The Ever Changing Teenage Tech Problem

Originally published on www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

I noticed something strange the other day; during two trips through my town centre, one on the way back from the train and other whilst returning from ASDA I noticed a group of teenagers hadn't moved from a particular spot on a bench. Now this may not seem like anything unusual apart from the fact that they had seemingly been sat there for over an hour, and also appeared not to have parted from their phones.

My partner then informed me that the particular bench they were sitting on was the best place to get free Wi-Fi in the area, as there are four open connections there. This got me thinking that at the age of 22 how much the telephone has changed in the last few years. When I was 15 the thought of being able to sit on a bench and access free Internet through my phone was pretty unfathomable, and for my partner, who is 29, the thought of doing so when he was 15 would have been even more preposterous.

As my brain began to fathom the thought some more, it made me realise that in the last thirty years the technology that allows everyone to communicate has changed vastly, and that the issues for teenagers communicating with each other whilst out and about has changed rapidly as well.

Long gone are the days that your parents talk about when you had to "knock on" to see if someone's in. In fact the though of knocking someone's door not knowing whether they are in or not seems positively medieval these days. But for those who were teenagers in the 90s, thus most likely being born around 1980, the troubles that they experienced when trying to find their friends not only differ from their parents, but also greatly differ from their own children or younger siblings.

For example my partner was born in 1983, therefore the troubles he had would have been similar to others born in the early 80s. His telephone communication issues surround the phone box, which seems positively Stone Age these days, I mean I've never used a phone box in my life and there's only seven years between us. He began telling me about the problems of finding a phone box, making sure you had money to use it and the anger you would feel when you saw someone enter a pound into the aforementioned phone box. The thought of using a phone box to me seems ancient, which fills me with dread about how people feel about my teenage communication methods.

My method of teenage communication however seems a little less pre-historic as mobile phones became the norm by the late 1990s. As I was born in 1990 I was using mobile phones throughout my teens and the main issue I had was my signal cutting out, which usually resulted in dancing around like a lunatic with my arms waving above my head, trying to make my phone grab any dreg of signal that happened to be floating about. When I was 15 we also had WAP, which is an ancient form of mobile Internet only seen now in museums, but everyone knew it was rubbish so didn't really bother with mobile Internet. Besides we had MySpace and MSN to communicate through at home, my how I feel old.

This then brings me to now, I have a younger sister who's only eight years old, yet she has a mobile phone that is more advanced than mine was at the age of 18. It makes me think that by the time she is 15 the major problem when it comes to her mobile phone will be not having a 3G signal in order to Facebook her friends, tweet a whimsical yet non-informative 150 characters via Twitter or to Instagram her lunch, with the thought of actually making a phone call just passing her by. However I think this may already be happening, but as I am now clearly over the tech hill at the age of 22, it doesn't really matter.

All this said I too feel like I've been catapulted back to the Stone Age when my 3G connection cuts out, as I'm sure many of you do. But if I've never used a phone box it makes me a little sad that teenagers these days are going to have much better phones, resulting in tech traumas that I've never heard of, which quite frankly makes me a little jealous for some unknown reason. However if 3G were to cut out completely I wonder how teenagers would communicate? After all without free WI-FI that group of teenagers I saw would have just been sat on a bench, not talking to each other. Oh the joy.

Could Proposition 8 Finally End?

Originally published on www.vadamagazine.com

Gay marriage has been a huge talking point around the world for at least the last 10 years. If you live in the UK then you will know that the coverage the debate has received in the past six months alone is incredible, and hopefully the debate will end soon and gay marriage in the UK will become an everyday occurrence. In America however the debate has caused a huge divide between political parties, individual states and the everyday American.

Indeed the issue of gay marriage in America is a vicious fight that many gay Americans and their supporters have been fighting for years, where they have been met with success and vast hostility alike. Proposition 8 has been high on the agenda for many people around the world for the last few years, and it looks as though the battle to repeal it is once again rearing its head.

This week alone we have seen several incidents across the pond highlighted in the media surrounding Proposition 8, and the hopeful removal of it, as the Supreme Court is due to consider whether to overturn it on March 26th. This comes after the controversial decision in 2008 to add a clause to the Californian constitution, which stated marriage could only be recognised by the state if it were between a man and a woman.

One incident we saw, which could have huge effects on equal marriage in the US, was 75 leading Republicans signing a brief urging the Supreme Court to strike down Proposition 8. This figure has now swelled to over 100 and includes Hollywood actor Clint Eastwood, who was previously against supporting equal marriage. The official document filed with the Supreme Court has also seen a number of former governors and members of George W Bush’s cabinet change their stance on Prop 8 and sign the document, which could also lead to significant effects on the Republican Party.

