How, and by Whom, Should Children Be Taught Appropriate Behaviour?

I have been asked, throughout my years of being a teenager, repetitive questions that only seemed to make me feel as if my whole life belongs to only one subject, and that is education.

I never had a conversation with an adult about my ambitions, a bullying experience, a decision I regret, my favourite type of TV show, a story about the time I first had my tooth taken out. Questions that may seem meaningless, but you can spend hours with someone explaining all the stories and memories you have experienced throughout your childhood and teenage years.

Yet rather, I get asked the same type of questions everywhere I go, “How’s school?” “When are your exams?” “Have you started your summer yet?”. And it was always about how our grades are, and whether or not are we the top students in school.

It has always been something that made me feel devalued since I knew that all of us, as adolescents, have so many other topics that we are willing to have a conversation on. So many thoughts and questions in our minds that are needed to be answered.

That is why we are always seen alone. Communicating with no one but ourselves. Finding an escape route through poems and music. Speaking out to our friends since they belong to the same age group as ours and therefore will understand every word we speak. 

Although unfortunately, we are often misunderstood since adults view us in a way of being ‘couch potatoes’, lazy, rude, irresponsible and immature. All these factors that we are categorised by, are nothing but characteristics they THINK are true about teenagers. Yet we are so much more complex than all these labels that are imposed on us.

Adolescents have a completely different view of life. We disagree on things that maybe the whole world agrees on. We believe, for example, that our phones and gadgets are NOT a distraction to our studies -again going back to education since that seems to be the most common conception of all. Everyone else thinks, that the development of media and technology has affected us in a negative way. But it is the reason we get an A on our essays, because we read articles and news on the internet. It is the reason we know so much more about cultures in different countries, because we have read facts about it on Twitter or Instagram maybe. It is the reason why we disagree in the first place about different topics, because we are often educated through social media, more than reality itself.

The universe seems to be a never ending series of depression, suicidal thoughts and unfairness about the world. It is okay if your sister, brother, daughter or son, is not feeling at his/her best today and tomorrow. There is nothing wrong when your child or sibling isolates himself/herself from the world. IT IS TEMPORARY!

I believe everyone is a tortured genius. Everyone gets tortured. Everyone is a genius. Yet, torture is only a glimpse of introduction of something that is yet to be accomplished. Because life will always throw hardships along the way of our soon to be, the most successful journey.

Misconceptions happen all the time, and that is why we must try to be understanding to one another in order to feel comfortable around all. That is what I believe, will lead to the most beautiful conclusion amongst people of all ages.

Feminism and Human Rights

I am no other than one who was born a feminist. One who wishes to see the good in this rich world. One who is just simply, a believer and a human being.

Feminism, in definition, states that it is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities.
Therefore, we must support the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of economic and social equality to men.

Human rights can be a philosophical discourse. It can be a conjecture that aims to understand how humans must be treated. It can be theoretical. It can be anything anyone defines. But in reality, it is nothing more, than rights that are inherent to ALL human beings.

Presence, pretense, pride and prejudice. Each term has its own meaning. Yet, sadly but truly, it all intersects with one another.

The presence of pretense in humanity may lead to the pride of women and men, but often guides us to the halls of prejudice.

This attitude has been a part of our society, around various diverse communities, for a long time now. We are not new to this. It has been passed from different generations to exist among us today.

The actions of humanity nowadays have taught us that we are our own worst critics, and we are our own best friends. All at the same time.

We are all a part of this world. If you are a mother, a father, a son, a daughter, a wife or a husband. You are a priority in the lives of many. You are a role model to the souls of who are in need. You are one of us!

We live in fear. Fear of rejection. Fear of expressing ourselves. Fear of enjoying freedom. Since as for men, they may feel it is wrong to cry and be sensitive. We assume it only will make him less of a man if he does not act in a specific manner.
We assume that women must stay at home, to be housewives and take care of their own children because that is where they belong. Home.
Our gender should not be the basis of how we are treated either positively or otherwise. We mustn’t discriminate one another because of what we act upon or how we chose our lives to be.
“Home” to women is not only the households they live in, but also this world.
This planet is everyone’s own home.
Women matter, and men do too.

A Positive Mindset To Redefine Success

Human beings have defined the word “success” in such a way that we believe without it, life is meaningless. This way of thinking, in my opinion, is absolutely untrue.

