PROPER EDUCATION or FOOLISHNESS – which one do you prefer?

 

 

Yesterday, some of my colleagues openly expressed their fear about the safety of their children at school. It was based on just one truth.  Looking at them, I could read their minds. They were so afraid.  The youngest among them, said she was thinking about sending her son, her only child to school in Guadeloupe where she was born.

For her, she added that she would feel at peace if he is over there since it seems that the school shooting happens  mainly in the US and Europe.

I asked her how she will bear it if her son goes farther from her.  She quickly replied that she knew she will miss him but she will not have to undergo any heart- attack for constant fear that any evil might happen to him.

When I left them, I could not ignore my own fear as well. I thought of my son. At that moment, the ultimate thought of being afraid like my colleagues rushed into my head.

Our fear centered on just one reoccurring incident. It has been happening for so many years. Each time such incident came unto the media, everybody grieves, families of these victims mourned the untimely deaths of their loved ones.

However, the question is; what has been done to prevent this atrocity from reoccurring?

The conversation among my colleagues was fueled by the breaking news in Finland about another student shooting on the students and killing 9 of them before he shoot himself in the head. He died later in a government hospital.

I asked myself; why did he do it? Later I went on to read further about this perpetrator. What I discovered about him was alarming. Then it occurred to me that one might be living under the same roof even with an enemy without being aware. 

 I realized it is high time we started to act before it is too late.

What can we call the barbaric killing going on in the school? Each perpetrator has his reasons why he did the shooting. Nevertheless, a killer never thought of mercy at his point of action. As parent, guardian and friends of the family, we must make it our duty to protect our young ones.

There will be no generation if these lunatics continue to wipe off those children who are supposed to create that future.

Let us think of the security measures that are require to escape our children from being victims of unwanted death.

 

Highlighted below are the strict measures

 

1) WATCH OVER YOUR CHILDREN SHOULDERS

A usual adage says, you show me your friends and I will tell you who you are.  You have to know the friends your children move with.  Do not prevent their friends from visiting your home. I want you to know that it is safe when you know your children’s friends than when you have no idea at all who they are. 

Study these friends; are they suitable to move with your children? Are there any Godly characters imbedded in them? How do they speak; the usage of words? Do they look decent? I mean not dirty, not street-wise, etc?

 

2) SPEAK TO YOUR CHILDREN

You will never know what goes on in the mind of a child when you do not give him the chance to express himself.  Do not be rigid when you have to punish a child for his wrongdoing.  The more you are tightened up, the farther the child will be from you even if he is right there beside you.   Find soft and gentle ways to let your children open their minds to you.  Ask them about their school, their activities when you are not with them, their feelings, their emotions, and also, let them pour out their inner emotions to you. Be soft, be calm, and be willing to provide that safe haven in you to them. Let them see that they can always run to you whenever they have something that disturbs them. Please do not be so hardened that you will end up regretting in the future. Your children need you to understand that they are humans with passions and feelings just like you.

 

3) AVOID EXCESSIVE VISUAL MEDIA

If possible, I will advise that you banish watching TV in your house.  I will remind you that in one of my previous newsletter, I mentioned that I had to do away with TV in my house.  It is of no use to any member of my family. This may not be your case however; you have to be on your guard. It is saddened these days that TV no longer serves as media for information and education. Today, the television we used to praise back then has now been turned into useless avenues for promoting corruption and immorality.

 

4) APPLY WISDOM

Let wisdom guide your steps while parenting your children. You need nothing more than sound mind and the ability to create a happy home. Be on the watch for any sign of abnormality in your children. When you any of your children starts acting with so much sensitivity, you have to check that child out! And you must do it with speed.  Get that child to see a psychiatrist.  The parents of a child-killer stated they noticed their son’s irritated behaviour even as far as he was a child! If they had gone deep to halt this, I bet their son would not have committed the murder. 

 

5) CREATE PRECIOUS MOMENTS

It is so amazing to discover how parents are so busy they hardly create the time for their wards. Do not think it is enough when you drop them off at school and you speed off to work. I heard my neighbours’ children often complain their parents are too busy to have time for them. You may be busy making money, and acquiring all that you want. You must pause and ask yourself; who am I working for? You work 24 hours, 7 days a week all for these children yet you are hardly there at those moments when they truly need your attention. Divide your time. You will be grateful for every sacrifice you make for your children. The teachers and the school representatives cannot take over your vital role at their parent.

