S - Social Media

Talking about Social Media is quite a large topic. I mean there are good and bad points to this widely used form of communication so it's impossible to cover all the points, however I think speaking about the problems surrounding going online is an important topic to talk about.

When I was 11/12 social media was still up and coming, Bebo was still quite popular and it was only when I was becoming a teenager that Facebook took over. Skip to a few years later and twitter was all the range - I can remember creating a twitter account back in 2010 and barely using it for the first year. I was the generation where more and more social media sites were created and slowly became more popular. It's strange seeing all the kids now walking around with their iPhones when they can't be more than 10 years old - at that age I had my sisters old Sendo phone which only form of entertainment was the snake game where you had to gather the grey squares to make the snake longer - that use to keep me entertained for hours.

I think one of the main problems with social media now is the lack of in-person conversation - everyone's guilty of it - I know I definitely am. It's so difficult to stay off your phone even for 10 minutes, I'm ashamed to admit I spend way too much time staring down at my phone when I should be watching where I'm going or when me and my family are out for coffee; I have to constantly remind myself to leave my phone alone and actually make conversation with them or to take in my surroundings - because once I actually do it's so much better than scrolling through instagram or twitter which I can do at home. It's just such a difficult habit to get out of, being on your phone is addictive, however I don't think it could ever replace actual face to face conversation no matter what technology is developed there's nothing like spending time with friends and family and making actual memories with them.

Another issue is privacy, since social media has become more popular around 62% of teens have admitted to having been sent nasty messages via social media, with 37% reporting cyberbullying on a frequent basis. This has increased greatly over the past few years, because it's so easy to send anonymous messages and it's so much harder for the victims to avoid it. It's also much more difficult to report than physical bullying - because although it has the same impact on the person, in-person bullying can be reported to a teacher or parent and action can be taken to prevent it continuing but with cyberbullying it's so much more difficult to stop a person accessing their social media account and sending the messages. 52% of people have never reported the online abuse they've received - and 26% of the teens that did, felt like nothing was done about it. A lot of teens don't even know how to report someone if they are sending abuse - this is because social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter don't make the buttons obvious enough - yes it's easy enough it block someone but how do you actually fill out a form and officially report it? I don't think I even know the answer to that. So I did some research and Here is a website with all the links to report someone for most social media sites. If someone is bullying you, or have just sent you one or two nasty comments please report them. I know it's really difficult to do, but I promise, the first step is always the hardest, and sometimes writing it out to begin with is easier than speaking about it.

I know there are many more problems with social media, but these are just two of the main issues that I really felt needed covering, especially because these two issues are just getting worse as time goes on. This movie on cyberbullying really brings into perspective the dangers of social media and the impact it can have on a person. It covers the majority of the main issues related to cyber bullying and I think it's an important film to watch.

"What happens on social media, stays on google forever"

Until tomorrow,

Alice x

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Hayfever Tips

I've been suffering from hayfever since I was around 10 years old. I suffer horrifically ever year, and I normally take every precaution I can think of to try and prevent my symptoms as much a I can.   

I do get prescribed medication but you can buy other versions of these items over the counter at any pharmacy.

I'm going to start with probably the most obvious Hayfever reliever. There are many different types and brands of hayfever tablets and some are different strengths to others so be sure to read the details on the back of the box. I do get prescribed tablets, however these are the ones that my mum bought at Tesco. Although after comparing the boxes, we realised their wasn't much difference between my tablets and the ones she had bought over the counter. I take 1 hayfever tablet every morning when I wake up, as instructed on the box.

Next, is my nasal spray, I normally use this when I get an itchy nose. I squirt two sprays into each nostril to relieve the itch and I do find this normally works and my nose becomes less irritant. This is my prescribed nasal spray however there are plenty available in pharmacies and supermarkets, the only problem with these are that with most of them, you have to be over 18 years old, so if you are younger and suffering hayfever it may be better to go to your doctors to see what they can recommend.

My prescribed eye drops help relieve any itchiness I get in my eyes. I can use these up to four times a day, however I don't normally use them as regularly as my nasal spray or tablets. Different years I find different areas on my face irritate me however recently, my nose has been worse than my eyes. I normally place one or two drops in each eye when needed, and I do carry the small bottle, as well as some tissues, around with my in the summer season just incase my eyes start irritating me. Eye drops are also avaliable to buy over the counter for £3 to £5 which isn't too expensive. 

 With all three of these items, if you are buying them, I recommend you only buy nasal spray or eye drops if and when you need them, as otherwise the cost will build up over the summer. However, I would buy some hayfever tablets, as although they don't completely stop your symptoms, they do minimise them. 

Eating a teaspoonful of some local honey each day, also helps my hayfever. Although this may seem a bit strange, but I've been doing this since summer last year, and it really does help me. Alongside my other medication, I always ensure I have some honey every morning in the summer season, whether its on toast or I get a teaspoon and outright swallow some honey. The honey pictured below is local to my area, the honey you eat HAS to be from your local bees otherwise it won't help you at all. The logic behind it is that you're affected by your local pollen, so if I'm in Birmingham, my allergy's are coming from Birmingham pollen, but if I went on holiday to Swansea for a week, my allergy's for that week would come from Swansea. So if you eat local honey, that your local bee's have collected, from your local pollen that is giving you allergy's, then you will be building up an immunity to pollen, minimizing your symptoms (kind of like an injection where you are injected with a tiny bit of the disease so your body can build up an immunity against that particular disease). Now, although this hasn't been scientifically proven, and many people say it's just working as a placebo, I think it's like many remedies, different one's work for different people. I definitely recommend giving it a go, and after a month or two, you don't see any difference then perhaps just continue with your normal relievers, but it's always worth a try right? 

Finally, my last tip to help prevent your hayfever is wearing sunglasses. Now I know this one seems too simple to even be worth trying, but when I'm outside during a summers day, wearing sunglasses always helps prevent my eyes from becoming itchy. I think this because my eyes are covered and so they aren't directly targeted by pollen. Even if the sun has briefly gone behind the clouds, ensure you keep your glasses on and see what happens, and if it helps you at all.

Let me know if any of these tips help you this summer, or if you think any of them are useless, as they didn't help you at all. 

"Being allergic to pollen, makes us sneeze, it would be worse, if we were Bees" 

Until Next time,

Alice x

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