A World Without Heroes

Teen Fashion, Body Piercing and Tattooing

Body piercing, dyed hair, shaved heads and tattoos. Should teen fashion be cause for concern or celebration?

For many teens, hair and clothing is as important to them as food and water. Whether it's tattooing, body piercing, or the latest look in clothing, teens express themselves through what they wear and how they look. And if we remember, so did we. That's because adolescence is a time when kids are creating their own separate identity , and a large part of that is expressed through fashion.

This self expression is a short lived phase, which parent educator Sue Bourque believes should be celebrated. "In our whole life, in our one time, there is a very small window of opportunity between the years of 13 and 19 where it's okay to have blue hair, a shaved head, holey jeans. This window of opportunity is an opportunity for us as well to celebrate the changes that our teens are going through and their growth into adulthood."

While it may not be too difficult to accept teens shaving their heads or dying their hair, many parents become concerned when their teens want a tattoo simply because they are aware that a teen's tattoo will still be there well after the fashion fad has faded. Bourque suggests that "when a child comes to you and says I'm thinking of getting a tattoo, educate that child. We can do that by telling them to talk about it with a doctor and ask about medical concerns (such as) if you go to a tattoo parlor and you get a dirty needle."

Bourque also suggests discussing with your teen "what happens if once you have tattoos you go out and are looking for work. How will that employer view you? Our teens need this information and they should go out and find it themselves."

Overall, Bourque reminds parents and all adults to not judge a teen by the cover. "Parents can focus too much on the physical things that are happening to their kids and the styles they've taken on and forget that this is a commendable young person who is struggling valiantly to reach adulthood."

The Parent Report.com

This one is for you D!

My Free Time

In my free time I like to watch TV, to talk with my friends in messenger and telephone them. I also like to play computer and listen to music. I don´t like to stay alone and not have anything to do. I like to stay with my friends, have fun with them, go out, go to the cinema and go shopping.
My hobbies are staying with my friends, my boyfriend and my family, having fun and studying a little.
I think it is important to have free time because it is a way of relaxing and forgetting some responsibilities, for a short time.
I like to have free time because I can do things I like and have fun for a while.

Tatiana, 1011

Tic Tac Grammar - 8th Grade

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Today in History - Albert Schweitzer

The theologian, musician, philosopher and Nobel Prize-winning physician Albert Schweitzer is born on this day in 1875 in Upper-Alsace, Germany (now Haut-Rhin, France).

The son and grandson of ministers, Schweitzer studied theology and philosophy at the universities of Strasbourg, Paris and Berlin. After working as a pastor, he entered medical school in 1905 with the dream of becoming a missionary in Africa. Schweitzer was also an acclaimed concert organist who played professional engagements to earn money for his education. By the time he received his M.D. in 1913, the overachieving Schweitzer had published several books, including the influential The Quest for the Historical Jesus and a book on the composer Johann Sebastian Bach.

Medical degree in hand, Schweitzer and his wife, Helene Bresslau, moved to French Equatorial Africa where he founded a hospital at Lambarene (modern-day Gabon). When World War I broke out, the German-born Schweitzers were sent to a French internment camp as prisoners of war. Released in 1918, they returned to Lambarene in 1924. Over the next three decades, Schweitzer made frequent visits to Europe to lecture on culture and ethics. His philosophy revolved around the concept of what he called "reverence for life"--the idea that all life must be respected and loved, and that humans should enter into a personal, spiritual relationship with the universe and all its creations. This reverence for life, according to Schweitzer, would naturally lead humans to live a life of service to others.

Schweitzer won widespread praise for putting his uplifting theory into practice at his hospital in Africa, where he treated many patients with leprosy and the dreaded African sleeping sickness. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 1952, Schweitzer used his $33,000 award to start a leprosarium at Lambarene. From the early 1950s until his death in 1965, Schweitzer spoke and wrote tirelessly about his opposition to nuclear tests and nuclear weapons, adding his voice to those of fellow Nobelists Albert Einstein and Bertrand Russell.

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