 

6) AVOID MONSTROUS GAMES AND TOYS

Asia succeeded in producing video games for the world. The boom that these gadgets created from onset generated lots and lots of profits for the toy manufacturers. Today, these companies earn millions of income unfortunately majority of children earn nothing but gradual doom. Have you noticed how the educational system is fast dwindling? Most children are dropouts for no tangible reasons. Nowadays, these young ones spend their whole days in games stores. Any game store owner that attempts to drive these children will only end up losing money. Instead, he will definitely do whatever it takes to keep them patronizing him. Sometimes back, I visited a family at their abode. The only child of the family is barely an eight-year-old. I met him already engaged with Play Station. From the time I entered until the hour I left, he was glued to the TV. On my way home, I felt upset about what I saw. To his parents, they believed the game helped to keep their son busy. Those two hours would have been used to study. Keep your children busy doing valuable hobbies, learning new skills and getting involved in training to enhance their education. Avoid spending your income to purchase unnecessary games.

Take a deep look at these lists below, you will realise that what your children need is proper education not foolishness.

 

The lists are becoming endless;

 

1^st August 1966 – A day after killing his wife and mother, Sniper Charles Whitman kills 14 people and injures dozens at University of Texas.

16^th October 1991 – 35 year old George Jo Hennard killed 23 people and himself in a cafeteria.

13^th March 1996 – A suspected Paedophile, Thomas Hamilton opened fire at random in Dunblane Primary School, in Scotland where he killed 16 children and their teacher before in killed himself.

20^th April 1999 – Two teenagers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold at Columbine High School, Colorado, kill 13 before killing themselves.

26^th April 2002 – A 19- year-old expelled student, Robert Steinhauser shot and killed 16 people before he committed suicide at the Johann Gutenberg Gymnasium, Erfurt, Germany.

2^1st March 2005 – A teenager on an Indian reservation in Red Lake, Minnesota, kills nine.

11^th November 2007 – 18-year-old student Pekka-Eric Auvinen shot himself to death after he killed 8 people in a school attack on Tuusula, Finland.

16^th April 2007 – A young student, Seung-Hui Cho, opened fire on the Virginia Tech killing 33 students, then himself.

14^th February 2008 – A dropout graduate student entered into a lecture hall on the campus of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, and killed 5 students before he self-inflicted himself.

23^rd September 2008 – Ten people were killed when a gunman, Matti Juhani Saari, rampaged through a Finnish adult college, Kauhajoki, Finland.

 

Who knows what will happen next and to whom? Take cautious; be on your guide and watch.

 

7) GO ON YOUR KNEEL

Above all, pray for your children, each of them. You are not with them 24 hours. You do that above and allow God to protect them. As I have learnt to do, put away your fear in knowing that the protection of the Lord is upon them.

 

Cheers!

 

Princess Ayelotan

Copyrights © 2008 All Right Reserved

www.passion4word.com

www.afriqueimage.com

www.shadow-of-the-sun.com

 

THE NEW DIMENSION

Change can be defined in several ways. However, in one word, it means to become different. It is simply the move to turn a situation, personal life, or whatever to a new part. It can occur in positive or negative ways.

In regards to this article, I am referring to the positive change. Have you paused to check out how such gigantic search engine calls Google is rapidly increasing? It is experiencing changes in rapid ways. Take for instance the new free Google Beta Chrome software. Any other web browser has not been able to reach the same proficiency as Chrome since it was released!

Change means going from ‘part A to part B’. However change can as well be a gradual process. Most times, it does not have to be a swift turn-around. Change takes place even when not expected. This is when you are unconscious of that part of you that presently looks different. For instance, out of a blue, you discover that you no longer have that burning passion that compels you daily to smoke. And it may be that you found that you shredded off some pounds from your flesh and such discovery got you surprised, even happier.

With due respect, I would like to inform you that change is not restricted to these. Change is having a permanent self, a new you, and a different inner you and every other aspects of your live.

What is that thing that you long to change? Is it your personal attitudes, your looks, the way you dress, or does it have to do with personal relationship with people? Or is it your financial life that you want improved?

Let me assure you, you can get whatever you want changed. You have to be ready. When you are not fed up with your current position, it will be a difficult task getting a new turn-around. I want you to get to the point where you must tell yourself that enough is enough. Some people call this reaching the end of a tunnel.  In my own opinion, you do not have to be stuck at dead end before you finally realise the ultimate need for change in your life. You do not have to wait until it is too late for that situation to bring you down.

You know what, nothing is actually too late. You think it is too late when you allow yourself to be limited to certain point.

What kind of change do you expect in your life? Have you been looking out for something since the beginning of this year, and now that we are almost in the final quarter, you believe there is no point in trying anymore?

Get that thought away from you! Three months before the year runs out is enough for your life to change in dramatic way. This is not about religion; do not get me wrong. I ask you to hold on to your plan. Do not lose hope. When you desperate for a change, you will get it.

It is what your mind is set to achieve that will comes to you. Banish the thought of being a failure. The good news is that no one is a failure until he thinks of himself that way. Stop limiting yourself.

