Not my view.

First things first, these are not my opinion. Seriously, no.

This is a draft article I wrote in class, that HAD to be written from an extreme point of view. I do not share the opinions of it, but that was the real test of the assignment. To write from a different point of view. Like I say, it's just a draft, and I will get comments on it next week.

The Society of tomorrow?

We can all relate to the sight of under-age kids littering the street on a Friday night, starting fights, getting drunk and causing trouble. Only the other day I saw a poor train conductor getting abused for not allowing a drunken yob onto his train without money or a ticket. Is this really the way society’s heading? In a decade or two, will this behaviour become what middle-aged folk get up to every weekend? Surely not.

Yet we can’t pretend that this isn’t a growing problem. More and more teens spend every weekend binge drinking, and committing crimes. It isn’t just older children causing problems though. The addictive nature of social media, TV and video games means that more and more children are surrounding themselves with virtual realities where the morally unacceptable is made possible. Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto and Assassins Creed are all sculpting our children into desensitized monsters.

Last year alone, 600 14-year-old children were locked up in British jails, and the overwhelming trend was that this number was made up of those from the poorest families. A mixture of poverty, bad influences and a lack of education is leading our children astray and breaking apart our younger society. It’s good to see that we are taking action against these youths, by taking the right steps to correct their wrongs.

But it’s not just the children who have to live in our broken society. Those of us who drink and act responsibly, see our high streets taken over by gangs of chavs every weekend, and pay for the damage when it is caused. It’s us who fund their jail sentences. It’s us who have to provide taxes to cover their dole money. When we’re gone, there’ll be nobody there to help them.

It seems that unless we move quickly, our children will become the generation who wreck society, by taking all and giving nothing. No wonder unemployment is so high, when they can’t stay sober enough to get a job. Maybe soon, with the right treatment, they’ll begin to act responsibly. Until then, we’ll just have  to carry on holding together a broken world.

Second year

Hello again. Long time no see! I have decided, at least this once, to again write on this blog that I started last year. It has been a while since I visited its hallowed pages, but I have decided enough is enough, and hae once again taken to writing on it. That isn't to say I've been sitting idly since I last wrote in it. Oh no. I wrote my first ever screenplay over the Summer, and it is one episode of a comedy drama TV series, which I suppose, cliche though it may be, tackles issues like love, loss, independence etc.

I am now studying in year one of an HND in Journalism. To pass the course, we must learn shorthand, law and publishing skills, as well as writing news, features and public affairs. I am very excited, to say the least.

In this blog, I plan to post articles I write throughout the year, as well as stories, opinions and features that may come to me over the upcoming months.

For now, watch this space!

My last blog. Maybe.

Today marks the last blogging class at college, and therefore this may also be my last post. I'd like to think that I might continue expressing myself and my views online, but I fear that time will slip away before I know it, and this blog shall gather virtual dust.

This is not to say that I haven't enjoyed this experience, because I have, and feel that if more people took to the blogging arena, then more great ideas and opinions could be born.

We all love moaning about this or that, offering our opinion on the news or other events, and blogging is a great way to have these voices heard.

Even on a smaller scale, there are so many ways to give your opinion online these days. Most major news websites have a space to leave comments on the stories in question, and social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook have space to talk some sense. Youtube lets you make a vlog about what you think, or lets you leave your comments on others.

With so much room to talk, it's amazing how few people do it. There are thousands of bloggers online, I have no doubt, but there are billions of humans on the planet. Why you wouldn't take the opportunity to express yourself, when so many doors are open that offer it?

Even as recent as less than 100 years ago, people's opinions were overlooked or ignored. Nowadays, the political system in Britain is almost transparent; it's democratic, accessible, and open for opinion, giving all the chance to have an equal say  in what goes on.

So why don't people make the most of it?

I believe it all comes down to laziness. In the Scottish elections last year, around 50% of the electorate voted. That means, half the country just couldn't be bothered to mark a paper with an 'X'.

I cannot wait to vote, and can't understand why anyone wouldn't.

I love to have my say, even if it makes no real difference, because at least then I can be happy with what I've said.

In the history of this blog, I've probably annoyed or irritated any Conservative, Labour or SNP supporter, anybody who supports capital punishement, anybody who smokes or drinks that little bit too much. That's not even mentioning those who supported the burning of the poppy wreaths, or those who mercilessly massacre chickens.

But at least I gave my opinion. I'm not going to be able to abolish the death penalty, or enforce laws against binge drinking. But I've made it clear for all to see, that I don't agree with those things.

And for me, that's what counts.

Expressing myself.

I have talked a lot about other people on this blog, and feel that it is now time to talk about me. I hope you don't mind...


