ALPHABET OF HAPPINESS

A—Accept  *Accept others for who they are and for the choices they've made even if you have difficulty understanding their beliefs, motives, or actions.

B—Break Away  *Break away from everything that stands in the way of what you hope to accomplish with your life.

C—Create  *Create a family of friends whom you can share your hopes, dreams, sorrows, and happiness with.

D—Decide  *Decide that you'll be successful and happy come what may, and good things will find you. The roadblocks are only minor obstacles along the way.

E—Explore  *Explore and experiment. The world has much to offer, and you have much to give. A! nd every time you try something new, you'll learn more about yourself.

F—Forgive  *Forgive and forget. Grudges only weigh you down and inspire unhappiness and grief. Soar above it, and remember that everyone makes mistakes.

G—Grow  *Leave the childhood monsters behind. They can no longer hurt you or stand in your way.

H—Hope  *Hope for the best and never forget that anything is possible as long as you remain dedicated to the task.

I—Ignore  *Ignore the negative voice inside your head. Focus instead on your goals and remember your accomplishments. Your past success is only a small inkling of what the future holds.

J—Journey  *Journey to new worlds, new possibilities, by remaining open-minded. Try to learn something new every day, and you'll grow.

K—Know  *Know that no matter how bad things seem, they'll always get better. The warmth of spring always follows the harshest winter.

L—Love  *Let love fill your heart instead of hate. When hate is in your heart, there's room for nothing else, but when love is in your heart, there's room for endless happiness.

M—Manage  *Manage your time and your expenses wisely, and you'll suffer less stress and worry. Then you'll be able to focus on the important things in life.

N—Notice  *Never ignore the poor, infirm, helpless, weak, or suffering. Offer your assistance when possible, and always your kindness and understanding.

O—Open  *Open your eyes and take in all the beauty around you. Even during the worst of times, there's still much to be thankful for.

P—Play  *Never forget to have fun along the way. Success means nothing without happiness.

Q—Question  *Ask many questions, because you're here to learn.

R—Relax  *Refuse to let worry and stress rule your life, and remember that things always have a way of working out in the end.

S—Share  *Share your talent, skills, knowledge, and time with others. Everything that you invest in others will return to you many times over.

T—Try  *Even when your dreams seem impossible to reach, try anyway. You'll be amazed by what you can accomplish.

U—Use  *Use your gifts to your best ability. Talent that's wasted has no value. Talent that's used will bring unexpected rewards.

V—Value  *Value the friends and family members who've supported and encouraged you, and be there for them as well.

W—Work  *Work hard every day to be the best person you can be, but never feel guilty if you fall short of your goals. Every sunrise offers a second chance.

X--X-Ray  *Look deep inside the hearts of those around you and you'll see the goodness and beauty within.

Y—Yield  *Yield to commitment. If you stay on track and remain dedicated, you'll find success at the end of the road.

Z—Zoom  *Zoom to a happy place when bad memories or sorrow rears its ugly head. Let nothing interfere with your goals. Instead, focus on your abilities, your dreams, and a brighter tomorrow.

CHILD STRUGGLE

Everyone has requires to work in order to earn money and to survive in everyday need. Working also requires the right age and this responsibility is for the father as the head of the family family.  They are the one responsible in providing the basic needs of his family like food, clothes, shelter and the most important one, education for his children.  But what if your parents are don’t have a job and not responsible enough to provide us this support?  Are you going to take the risk in finding job at the very young age?

Children with unemployed parents do not have social security but must work to help in their families' struggle to survive. The satisfaction of these children's basic needs in life takes priority over their other needs such as education and recreation.

Filipino families particularly value helpfulness and responsibility-sharing. Philippine culture especially in rural areas consider child work as a phase of socialization where future roles are learned and working to share in the family is seen as training.  This is the reason why some of the parents taking it as an advantage, they are forcing their children to work at the early age.  Many parents prefer to send their children out to work rather than to school, either because they cannot afford to pay the tuition fees, books, uniforms, transportations and other expenses or because they can not see what will be the help of schooling in the future.

Child Labor is rooted in poverty and the lack of economic opportunities. It is often a response by the household to the need to satisfy basic requirements.  It is the illegal employment of children below the age of seventeen where they are not directly under the sole responsibility of their parents or legal guardians.

One of the best examples of child labor in the Philippines was very noticeable.  Children living on the streets engage in informal labor activities such as scavenging or begging.  We notice it everywhere; some of them are selling sampaguitas in the middle of the street while some of them begging for money, I also see women using her new born baby just to beg the attention of people around them.  Aside from this some of children are also engaged in domestic service and are involved in the commercial sex industry, including the use of children in the production of pornography and the exploitation of children by sex tourists.

           

Aside from poverty, another major factor that I noticed in the increase of the number of working children is the demand for child workers. Employers know all too well the advantages of employing children. They represent a docile work force, which could be hired and replaced at a fraction of adult wages. They do not join labor unions and very seldom complain.

           

Above all, employers who hire children gain a competitive advantage in both national and international markets due to the low wages they pay children.

