Exams are coming!To stress or not to stress!

Studying for final exams can be quite stressful. Some students deal with stress well while others (their parents too sometimes.!) have the fear of failure even if they are well prepared for a test. Here are some tips to help you reduce stress and anxiety:

• Get Enough Sleep. Studies have shown that if you don't sleep at least 7 hours a day it will negatively affect your performance on tests, even if you spend those missed hours of sleep studying.
  
• Study Smarter:Make a list of the most important things you need to learn, in order of importance, study the items at the top of the list first and try to calculate the amount of time you have for each subject you have to study.
  
• Get Organized: a system of organization for note-taking, keeping track of assignments, and other important papers. Being organised can bring you the peace of mind that comes from knowing where everything is, remembering deadlines and test dates.
  
• Create a Good Study Environment: Creating a personal environment can reduce stress and help you learn more effectively.
  
• Know Your Learning Style: Did you know that we don’t all learn in the same way? So you can try and find out your own learning style and test your knowledge and different learning techniques before the final exams.
  

How stress affects you? How do you handle stress?

Good luck

Emo or trendy?

All teenagers love music! It's often music adults hate, and it is usually played at maximum decibels. 
Music is shared between teenagers and they tend to choose their friends according to their music preferences. . It gives them a sense of identity, a feeling of belonging to a group. Most of the times music goes together with fashion trends as well as hair cut! Everyone, since the explosion of rock music, can remember a band and their special looks!Your are either a heavy metal fan or a pop fan, an emo or a trendy! What is your favourite music? Do you think it is important that your friend listens to the same music as you? 

Eurovision song contest is coming..Eurotrash is back!!!

Eurovision is in fact Europe's favourite Tv show. Every year millions of viewers from all over Europe get together in front of their tv screens and watch the most popular song contest in the world. It's a great chance to spend your time with your family and friends, vote the the song or the country you like, gossip and have fun! Eurotrash is the term term that is used to describe this phenomenon as weird performers with bizzar costumes appear on stage and represent their country. There are thousands of Eurovision fans and clubs  all over Europe that follow their favourite singers everywhere they go. Winning the first prize is even considered as a national victory in some countries. There are also lots of money involved in the Eurovision song contest, especially bets about the top 5 songs. The bottom line is that it's a great way to spend the night with your friends gossiping!!Except if you have something more important to do! What do you think about the song contest?    

How can a slumdog be a millonaire?

Darhami is a neighbourhood in India. It is the poorest city in Asia and it is the location where "Slumdog millionaire" was filmed, a new movie that won 8 Oscar awards. The film is about a boy who grows up in Darhami, India and some time in his life he chooses to take part in a popular tv show called "who wants to be a millionaire?". But how can a poor boy without basic education answer all the questions in the show? Every moment of his life is a clue to the answers. The film is quite realistic about the way of life and the conditions in that part of the world. The neighbourhood has one of the highest poverty rates in the world. There is one toilet per 1500 people; drinking water is polluted; people live in carton handmade homes,, they wash their clothes and themselves in the same river and they sometimes eat what's left from rubbish as they try to survive on 1 euro per day! The saddest part of the story is that only in india 78% of the population (800.000.000 million!!!) live in similar conditions! How can we fight poverty? Can you suggest ways to help the poor?

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Internet Dating! Not like real life!

If Romeo and Juliet were born in our days they would probably meet in a chatroom!

Most teenagers use the internet for social reasons, either to communicate with their existing friends and classmates or to make new friends. They use instant messaging services like msn, chatrooms and social sites like Hi5, Myspace and Facebook. Online gaming is also very popular. They watch videos on youtube, exchange photos, songs and ideas online. It is easy to find someone who has the same interests as you, especially if you speak english! The question is whether it is safe for teenagers to surf the net without control as the internet is the mirror of our society and you never know who is really the person you are talking to! So never give your contact details to someone you meet on the internet.

Have you met someone on the internet? What do you use the internet for?

Peer Pressure:Why it is hard to say no to your friends?

Peer pressure is something that everyone has to deal with at a time especially when you want to be part of a group. Most of us tend to behave differently when they are in a group. Teenagers usually follow their friends even if they don't really agree with them because they don't want to be isolated. They skip a boring lesson, make fun of a weak classmate, and sometimes hang out with a popular person who is a bad influence on them even though they don't really like because they don't want to be called cowards or geeks! Think for yourself and choose your friends wisely. Hang out with people who will act and think the same as you and don't be afraid to say no! Has someone of your age ever persuaded you to do something you didn't want to do?What do you do when your friends are all doing something that you don't really want to do?

Mobile phones and Children:Toast Brain !!!

Parents should make sure that children use their mobile phones only when absolutely necessary, and even though there is still no proof that they are unsafe, experts say that there is possible health risk. Especially children under 8 should not use mobile phones at all! The Mobile Phones industry is trying to sell more mobile phones to children so they advertise their products to 7 -10 year old children. One in four 7-10 year old children now own a mobile phone! They use it mainly to send messages to their classmates, play games and talk to their parent when necessary. Parents often feel that their children should have a mobile phone for safety reasons but they are warned to control their children. Medical studies have clearly shown that heavy use of the mobile phone by 7-10 year old children causes health problems, affects brain functions, and the radiation from a mobile phone can even cause DNA damage. Do you own a mobile phone? How often do you use it?