Success means a lot of things to a lot of different people. Some may see success as being able to attain objectives and therefore feeling happy about their achievement. Others may measure success in terms of having a traditional job that they can be proud of. Defining success differs from one person to another, and that is okay.

Yet, what we ALL need, is to gain and own a positive mindset.

That is what we should aim to accomplish. Whether we define ourselves, or are defined as successful people, or not. The key that allows us to reach a level of happiness, health, accomplishment, joy and even self worth, is having a positive mindset.

We may be surrounded with negativity at times, but that shouldn’t affect us in having the ability to self reflect and teach others the real meaning of positivity and how it should revolve around us.

Because no man is successful without a positive mind and attitude. And if there is, then make sure that success defined by the negative ones, is definitely the opposite of what it actually is.

Luckily, we all make mistakes and we all are not perfect. Because that’s what makes the world fair, the fact that it is unequal to everybody. And as complicating as it might seem, think about it.

We always say the world is unfair, but since it is to everyone, then doesn’t that reverse the whole meaning? Doesn’t it make it fair now?

And that is what we should keep at the back of our minds everyday. Regardless if the world we are living in is fair or not, we are able to be successful in our own ways. And if success to you meant waking up to a beautiful day, having a walk at the beach, staying fit, keeping yourself healthy, and enjoying the moment then good for you! Well done in achieving what YOU wanted, and not what others did.

Everyone has their own goals to achieve, their own happiness to fulfill, their own beauty to admire and their own success to gain.

So do not let anyone define who you are and what you believe in. Be your own hero. Be your own inspiration and role model.

Do not allow wealth, luxury and superiority be your only objective in life. Because its also the little things that count. And sometimes all you need is something very simple to make your day. So learn to enjoy what you already have. Count the blessings, not the opposite. 

And all that by itself is already success at its finest.

 

 

Refugees

Thoughts about the unfairness built in the hearts of human beings towards refugees…

Using the word refugee may be referred to as a negative label, but if we dig deeper we’ll realize that they own the most courageous skills since they were forced to move from their homeland to a country they may not even have heard about. And yet, some people have achieved massive and successful goals, like Bob Marley who achieved international fame yet fled Jamaica due to certain difficulties in the country. Jackie Chan who fled to the United States from Hong Kong after being threatened by a Chinese crime organization. Albert Einstein who was a German refugee and many others.

Labels take away a person’s humanity because a person is so much more complex, is much greater and has much more about them than that label implies. And on top of that, as humans, we’re all essentially the same, so when you attach labels not only are you reducing a whole complex human to a single term, but then you’re also creating unnecessary differences between us.

Instead of identifying them with the word refugee, why don’t we identify them with the qualities that they’re presenting? Why don’t we identify them with attributes like courage, strength and victory?

And this is what we must embrace, equality. People who believe in disparity do not fascinate us. Indeed, what we find interesting is the act of humanity that encourages us to work together in order to be able to restore what was once a priority.

We say we are young and sad beyond belief. Little do we know the amount of power we hold to be able to overcome such discriminations caused by our own selves.

But then, we are to be blamed because we’re the ones who have the choice to make a change while those innocent refugees have these decisions forced on them and in which they have no say.

The term refugees is not only associated with poor countries. This is not a distant thing since Oman is also exposed to it. Many Yemen refugees have been welcomed to Oman for treatment. Even though we may not know them personally, but the bond of humanity has again helped us have such characteristics in which we were able to offer some help regardless of their age, religion or even their political affiliations.

I conclude by sending those fellow refugees a message, which says that they should have hope, and should be busy rebuilding their lives to a better status as well. At the end of the day, we are all visitors on this earth.

Living the Moment!

I think what we find most appealing is the unexpected moments that happen to us. A person you met on the train back in July who was busy reading through the newspaper has become a savior in your life.

The person who was enjoying his coffee in Downtown Campbellsville is now your brother’s best friend.

That little kid, who was smiling at his teddy bear, is now in tears because he got sick of looking for his lost balloon.

The people we meet who we never thought would be a part of our lives have become the oxygen we breathe.

The people we thought would stay forever are now complete strangers.

And that’s what I find incredibly insane.

The fact that regardless of a man’s lifestyle, regardless of the difference between your shoe size and his, your TV show and his, your favorite meal and his, it doesn’t really matter.

Whether he’s as happy as the man on the train or as sad as that poor little kid. What matters is that we have explored a city of ours and saw all the different lifestyles. We have met new people and fell in love with them. We have cherished the moments and kept the memories in our travel journals.