           

I am against to the family of those children who are helping their family by working at the early age because I know how hard to deprived the experience of being a kid.  I was forced to look for a job when I was seventeen just to struggle to pay my balance in my previous school and to continue my college.  I do this to help my siblings to their needs that my parents can’t provide.

And until now, I was working after school just to support my needs as a student and sustain the needs of my siblings. I need to attend my class in the morning and instead of doing my projects and assignments after school I need to work.

At this age I need to help my parents in providing the fee for electric and water bill which the typical college student doesn’t entail to do.  In some way I think there are still positive values that I have learned in working at this age, it made me feel that I am more responsible.  It also taught me to be strong in facing problems especially when it comes to money and other material things.  I am wishing that these values also apply to those children out there who are suffering in working at the early age.  Like in my own experience even though I am working too hard for my family I didn’t taught of stopping or dropping my opportunity to go to school.  I strive hard to earn money and to fulfill my dreams, to hold a degree that everyone can be proud of.  I just want my parents to realize that I can be on my own without their financial support and help.

COMPUTER GAMES ADDICTION

Computers, video games, and the Internet have become part of my daily lives. Computer use has reached beyond work and is now a major source of fun and entertainment for many people especially the students like me. For most of people, computer use and video game play is included into their lives in a balanced healthy manner. For others, time spent on the computer or video game is out of balance, and has displaced work, school, friends, and even family.

When time spent on the computer, playing video games or browsing the Internet reaches a point that it harms a child's or adult's family and social relationships, or interrupts school or work life, that person may be caught in a cycle of addiction.  Like other addictions, the computer game has replaced friends and family as the source of a person's emotional life. Increasingly, to feel good, the addicted person spends more time playing computer games or searching the Internet.

Some of the most popular computer games nowadays are counter strike, tantra, DOTA or the Defence of The Ancient, ran, guildwars, different online basketball games like NBA live, pangya, rakion, prison tales, warcraft, starcraft, ragnarok and many more.

Some of the sign I have noticed with my cousin who are fond in computer games is that he spent mostly his non-school hours on the playing on computer games, he can play for 12 or 14 hours straight; playing from the time he wakes up till he falls asleep in the early hours of the morning, he falling asleep in school, not keeping up with his assignments and other school works, worsening his grades, he sometimes skips his meals to just play, lying about computer or video game use, choosing to use the computer or play video games, rather than see his friends and playing outside the house. 

The symptoms I noticed for some of my friends and classmates who also engage in this addiction, thy are seriously disrupting family, social or even work life, lying about computer or video game use, experience feelings of withdrawal, anger, or depression when not on the computer or involved with their video game, may incur large phone or credit bills for on-line services and can't control computer game use. They even turn computer games to gambling, Php. 50 per game will be more exciting and challenging for them to defeat the intruder.  For them computer games are like a drug that when you take it from them, they will keep on finding it, even though they know the consequences.

I can not blame the people who engage in this kind of addiction because even I engaged in this kind of habit.  For me computer games enhance my imagination by creating techniques and different strategies while playing.  It also develops my confidence in facing the hardest enemy in the battle.  Playing computer games is my way of escaping in my personal problems because it relieves my stress.

I admit that computer games are addictive but if you have self-control it has to be good though. I play computer games because I still believe that in some way this could be an outlet for learning, creativity, and self-expression. Entertainment value is also one of a great factor for me, also they do help somewhat with coordination; I can also learn much more, depending of what I play. I know I have increases my vocabulary from many strategies and some decent military tactics.  I am a frustrated driver, and I want to have my own motorcycle, and in some racing games taught me real life driving techniques. That’s why even though I have not tried yet the basic motorcycling procedure; at least I know the basic method of driving. This is the reason why that I am still proud to say that even I am engaging in this kind of habit I still know my limitations. 

We all know that computer games are usually fun and relaxing.  But for some, games can become consuming and addicting, taking away from day to day activities and social behavior.  So what is the best way to keep the situation under control?  Banning materials is definitely not the answer. Probably the most important aspect to take note of is: Like they always insist, “Parents must take responsibility.” and as simple as by being responsible.

MY 2007 OVERVIEW

Year of the Dog already left us and I think we are all in the reflective kind of mood. Some of us have had great success; some have done well while some have been left disheartened. So let’s look to the future. What will we strive for in the New Year? Any ambition that we really want to become a reality in 2007?

Allow me to be what I want to be....

To start off, it's strange to think a world which consumes so much of my thoughts and time has only been a part of me for almost a year. Never would I dare to have imagined knowing people who influenced me, inspired me and captivated my imagination so much as it has done.

2007- My hopes:

I have never ever made a resolution and kept it, so instead I’m going to say what I hope for! My plan is to study harder so that my parents who truly believe and trust with me will make happy.

Bad habits... I have a few and I’m planning on curbing some of them or getting rid of them completely... I've resolved to cut down on my computer time and spend that time doing other things like doing home work and projects.  I want to learn something new that will help me a lot.

I want to be more positive, so I am making a conscious effort to say nice things, and lastly, I need to give much time to my family more.

I am determined to start 2007 a fresh, a positive head for a positive year. I'm looking forward to the new challenges ahead and it should be fun!