When I was younger I dreamed of being the perfect individual. I would live next door to the rest of the family with my wife, 6 children, 6 dogs and a self-run Guinea Pig farm. The next step in growing up was realising the nonsense of this idea, and deciding instead that I would be a TV presenter, with maybe just the 3 children and dogs. Then puberty hit, and I lost all track of who I was, and what my dreams were. Indeed, I believed that dreams were just impossible hopes, never to be reached or completed. Finally, I began to learn who I was, what I liked, and what I didn't. I learnt that I had dreams, acheivable dreams, if I put in the hard work and effort. Nothing is impossible.

I began to learn that I wasn't going to be perfect, nor was anyone around me. Perfection, perhaps, is the exception to the 'Nothing is Impossible' rule.

I became a new person. I overcame some obstacles, and discovered new ones. I found that I had become out of touch with my emotions, and strived to become reconnected with them.

My first step was acceptance, of who I was and what I believed in. I'm still working on some of the larger elements of me, but have learnt more about my behaviour, and the way I must come across to others.

The major thing is that I get annoyed a lot. I'm not quite sure why, but little things seem to tick the frustration box constantly, and soon have me moaning away to myself. People I know, celebrities, experiences or news stories continously have me wound up and frustrated, leaving me feel like a tiny voice in front of a huge orchestra of annoyance.

They say that jealousy is a key reason to be annoyed, and in some cases I think this is true, even in a subconcious manner. As a person, I I am a bit of a perfectionist, and always strive to reach the highest potential. Thus, when I see a talentless imbecile making a tidy sum of cash for themselves on the telly, I do get annoyed. Why should this pea-brain with above-average looks rise to the top of the social food chain, whilst we who study hard, work hard and try their best in general, are left behind, spending tax money to watch these fortunate idiots.

I have recently taken to analysing my behaviour a lot more than usual, and indeed some of my own traits annoy me. For example, I pick up nuisance words constantly, and often find myself slipping the words 'Totes' 'Soz' or 'Booyah' into everyday conversation, without even realising that I do it. In doing so, I discovered that even I annoy myself.

People around me constantly get under my skin, be it by their behaviour, attitude or speech. The one key thing that gets me frustrated in seconds is arrogance. The sheer fact that somebody would think that they are better than somebody else, and flaunt this in front of them, just gets me angry. Nine times out of ten, the person is question is in fact a poor soul who hides behind a charade of being talented, and tries to climb higher by puting other people down. Even if you are better at something than somebody else, keep it to yourself and deal with it. Who has ever benefited from being an arrogant little twerp?

I never think of myself as being arrogant, but I would say I am far from humble. I'm definitely not perfect, and I don't know anybody who is. It's ironic that the human race seems to have a thirst for perfection, when it's the one thing that nobody has. Everyone has their own weaknesses, and flaws, and everyone wishes they were somebody else. We all dream of being that bit cleverer, or better looking, or richer, or better known. But we aren't. We are ourselves, and as I get older I am discovering that it's OK not to be perfect, and to accept myself for who I am, and what I am, which is, in my opinion, a  good thing.

Every so often, once or twice a month perhaps, I have one of those days that we all have, where we feel like nothing good is ever going to happen, and that we are stuck in an endless descent of misery and pain. The other 29 days though, are spent enjoying myself and making the most. I like to live for the day, because it could be the very last that I spend on Planet Earth, and I want to make it the best I can.

As long as you stay true to yourself, your morals, your hopes and your dreams, and take every second for granted, then your life will be the best you can ever hope for. And it's okay to get annoyed from time to time, or upset and frustrated. That's just a normal part of being human, as is laughing and smiling and all the other things we cherish.

I might not be perfect, but at least I can say that I'm finally happy with me, and that I just can't wait for the future. It's just going to be so much fun...

Vote for change...

You can help to fly a plane at 11. You can join the army, drive a tank and die for your country at 16, and then drive a car at 17. You can do all this before you even have the slightest say in who makes decisions that will affect you and your future.

Discussions have been ongoing for almost 13 years about the possibility of lowering the voting age in the UK to 16. I personally believe that if you can fight for your country then you should be able to vote.

I do understand the arguments against this suggestion however, such as immaturity, manipulation and the lack of interested voters. However, there a few of us out there who want to have a say in what goes on in their country, and are willing to take active participation in it, and most of the arguments are redundant.

There is no way of measuring somebody's maturity, and I have no doubt that a large number of 16 year olds are much more capable of voting than a number of current voters. This also stands for manipulation. All people are capable of being manipulated, and age has very little to do with it.

The argument of a lack of interest from 16 and 17 year olds is also invalid. If you don't want to vote, you don't have to, but that doesn't mean that others shouldn't have that right either. For hundreds of years people across the globe have fought for the right to vote, and the fact that people then can't be bothered to fill in a bit of paper is an insult to their memory.

Take for example the Tories and Lib Dems raising the student fees after they were elected in 2010. Nobody under the age of 18 had any say in them being elected, and their consequent legislation, but we all have to deal with the price.

I strongly believe that with democracy what it is, and the constant modernising of Political systems across the world, young people of 16 and over now have the right to vote in elections.