So there you go!

Breathe.

Explore.

Live.

We can be here one moment and gone the next, therefore we do not realize that we have so many chances to live the life we’ve always dreamt of. Since we’re too busy growing up, we often let those insignificant moments of our lives vanish without us having to cherish it completely.

A city at 3AM with all the quiet streets, cars breezing through the freeway, happy smiles in the airport of Manhattan, welcoming their beloved ones home. Candle lights shining bright across the windows of apartment buildings, which only means that there are newly married couples in town tonight.

The gentleness of the wind while it’s enjoying the quietness of this astonishing city.

It all happens before dawn.

Everything peaceful, everyone happy, and everywhere it’s beautiful.

That’s an example of how we must appreciate the little things in life that we are absolutely blessed to be having, but do not realize the importance of it.

And I’m not sure what life can offer, but it surely can be magic.

Nature of Living..

We live in a massive world, different aspects, different people, different ways of living and surviving. Some people in this second are catching their last breath, while others are now born. It may sound very basic and straight forward when you hear those two sentences. But dig a little deeper..

The world we live in is a very scary place. We immediately think that the person right now, who is having his last seconds on earth, does not know, or is not aware that he has to say goodbye. Yet to think more deeply, what about that person, who is probably suffocating or suffering from a deadly disease and knows that he wont live for long.

Who do you think is luckier? The person who is getting tortured, but still gets the chance to say goodbye. Or the person who left with no pain, yet no chance to farewell.

Life is not fair, nothing is. The things we think should happen, will probably never exist. And the things we don’t want to experience, has to, in some point, pass by.

But remember, everything happens for a reason. Nothing, and I mean nothing, happens because it just wants to happen.

God created us, to create change, to live happy, to unite with each other. Yet every human being is different and unique. We may all have been created for one reason, yet our goals, our aims, our achievements are what’s different.

That’s when, sadly, people begin to separate.

How?

Disputes are caused, when people try to be themselves.

People, as I mentioned before, have different aims. And so when someone wants to achieve a certain goal, the right thing to do, is to basically work for it. But unfortunately, the community we’re surrounded in, have such habits of developing those judgmental thoughts and powers and spitting them out on people who are yet to create something very unique.

For example: you attended a photography session, and by the end of that course, you get a certificate. Of course, excitement will be there, and that’s when you will look forward to showing it to your peers, with great pride and joy. Just by the thought that you actually achieved something, nonetheless, something very simple. It seems to be very important to you since you’re the person who went for it, took the risk, took the chance and made it through.

But then when a person comes to you, and tells you that what you did was nothing to be so proud about. That’s when your thoughts crash, your ambitions break down. Everything stops.

But that isn’t how life should work. Everyone has the right to be happy, everyone, indeed, wants to happy.

And in order to have joy in your life, simply be yourself.

If you want to go to school, with one shoe off, eating popcorn down the hallway. Do it.

If you want to wake up at 3 a.m. to make yourself pizza, then do that as well.

As simple as those examples are, it shows you that YOU can do anything. Everyone WILL stop you, yet no one CAN stop you.

Be positive, start taking responsibilities, and more importantly, share them. The world will be a better place.

The Power of Society!

So many thoughts about so many aspects in today’s society.

We’re human beings, and I’m pretty glad we all agree on that. 

Why?

Cause this world has gotten to a point where no man’s opinion is allowed 

to be shared with. No steps can be taken, unless you fit in a specific criteria/group.

No human being can thrive a thought in his head, without being judged or overlooked.

And this is it. This is reality. This is what life has come up with after all these years of constant wars and persecutions.

Yet some may see this generation being improved in several ways. Others may see it as a dilemma that should be

warned about. It differs. It all differs.

Yet, the negativity that surrounds us daily. The type of atmosphere we are often exposed to, either as students or employees.

The way people view and present their abilities to certain skills of theirs.

It can make a huge impact to our thinking. It can change our directions from right to left.

It can convince us that even the world may be just an illusion. Who knows?

The solidity of each human being is unbelievable. Therefore the powerful thoughts and abilities of those 8 billion people in our world can gather up one day,

into one huge disaster. Yet we will still call it progress. We will call it development. We will call it ‘success’. Because

who doesn’t like being referred to as a successful man. Even though his actions were not beneficial in anyway possible. Who doesn’t seek for attention? No one.

