or some higher-order biochemical circuit in the brain, such as levels of the neurotransmitters dopamine or serotonin. Researchers have examined the muscle tissue of the mice in the study, however, and early data, which has not yet been published, suggests there's no difference in their function. So researchers' best guess is that the drive to exercise is at least partly influenced by brain chemicals — a reasonable hypothesis, given that dopamine or serotonin plays a significant role in several human drives and behaviors, including hunger, addiction, mood and movement disorders like Parkinson's disease.

i wrote this for a boy who complained about bullying

you seem troubled by all that bullying that goes on in your school
painful as it may seem, believe me...
these are experiences that teach you a lot
experiences that will help you grow into a strong young man
no text book could ever prepare you for it
this is what i call the school of life
my only response to your question,jo, is

SOMETIMES YOU GOTTA FIGHT WHEN YOU ARE A MAN
that's a line from the song COWARD OF THE COUNTY by kenny rogers
i will try to put up the lyrics of the song in my next post if i can find it

Bullies are cowards at heart
who feed their own ego by showing off their non-existent superiority
don't allow yourself to be a target - walk away from harm's way
but if they persist - show them what you are made of...
ending off with a prayer that you will stand up to these guys
and that the bullying will stop

my daughter's question

There is a question I want to ask you.
Who made up that horrible saying of "I don't friend you"
I hate when people say I don't friend you.When you say that you are hurting the person's feelings.Just imagine you only have one friend and that friend comes up to you and tells you "I don't friend you"?If I were you i will feel crushed.And if i were the MINISTRY OF EDUCATION(MOE)I will ban the words 'I don't friend you'

and this is my reply
yes i agree - it's such nonsense - making a nasty verb out of a nice noun like friend...but you know what - anyone who says that is playing a psychological game with you. The best way is to ignore that person, and not value that kind of off-and-on friendship.

WHY DO PEOPLE LIKE TO PUT OTHERS DOWN?

My mother's theory was that they felt inferior and this is their defenceand coping strategy.....of course she didn't exactly put it in those words butyou get the idea. I once came home crying after another day of relentless teasingabout my height, or lack thereof.Her simple words of consolation - you are in the university and they are not...This is the only way they can feel superior to you....Such wisdom....has the calming effect of a pacifier
It really was not very difficult to deal with these people when I started feeling pity for them, instead of anger and exasperation.Then I started laughing with them, when they poked fun at me....and lifereally got a lot easier after that.My message to you kiddos, is to perhaps pray about it and then move on..... i became happier when i learned to laugh at myself becos short jokes can really be quite funny sometimes ...

but pl don tolerate teasing someone with a disability etc - that's pretty low

a letter from a mum

How do I deal with my child? He is rude and unmanageable. He is forgetful and disorganised. He is selfish and cruel. He has turned into a monster.

My Reply:If your son went missing, what would you do? Would you heave a sigh of relief and wish he were gone forever? Or would you do everything you could to find him and bring him back home again? Why would you want to do that when you know that you are just bringing a "monster" back home? When you are just bringing back more heartache?It is because...we love our children DESPITE what they are. In your question, you have used only negative terms to describe your child. Is there nothing good in that child that is worth highlighting? Focus on the good and he will feel there is a need to to live up to those positive terms. When you focus on the negative, he is only living up to your low expectations of him. You don't just have a child. You have a gift from God. cherish him the way a wonderful gift should be cherished.

why we dont clear own dishes

Clear my dirty dishes? But it's the cleaners' job
Food court fails in its drive to get patrons to clear their trays and used crockery
By Elizabeth Wilmot
DINE AND DASH: After eating, most patrons just left their trays and used crockery behind.
AN EFFORT to get patrons at a food court to return their trays has had dismal results so far.
Launched two weeks ago, the Tray Return Movement at Suntec City's Fountain Food Terrace has left one of its organisers disappointed.
The drive was spearheaded by Chesterton International Property Consultants, a subsidiary of Suntec Investment, which owns the food court. It is supported by the Singapore Kindness Movement.
So far, though, little has changed.
Many customers still do not bother to return their trays, leaving cleaners with more work and inconveniencing other diners.

'It's not easy. There are a lot of problems because people's habits do not change overnight.'
When asked why they did not return their trays, customers offered a variety of reasons. Some said it was the cleaners' job, others put it down to force of habit.
'Honestly, I did not think of returning the tray,' said Ms Joana Lim, 25, a financial consultant. 'Maybe bigger signs might help.'
Chesterton's Mr Sim said he was not really surprised by such behaviour.
'Good habits have to be inculcated in people when they are young. As adults, the habit of not returning the trays has become a fixed mindset in them,' he said.