No matter how depressing a problem causes you, it does not matter where and how you are affected, only you and nobody else can bring a dynamic change into your life.

I want you to look around you and you will discover that there are new developments everywhere, people change, society changes; even your small world is having a new outlook. Think of these, reflect and then move on to get what you what.

 

SIX GUIDELINES TO EXPERIENCING CONSTANT CHANGES

 

1)  HARDWORK

A change does not come to you anyhow. You must work for it. You know what you want. For instance, you do not expect a change in your low financial income when you just decide to sit at home without doing what will bring you a breakthrough.  Do not fold your hands and wait. There is no Santa Claus anywhere that will bring money to you. You must get up, go out, and search for way out. Go get a job if you must! I am not saying that you should go and rob a bank or whatever, I am talking about you diverting from what you have been doing before and increasing your steps. It may be your business is not going too well. I advise you to check for where you are not doing right. Know what the limits are, then go into action to change it. If one business is not lucrative, you are not forced to stay forever with it. There are hundreds of profitable businesses out there that you can benefit from.

 

 

2) SOLID RESEARCH

You get the change in your life when you have in your hands all that are required. You ask me how? It is simple as ABC! Have you ever imagine a good businessman going to invest in a certain business without prior solid research? He will never think of doing such nasty thing at the risk of losing his money. He knew what this mean to him. Even if he has to take any risk, he will do it without feeling any pinch of pain if ever at all the business does not work out. Majority of my friends are successful business persons. I learn great deals from them. Look for what will produce profit in your life. Drop what seems not to improve. Go for what will make you happy.

3) BE DETERMINE

‘I can’t take this anymore!’ this is what it means. A man without a fixed focus cannot go far. You have to be sincere to yourself. Reach a junction that you will have to tell your heart that enough is enough. You need perseverance. Be diligent, have a purpose, move with undivided attention. It takes your persistency to achieve your goals. You know why you want a change in your life; therefore you must be ready to sacrifice enormously for that.

4) BE OPTIMISTIC

One plus one produces the letter two. It is the same with how life moves. Having a positive sense of living is what you need to succeed if ever you want experience dynamic change. Irrespective of what is going on around you, keep your mind floods with right thoughts. You cannot be thinking of having a change in your situation and at the same time be thinking if ever that change will occur. You must learn to keep your mentality in the right position. Tell your life that no matter what, that change will come. Speak the positive words. Visualize yourself already having that change that you desire. See your financial situation turning into amazing outcome for you. You must not wait until you have that change before you think right. Start from henceforth. The early you educate yourself to it, chances are that those longing changes will come quicker.

5) LISTEN MORE, SPEAK LESS

I have seen so many people who end up losing their chances to success by running their mouths anyhow. Never tell anybody what you want to change. It does not matter what you want to turn around. I advise you to be strictly discreet. Guide it jealously. You will not go far if you expose your plans. Guide it as your invaluable treasure. Be like a spy. Wear the image of a faithful servant trusted with secrecy. Many of the tremendous changes come to me virtually without the awareness of anybody. Outstanding changes happen such that everybody marvels. That is where you have to train your heart. Let those around you find out for themselves when you have achieved those changes. It is then that you will understand how important you need to keep your mouth under control. Give more concentration toward listening to whatever goes on in your world. Chances are there for you to discover the hidden secrets you will need to acquire that change. Be wise and fast.

 

6) BE EXPECTANT

You are no different from a pregnant woman. Her delivery date is her final glory. She will do whatever it takes to push out that baby. If at all there is a delay, she becomes scared. Until that child is delivered, she will not give peace to her body. Put your life in this position! Get ready to receive that change into your life. Be alert. Apply flexibility. Do not think backward anymore. Now that you know that change will come, therefore, create new openings to let it into your life.

Shortly the year will be wrapped up. It remains the final quarter. Asked yourself, ‘how far can I get with this present situation?

It is not too late until you call it late. You can make it work. You can create those desirable changes for your life. You can turn around that dead business into a financial house. You can give your life that fulfilling destiny. I quote ADIDAS; impossible is nothing. 

I am sure you are tired of remaining in that stagnant position. I bet that you desire deep down your heart that durable wealth, excellent performances in your academic, your financial life, in the lives of your family members, among your friends, and loved ones.

Get up and get to start! You will be glad you did! Write and share your rewarding successes with me; 

princess.ayelotan@passion4word.com

Cheers!

 

 

PRINCESS AYELOTAN

Copyrights © 2008 Princess Ayelotan

www.afriqueimage.com

www.passion4word.com

WHERE IS YOUR WORTH?

 Have you also discovered how alarming the high level of unemployment in our society is today? In Europe, it is estimated that 65% of people are without any jobs. Majority are youths whom are dropouts.

