Kelela+Opinion+Writing

==Winning is the most important thing One of the main competitions that people fight to win in is sports. Should we make the big fuss to put in all that effort into things when there can only be one winner, or is it all about being  [|[l1]]     There are things like swimming races and running races which many people enter and put there all into being named the winner, are  [|[l2]]     people that don't get first place happy or really gutted? My opinion is that winning is not the most important thing.  First of all I think although winning is important and sports are, and should be taken seriously, but winning isn't the only thing. Putting everything you have and giving one hundred percent to the effort is also very important to competition. A team that puts everything they have into a game and comes out the losers, has a lot more to be proud of than a team who comes in first but only gave some effort. Over the years many teams have lost important games due to a few inches, one pitch or a strike of “bad luck”. Although these teams lost, they take it into the next game and give one hundred and ten percent. Another reason is being there and participating in the event. I believe that there is often too much importance placed on winning for example at the Olympics. Being an athlete, the most important thing to do at the Games is to compete at your very best, and if you don't get anywhere then just enjoy and remember the experience that you had had there and who you met. This also includes any type of sport activity or competition. On the other hand winning could make you more confident of yourself and encourage you to go out there, try new things and try your best at everything that comes your way. For example you could strive to do your best at a certain thing and get better and better and maybe become professional at that particular sport. Winning can bring a rush of excitement and happiness into your life and make you feel like going out and seeking other things that you may want to try. Also winning things, for example a student at school winning a netball or cross country competition could be proving to other people that they're a real fit,  [|[l3]]     and determined type of person. Like maybe if they’re running in the cross country and it’s the last 100 metres, the whole school is sitting there watching and they all see you win. This could lead to some new friendships that could give them a sense of belonging to the school and to make more and more friends.  In conclusion I think that winning is not the most important thing. As I have mentioned I think that winning is not the most important thing because putting everything you have and giving one hundred percent effort is very important to any competition. And that being there and experiencing the time and people you meet is also another important thing to remember. So overall I think winning is not the most important thing. Kelela == == == [|[l1]] First?  [|[l2]] the  [|[l3]] spelling Debate arguement reflection

Smacking children
Today in most countries, parents’ physically assaulting their children is illegal. If there are any cases of children being hit, police have to look into it and investigate. There have been cases where children have been seriously hurt, but then there are cases where parents are lightly smacking their children, like on the back of their hand. Some of these minor cases have even resulted in convictions. Last year, 2008 Sue Bradford from the green party introduced the ‘anti-smacking law’ to New Zealand, so parents aren’t aloud to hit their children even when they’re trying to discipline them. But I think the anti-smacking law should stay because some parents are going to far when they smack their children, and this is very dangerous and sad.

Have you ever heard of those cases when children have been given black eyes, bruises, cuts or scrapes? Even some deaths of babies! I have from the news, and I think this is appalling, and needs to stop. Children all over the world should get the same legal protection from violence as adults do. It is very wrong that parents could deliberately hit their children and get away with it, yet if the same thing is done to an adult they will get prosecuted.

Secondly, when children are getting smacked, occasional or not, apart form the physical pain there are psychological effects as well. Hitting or smacking them eats at their confidence, weakens their emotional relationships, and sooner or later encourages the use of violence whenever they get frustrated or angry. Like in school with friends, or any activities throughout their life. Even the experience with childhood smacking has been linked with the increased risk of drinking alcohol, depression or taking drugs. I think this is very bad, and is driving some people’s lives down the wrong paths.

Furthermore, I think that smacking is and ineffective way of disciplining a child. Smacking them applies them with no incentive to behave well and will probably drive them the other way. Children are too young to understand why what their doing is wrong, and most probably won’t be able to relate a smack to what they did wrong. As a result I definitely think that we should stay with the anti-smacking law. As I have mentioned, I think it is bad to hit children because it could easily lead them down bad paths and applies them with bad habits like drinking. Also they need to be given the same legal protection as adults have and it is very wrong that parents could deliberately hit their children and get away with it, yet if the same thing is done to an adult they will get prosecuted

 

I think that bullying is when someone is always doing or saying things to have control over someone else. For example bullies like to black mail people if they know their deepest secrets, call people nasty names, spreading nasty comments/rumours about them, threatening them like “I’m gonna get you”, physically hurting them like punching or kicking them or making them do things that make them feel uncomfortable. There are many types of bullies like verbal is when you use your mouth for the bullying, physical bullying is when you punch or kick them, mental/emotional is when you get right down to their feelings and cyber bullying is when you use technology like cell phones or chat sites.

Usually most of the bullies are either bigger or bulkier or older then the victim which makes it easier to take control over the person who’s getting bullied, sometimes it can even be an adult. I think that people bully just to get the fame, to get attention, and they mostly do it in front of others to be tough, cool and look scary. But sometimes it doesn’t work and people just think they have anger problems. Some bullies only bully because they are also getting bullied themselves and feel the need to take it out on someone else. I think bullies try looking for an easy target like someone who is small, innocent and kind because they know that they will break easily.

I think that if someone is being bullied at school they should take note of who the person/s is that is being a bully, and should straight away go and tell a teacher or principal and they will take care of it quickly even if the bully says “don’t be a nark” or “I’ll smash you if you tell anyone” don’t listen and do it anyway, because it’s most likely they’ll get in a lot of trouble and not do it again.

I think that bullying is a thing that happens all over the world, in every country, in every town and in every school. If you’re walking past and see an innocent person getting bullied, don’t try to intervene because that just might make things worse and the outcome will be even more damaged, pick up your legs and run and tell someone like a parent, teacher or principal so they can do something about it. Every school should study and learn about bullying and what you can do to prevent it so that just in case someone becomes a victim of a bully they’ll know what to do.