The Obama administration has also become involved in the issue this week after filing their own brief to the Supreme Court, which also urges them to strike down the ban on equal marriage in the state of California. The document has been welcomed by supporters of equal marriage in America and could in fact be applied to other states that also ban equal marriage.

The administration said of gay Americans in the document: “They establish homes and lives together, support each other financially, share the joys and burdens of raising children, and provide care through illness and comfort at the moment of death.”

President Obama himself has been quoted this week mentioning how he would remove laws banning same-sex marriage if he were a Supreme Court judge saying: “If I were on the court, that would be the view I’d put forward.”

There is hope that with the weight of the President and his administration behind the repeal of Proposition 8 that it could help with its removal.

The Republicans and the Obama Administration are not the only ones to act vocally this week on the repeal of Prop 8. Hugely popular talk show host Ellen DeGeneres wrote an open letter to the Supreme Court on her website talking about her marriage to actress Portia de Rossi, saying: “Portia and I have been married for 4 years and they have been the happiest of my life.”

Some of America’s largest companies such as Facebook, Apple and eBay have also urged the court to remove Proposition 8.

All this debate in the run up to the Supreme Court’s ruling has also seen the revelation of a new poll that shows 61% of Californians support same-sex marriage, which is a record percentage in the state of California and a 9% increase over five years.

It would appear that in the land of free there is still a huge reluctance to allow some people their basic human right to marry the person that they love, and in America we have all read countless articles and heard news stories about the discrimination some gay people still suffer. But with the backing of the general public, celebrities, super companies, political parties and the president of the United States himself, March 26^th could see a huge step forward for equality not only in America but around the world.

When Procrastination Turns Into Laziness

Originally posted on www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

Procrastination is something that I have become a master of over the last few years, which began in sixth form when certain tasks become a priority over my coursework for my A Levels. However at the time I was unaware that this was the development of my status as the procrastination king.

As I went to University I began perfecting this art. As many University students will know, when it comes to gathering a pile of books to find information and quotes to help develop a 2,000 word essay, menial tasks suddenly become the most important things that ever existed. You tend to find yourself taking your clothes to the washing machines knowing that in an hour they will need to be put in the tumble dryer, this means that for the next few hours you can't actually start your essay as you will need to go to the tumble dryer and move your clothes and then ultimately have to bring them back and put them away.

This is only one of a number of tasks I found myself doing during the first two years of my University life, one time I found myself on my hands and knees cleaning my bedroom skirting boards, as they looked a little too dusty. The fact that I had a deadline in a few days time obviously had nothing to do with my sudden need for a spring clean, well that's what I told myself.

I know a whole host of people from my time at University who also found they succumbed to the need to complete pointless tasks in order to delay thinking too much about their essays. However luckily for me by the third year I had grown out of this phase, as I wanted to get my work done and attain a good grade, since this was the main reason I went to University in the first place. I also know that a number of my fellow students grew out of this as the workload got heavier and more important.

This was a good thing as the constant work made sure I couldn't get too distracted, obviously now and again updating my Facebook status became much more important. But overall this art of procrastination was beginning to go as I prepared myself for the workload I would endure when I was finally finished with my studies, and entered the world of full time work.

However for me, like many other graduates things didn't manifest as I'd hoped and I found myself sitting at home applying for copious amounts of jobs praying for the day I'd start work. This therefore brings me to a key point, when does this art of procrastination stop being procrastination and become laziness and more importantly does having nothing to do breed laziness?

I say this because when I was at University procrastination may have distracted me from my studies but it also meant that tasks such as the washing the dishes or doing the laundry got done, and in the end so did my assignments. But now that I am out of University with no assignments I don't find myself becoming distracted by the washing, therefore it doesn't get done as much as it used to.

Now I find myself sat on the sofa, drinking tea, applying for jobs and watching the TV, in a state that many people would call laziness. Its not that I am lazy, in fact I love being busy as I'm sure many other people do, it's just that I have nothing to do, so by having nothing to do these menial tasks become the only thing I have to do and once they are done they are done, leaving me with extra hours to sit around and do nothing.

The way it feels is that whilst the job market is in such a bad state, meaning that many graduates and people in general can't get jobs, leaving them at home with nothing to do after they've done their tedious tasks and applied for all the jobs there are to apply for, which isn't many, they find themselves slipping into a state of being bored where doing nothing is the only thing to do.

With more and more people being out of work for much longer periods of time, and by having nothing to do its looks as though the inability to get many people into work is breeding a generation of experienced laziness as their main skill, not because they are lazy but because it's the only thing they now know how to do.

