Sex Education. A waste of time or a necessary life lesson? What's your opinion? I know what most of the kids in my school would say. I have many memories of sex education lessons right from the start of year 7: I sat at the back of a science lab cringing and giggling with my best friend as theTV screen played out the birth of a baby - zoomed in (officially scarred for life). I apologise if that innapropriate image has put you off your next dinner. My point being I was just 11yrs old and, 3yrs later, that image is still imprinted on the back of my brain. So I think you've probably guessed my theme for todays post but if you haven't it is the relevance of sex education lessons (that sounds really fancy compared to the hormone fuelled affaires in our classroom). This is quite a delicate subject to blog about...erm...i think i'll start with the news article that inspired this post.

I was watching TV on a weekend morning and 'The right stuff' came on. I don't know if you know what that is but its basically people talking about the latest news. So, anyway, they were discussing this new government law thing about sex education. You may be wondering why this is all relevant to christianity, well as part of this new law it states that faith schools will not be able to opt out. All the people on the panel seemed to agree with this new law and it got me pondering - at first my view was conclusive but as I began to think more and more about it the scales kept tipping from side to side until eventually they ended in the indecisive middle. So I quess I'm asking you for your views on the law - kinda like our own 'It's the right stuff'...

I've read a few newspapers (cuz im cool like that) on the subject and I found that some seemed less drastic than others. Obviously I found it so much more interesting to read the drastic articles but i had to consider the others too. The basic outline of the plans are:



Key stage 1 (5-7yrs)

• Taught the basic changes we go through from birth.


• Understand the difference between boys and girls


• Identify different relationships

Key Stage 2 (7-11yrs)

• Puberty and the physical and emotional effects


• Reproduction


• Learn the different types of relationships: marriage, civil partnerships and seperation


• Respecting views and feelings

Key Stage 3 (11-14yrs)

• Sexually intercourse, STI's, Pregnancy and Reproduction


• Same - sex relationships


• How to deal with relationship breakdown


• The importance of marriage

Key Stage 4 (14 - 16)

• Impacts of divorce, bereavement and seperation on famalies


• Parenting skills


• How to obtain information about sex


• How the media portrays young people and body image.

Alot of these things do not agree with the christian way and at first I believed strongly that Catholics should be able to opt out but then I understood the goverments wish for everyone to have the same education; what do you think? I am totally indecided - I think i believe that if every child in the country were taught in the Catholic or Christian way then problems such as STI's and pregnancy just wouldn't exist.

Hey guys,
I am goin to start this post with an apology, an apology that it took me so flippin long to write it! It took me ages to come up with inspiration for my second post (something I probably should have planned before beggining) but, ironically, it was it's belated arrival that gave birth to the ideas inside. Strange, hey?
Well I started my blog in the school holidays when I had bags of time to sit and write my post but now the school bell rings once more in my ear it is so much harder to find the time to concentrate. I log on to the computer but often find myself wandering into daydream land, the world of Google, or if I'm really tired, comeplete dreamless slumber. Distractions at the click of a button take me away from my focus point. And thats when the lightbulb went 'ping!'... Our daily lives are full to overflowing with schedules, jobs and - in my case - lots and lots of coursework and it is so easy to become lost in these distractions and forget the true focus in our lives, God. So, yes today my post is about focusing on God.

How much time, per day, do you devote to God? I beleive is the question we must ask. Life is full of inevitables, nesscaries and distractions which detract our attention from Christianity. Everyday tasks can soon take over our daily lives as responsilities mount up and we end up neglecting our responsibilities to God. I think the priest at my church called it a sin of neglegence - something not done on purpose but by forgetfullness or human nature. For me, I find it extremely hard to keep my focus on God. Homework is my inevitable, School my (unfortunatly) necessary and TV, internet and other forms of popular culture my distraction. May be you could take a few moments to think what your inevitable, necessary and distraction are?... Please don't assume I am saying you must devote every waking moment of your lives to God (but if you do then thats great) for most that would be almost impossible, but just to remember him in most things you do.

So, with that in mind I decided to come up with some ideas that might help us to focus on God that won't take to long to do. I have tried to make them relevant for both teenagers and adults:

• Try, every morning, just as you wake up, to thank God for the day ahead and ask him to guide you through the day.
• If you like to listen to music in the morning try switching to Gospel; it is refreshing and enlighting
• Small breathing exercise just after getting dressed can help you to become calmer
• Always remember to say Grace before a meal, this is a simple and easy way of recognising God
• Before bed, make time to read your bible and say a short prayer. If you have a Gideons bible (you should have recieved one in year 7) it gives you daily guidlines of what to read.
• Try to make it to a church service most Sundays

I hope these points were useful and if you have any more ideas please feel free to leave a comment, any comments are welcome. These are just simple ways of devoting time to God and I sincerely hope you have enjoyed reading this post. I promise you I will try and be quicker with my next one

thankyou Hannah x

First Blog, Aaaaaaaaaaaah :)

Hi guys... .... ....well this is awkward...how do you start writing your first ever blog? I'm a total novice at this, as you've probably guessed, and I have absoloutly no idea what to write, sorry guys. I suppose a few personal details would be a good start right? I am a teenager and I live in the almost-middle of England. Ha... thinking about it theres not much more to write. I live with my mum, my dad and my little brother in a pretty hectic house and I go to school, like most people, five days a week. Please don't click of this page because of my inadequacies in first blogs, everyone's got to start somewhere, I'm sure I'll get better as keep goin - I hope ;). OK, so seeing as I'm pretty pathetic at this whole blog thing I've just opened up a google search and types 'how to wrtie your first blog post' and found a very helpful website that tells me I should tell you why I am writing this blog, and I didn't just do it for jolly. I am writing this blog because, well to spread and promote the legacy of being a good two shoes. I am, and have been for the past few months, a church-goer. Makes me sound like a right geek doesn't it! Oh, it gets nerdier trust me. Yeah, so I am a church-goer (please don't judge me) and I suppose I am writing this blog to inform and amuse you with the daily musing of a teenage church-goers life. Obviously it would be lovely to convert some people to the ways of christianity but I'm happy, if you are, for peeps just to read and digest my work. No, planning has gone into this whatsoever - I did it totally on spontaneous impulse - but I quess I would like to blog about latest church news and my church experiences but also my daily life. Please don't think this blog is going boring, I love going to church and would be really happy if you fellows could join me on the ups and downs of writing my blog and stick with it, even if I do get writers block. So this blog will be filled with stories of church, school and all things a goody two shoes would do. I will be happy to inform you on latest christian updates and how you and me can relate it back to real life. I would also be extremely happy to recieve comments good or bad about my blog (email - paritesindapark@hotmail.co.uk). Ask me questions and please tell me if I'm being boring, I will try my best to add more excitment. Sorry this probs wasn't my best blog, but - practice makes perfect! :)