Wise Up Wednesday

Nelson Mandela, heard that name before?

Nelson Mandela, heard that name before? The majority of us have, but if not now is your chance to learn!

Nelson Mandela became a hero in many people’s eyes across the world after helping end the apartheid in South Africa. He fought for what was right and stood up to make a change despite his actions having serious consequences. Those consequences were 27 years in prison.

Can you imagine having that time taken away from you? Sitting idle in a prison cell when all you want to do is be out in society trying to make a change. Nelson Mandela’s patience paid off though, after all that time he finally became South Africa’s first black president in May 1994.

He sacrificed so much of his life to make it better for others, this act of courage makes him the hero he is today. People around the world celebrate his life whether they were directly affected by his actions or not. You cannot deny though, he made the world a better place.

So, have you ever thought about if your actions have had consequences? Most of the time we act impulsively in the moment and then think later. Maybe from now on we should all try to think about the consequences first, it’s more likely to end in a better situation.

Think about it…What will I achieve by doing this? How can my actions help someone? Who can I help?

So now maybe try and be more like Nelson Mandela (probably not on the same scale as him), but close enough, just be courageous. Don’t be afraid to make a sacrifice for what you believe in.

It’s the right thing to do.

Written By Holly Louzado

Wise Up Wednesday

Another week, another Wednesday! 

Time really is flying by now, the weekend is within reaching distance but before you know it we’ll be back to work, school, college or university.

Despite our busy life styles and constant craving for the weekend we still find a lot of time to sit back and relax…or maybe that’s just me? TV is always my go to point of call whenever I have spare time, it’s just so easy to switch the television on and scroll through copious amounts of channels before something catches my attention.

So, what normally catches your attention? I can imagine it is something that is easy to follow and won’t require you knowing a back story to the rest of the programme? But do you ever watch something on TV, walk away and then think ‘what did I actually gain from that?’ very often the answer will be ‘nothing’.

This poses a vital question: in what way is TV actually helping you?

Very often the things we watch are all exaggerated versions of anything that would ever occur in reality, this therefore distorts our perception of certain aspects of life. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of TV programmes that are extremely informative, those are the good ones. Just keep in mind next time that not everything you see on TV (especially reality TV programmes) is accurate, take a step back and think to yourself ‘what can I gain from this?’ and that may help you decide what to watch- use your spare time wisely!  

But don’t worry, TV isn’t all doom and gloom!!

 Here’s three good impacts of TV:

•  It enables young people to share cultural experiences with others and therefore learn important life lessons and values
• News, current events and historical programming can help make young people more aware of other cultures and people.
•  Documentaries can help develop critical thinking about society and the world, cultural programming can open up the world of music and art for young people.

So, I guess we can say that at the end of the day it’s up to us what we want to watch, but it’s also up to us what we want to learn from what we watch. 

#WiseUpWednesday!

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