Britain: The bipolar nation

Originally posted on www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

If you haven't already noticed this week has seen a mass of snow descend upon the entire of the UK, and to say it has been met with a mass of mixed and somewhat strange responses would be an understatement.

Throughout the month of December during the build up to Christmas most people for some reason like the famous song says dream of a white Christmas only to be met with grave disappointment when once again all we get is heavy rain, wind and freezing cold temperatures. We then have to endure the disappointment that these people spread through social media about how gutted they are. Lets be honest we haven't actually had a white Christmas in quite some time as we all know here in the UK it won't actually come until January or February just like it has done in recent years, and given how bad it has been recently you wonder why people do get so excited.

Well as usual January has come along and the snow has come out in full force to put a stop to everything that we would usually do on a day to day basis, you have to wonder how people in countries such as Russia or Norway cope with the amount of snow they get throughout the year, I mean you never hear about those countries coming to a complete stand still do you?

Well I must say that I am probably one of the only people who dislikes snow and I've stuck to this for a long time, so much so that when it did fall last week I came close to avoiding my Facebook, Twitter and especially my Instagram account due to the number of tweets, status updates and pointless pictures of snow covered cars there were, as if people think I can't actually look out of my window and see it for myself.

So what does Britain do during this time, apart from updating their entire friend list about every snowy step they take? Well after the initial few hours of excitement as it falls where they throw face destroying lumps of ice at each other in the form of snowballs, build snowmen that never look like the ones in films as they have some type of road attached to them and enjoy the novelty that is snow, they soon turn from happy snow dancing hippies in a cynical moaning bipolar country that hates snow and never wants to see it again.

Yes we all know what happens, two days later when it begins to turn to suspiciously yellow and brown looking slush and ice the country panic buys every loaf of bread and pint of milk that's around because there's the possibility they may get snowed in. This for a start ruins everything for normal people as you can't have a cup of tea or a piece of toast as someone somewhere is sat with a panic room filled with bread and milk that will expire long before the snow has finally left our streets.

Now they're all sat there moaning that the snow won't leave, they can't get to work because it would probably be an 8 hour trek to get there, which in some cases means no pay and are anxiously praying to the Facebook and Twitter gods for it to go away. In other words they are finally realising why I hate snow in the first place and never wanted it to come.

It's not just snow that endures this but summer as well. You've probably seen some of these ex-snow lovers now praying for some warmth and sun, who are now saying they can't wait for summer. Well we all know what will happen in the summer, everyone will be excited about the sun but then moan about it two days later because it's too hot and the heat of their work office is getting too much for them. This is coming from a country where people will pay hundreds and hundreds of pounds to go to Spain for two weeks.

Lets just face it, no one in this country is ever happy, if we could save the economy from our ability to want something and then continue to moan about how much we hate it when we've got it we would never have entered a recession in the first place, in fact we'd probably be the most powerful country there is.

So for now we will just have to suck it up and deal with the snow and wait for it to go so we can be happy, that is until next year when everyone wets themselves with excitement at the first sight of a flake of snow. There's just no winning.

Seriously ...

I just have to say, what is wrong with children/teenagers???

Now I know I'm only 21 but I can honestly say I was no where near as bad as some kids around at this very moment in time.

Only last week we saw images of numerous children under the age of 16 jumping on board the rioting band wagon in the hope of stealing some new trainers or to simply just smash something up ... seriously what the hell is that all about?

Numerous people said during the riots said they were doing it because there was nothing for them, so because there is 'nothing for them' they decided to smash up what ever was left, smart move! But after seeing a lot of these young criminals in the newspapers quite a few did have something going for them, such as the girl who was an ambassador for the Olympics ... Seriously how can she say that there's nothing go for her?

Only yesterday I was walking into town when something smashed into the side of my leg, which I assume was a tomato after there were seeds all over my leg. The culprits were a group of about 10-15 kids aged between about 12 and 15, who soon ran away after throwing the ever dangerous tomato. 

Now as you can assume I was fuming and rightly so, but what if it hadn't been a fruit? What if had been a brick?

If it had been a brick and it had caught me in the head then I think I can safely say I wouldn't be writing this right now. No doubt these were probably the sort of 15-year-olds who joined the rioting Facebook groups that were promptly shut down last week.

I seriously do not know what is wrong with young people today, and they are giving the remainder of young people a bad reputation. Now I was no saint when I was 15 but I didn't go around throwing things at people and smashing things up! I wouldn't have dared because my mother would have killed me to be quite honest and i think that's is the problem with these idiotic children now, their parents.

They seriously need to learn how to discipline their kids because one day it will be a brick and someone will end up dead ... and whose fault will that be?