Many said unemployment level is this high due to the never-ending economical crisis. Some said it has to do with the loss of societal norms and values. Today, a large number of these youths depend solely on the government social aids for survival. Among these are the lucky ones with affluence parents, relatives and friends whom are very supportive. However, concerning the former, how do you expect a youth to have the willingness to work when he receives a monthly monetary allowance from the government?

Laziness brings nothing but emptiness. I knew so many people who grew up depending on the governmental social aids. Today they are married and stilll jobless. The love of dependency has dug deeper into their vein to extent that it is difficult for them to have a change of heart.

With the new government and its new system, France, no longer give social aids just about anyhow. Now many homes knew what this mean to their survival. They will do anything to sustain their livelihood.

Gone and forgotten were those days when a child will depend solely on the parents for survival. Not even in the present day Europe. Children knew they just have to find the means to support themselves and their family. This year summer, lots and lots of children made used of their long vacation to gain income. They engaged in various seasonal jobs. While some went off with their folks on vacation, the ones who truly knew what these meant to them came out into the job market just the way bees swarmed the honeycombs. You could not help but noticed them. They were everywhere.

Apart from my writing career, often, I engage in seasonal jobs. In this summer, my next point of work is Disneyland Resort Paris. In the costuming department where I am posted, majority of the employees are students on vacation. I saw the excitement in them; the need to show their worth.

The ironical part of it remains very visible as few of them are being forced to enter the job market. They must have had no choice other than this. Such are the cases of Steven and Craig (real names are altered for security reasons), barely in the same age-group.

Both are already out of school. Steven has a little daughter and his girlfriend to cater for. He was employed even before the seasonal period. He is such a loving person. He is friendly and easy-going. Everybody loves him. His fault; he kept long list of absentees without any justification. Frequently he came to work thirty minutes or an hour late. There were days he gave excuses of his lateness as having to baby-seated his daughter while her mother works with another company in the early hours of the morning.

 He kept on doing this for months despite the series of warnings he got from the Team-leaders. Until one fateful day, he was fired. Steven never expected it. Being closed to him, I felt his pain, his guilt and his fault. The expulsion letter he was given destroyed his chances of ever coming to work in Disneyland again. It may equally block him from being employed by any other companies in France, in regards to the French employment system.

Craig was not different from Steven when it has to do with coming late to work. In addition, Craig is a young man without any respect for anybody. Either he challenged a Team-Leader, or he engaged in bitter quarrel with a colleague. He talked rudely. I watched him sometimes and the next line of thought in my head would be if ever he is actually human. Of course, he possesses some good sides. The worst sides of him widely overshadow his great qualities.

Barely two weeks after Steven was sacked, had Craig got his own letter. It was on a cool afternoon. He was summoned by the Manager. Craig refused to accept the letter. He insisted that the letter be sent to him by local postal. He added he must exercise his rights as an employee to the fullest. Also he must stay until the late date of his contract. In the Costuming department, we have a very pleasant though strict Manager. He did not argue with Craig. He let him be. The letter was posted to Craig. In the meantime, Craig continued to come to work. We saw him sitting with us during the briefings. He acted as if he is still part of us. Nobody asked him a word.

On the fifth day, Craig resumed as usual. The previous day, it was confirmed by the Post Office that Craig has gotten the letter. That morning, the first thing I noticed was that his name was not listed on the work-board for the day. Craig showed no sign even if he must have noticed it too. After the briefing, I noticed he walked up to the Team-Leader, asking why his name was not on the list. The latter added it right there without any word.

Before noon, few security men walked into the department. They came in search of Craig. In a polite manner, they ordered to escort him out of the premises. The company identity card he held was taken from him.

We watched Craig as he walked quietly away in their midst. It was heart-rending! If he had heeded the warning, he would not have been treated that way. He did not respect his worth. He felt he could do whatever he likes without thinking of the impact on those around him.

How many people like Craig are out there? When you feel you can behave the way you want irrespective of the consequences, then be ready for the worst. Life is not only about you.

Whoever you are, wherever you are, and in whatever society you find yourself, give the chance for people to discover the worth in you. How can you do that? You must love yourself. It is when you have this deep love for who you are and not what makes you what you are that you can truly bring to surface the worth within you. This is when you will earn the respect and the love you deserve.

If you are an employee, learn by heart these three rules;

1. PUNCTUALITY
2. COURTESY
3. BE INDISPENSABLE

You stand greater chances of being the best if you possess these three qualities. Nobody can buy respect. No matter how much a fee you are willing to put down to purchase it, I must let you know that it will not be possible unless you deserve it.

Know your worth and go for it!

Cheers!

Copyrights © 2008 All Rights Reserved