The general outlook of how the world is being either beautified or uglified is taking control over it all.

Our mindsets are changing, therefore our surroundings are as well. 

But hold up. Can this be the end of our world? SHOULD this be our routine from now on? To just accept the fact

that were in a trap?

No.

The trap can be gone. That trap of meaningless mindsets can be gone. We are 8 billion. And thats more than enough in order 

for us to change the directions of our path.

You live once, don’t you? 

Of course some believe in afterlife.

But let’s speak logical.

You have one chance. Its live or die. 

And so many have chosen to end their lives, because they thought that the world is turning and becoming scarier by the second.

Well, we, the people who are still blessed enough to breathe in this second can make a change. So lets reunite, lets build a better relationship.

We shall stop racism, we shall stop sexism, we shall stop all the unnecessary differences we tend to develop through media and others.

As soon as that is accomplished, our world, our society, our reactions to all actions, will be surrounded with positivity. 

You can make a change. Start with yourself, and continue the path of convincing others to help this world become a brighter living. Do it. You can do it. We call can do it.

Its been a long time..

Hey peeps!

It’s been quite long since I’ve entered my blog! Although, I have to admit that I have been taking this final year of IGCSEs’ very seriously. And for a second I thought I’d quit blogging. Yet, after taking super long to come up with a decision, I said I’d keep it simply in order to look back through these little updates I give y’all everyday sometime in the future!

Anyways, alot has happened lately. I’m extremely sorry I couldn’t share it with you guys! However, I’ve made a decision on a little something for this blog. As you all should know, I’m beginning to have this massive interest of writing articles about my opinions on certain topics. Society. Humanity. Whatever that catches my attention. Although, as much as I’m worried that some of my writings may be sensitive to some of my readers, I’d be happy to receive the feedback in order to improve my perspectives and maybe focus on other topics you guys might enjoy!

I will be posting the articles/portfolios I have written earlier in this blog itself, so stay tuned!

Thank you for being patient! Promise I’ll try my best to blog as much as possible.

Later!

Catching Up..

As y’all know, I’m 13, and that means..

It doesn’t mean anything,i just had to begin with a fancy introduction.

I’ve been trying my best to catch up with my blog ever since school started. And now I can say that as you all know, I’m in grade 9. This means, in the British system, I started my IGCSEs’. They’ve been really tough since we had a huge jump between this year and last year. 

Now that I think about it, I opened my blog to take a break from school work, and here I talk about it again..

*changes topic*

I’m amazing!

*changes topic since this topic is really obvious*

Ow yes! I entered the basketball team! I’ve been a fan of basketball pretty much my whole life now, and finally entering it was something really awesome. We’ve been to tournaments between schools and clubs, and the experience was breathtaking (starting to worry that I’m kind of exaggerating)

Due to our amazing skills, we were voted as one of the best teams in Muscat, and obviously, I’m kidding B) (H). Now ever since our last tournament, I’ve been having muscle and back pains, so my mom convinced me to quit basketball, yay:).

gonna catch up with more later..

cya.

 

50th Post!

Loads of things have entered my life?

Well, first of all I got my first ever phone which is the HTC One. It’s awesome enough that I use it every second, although I have to admit, as long as it has something to do with technology, Im addicted! Anyway, since I had an iPod Touch before that, I actually realized how much easier the Android system is. iTunes, NOW, has become frustrating to me for some reason!

So that’s the first update. Now, a couple of days ago, we’ve been to Jabal Al Akdhar since it was Eid! As my family were planning, I checked the weather channel site and it turned out that it would be raining on that day, and so I went back to my family and warned them about 3 times.. but no change happened!
On the day of the trip, I asked my mom if I could wear a winter hat, but.. no! Why mom? Because its gonna be HOT out there!
As we reached, the temperature inside the car started to go down, and as soon as we got to the mountain, we had lunch and THERE! Heavy rain and a REALLY cold weather. It felt really good to be right that I kept on laughing at them and using the sentence “I TOLD YOU SO” every minute while freezing!

Since my younger cousins couldnt handle the cold weather, they luckily got wrapped with blankets and a million of jackets while I was busy taking photographs before the ice could reach my camera, just kidding! Minutes later where I think my family realized that the weather was actually COLD, we quickly packed up, ran to the car, and headed home. I TOLD YOU SO!
You can check out my Jabal Akdhar photographs on Instagram: de_photographer

Thank You! 🙂