Do you know if they know it's Christmas?

If Bono from U2 has taught us anything, it's that there are people in the world much less fortunate than us. Even as I write this, children in Africa are starving to death from famine and getting diseases from malnutrition and harsh living conditions. While there are people out there that care about this and are actively helping those in need, the majority of the first world population are perfectly content to lie in their recliners next to their fireplace, turn on their plasma TV, watch Live Aid and say that they care. Of course, it would be ignorant and cruel of them to say they don't care. I'm sure they feel very sympathetic watching that eye-opening documentary about flood and famine, before turning over to the news and complaining about the light drizzle that's to be expected in the local area.

I am being slightly hypocritical. I; like most others, feel genuinely sorry for those people. But am I inclined to go out there and make a difference? Am I inclined to research the topic further beyond the TV shows? Am I inclined to donate two bloody pounds to charity to aid a starving boy in Africa? The answer is obvious and is one that hopefully you will think long and hard about. The simple truth comes in three general responses: "It's not my job," "How will two quid make a difference" and "It's their problem." Would you answer like one of these? Would you donate money? Would you fly to Africa and give your soul in the people there? Or would you simply say you feel sorry for them?

The people who are out there dying do NOT need your pity. Quite frankly, if you wasn't living life luxuriously enough to own a TV, you would have no clue as to what is going on over there. By watching that TV and saying you care, you are effectively looking into the eyes of a thin African boy in rags, tutting and sighing in dismay and then casting him aside. Maybe it's because we first-world citizens are spoon fed this emotional crap by the the media, showing us the horrors of life over there, yet providing little to no insight on how and why we should help. Maybe it's because we have no real experience of living in such conditions. Or maybe it's just ignorance. So next time somebody says they care, tell them to stop lying to themselves, to go home and watch their TV's and forget about such an audacious notion. It's what would happen anyway.

Have they got no web-sense?

Homework is overdue. Must be finished by the end of break. I boot up the computer, log in, open the web browser, search for some salvation. Google churns out some results. I gratefully click the top website. I thank god for the Internet and the freedom it gives you. Websense. The site is blocked. Gratefulness turns to hatred. I've been stabbed in the back. Shot in the face. Thrown into a lake and left to die. Freedom becomes a far-off dream, drifting further away until it's gone. I am alone now. Homework is overdue.

The schools computer network has never been perfect. Some computers have a low resolution, others can take ten minutes to log in. I've overlooked these problems in the past, but I cross the line when they try to limit our freedom. Downloads are prohibited. Monitors are monitored. Those horrendous desktop backgrounds can't be changed, nor can we add our own files to the desktop. All this pales in comparison to what they've done to the Internet. I understand the need to protect minors from harmful material, but when you can't access a website about historical events or GCSE revision, you can't help but think: WTF!?!

I know what you're thinking. I sound like your typical disgruntled student who can't access his favourite flash game websites and so is blogging the issue on here. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't. For every hundred Google pages under the search term "flash games", there is one; maybe two, websites that aren't blocked. Why? During a conversation with an IT teacher, he told us that websense was there to protect us from weirdo's and such, or just generally harmful content. But how this necessitates blocking a rather innocent flash game website, I will never know. That teacher was only giving us half the news. The truth is, they don't want us doing anything on their computers other than the work they set. And I have heard many teachers threaten us with this. "If you're not doing work, it's an hour's detention. Any website not related to work and your in for it." This is what you here during a free period. But the problem is, nearly every website not directly approved by the school is likely to end up blocked. They want to eliminate all distractions, yet in doing so have dangerously imposed on our freedom in surfing the web. And if freedom is what the internet is all about- be it the freedom to say or to play what you like, then it is no longer an enterprise of freedom for anyone undergoing education. If I didn't have a home computer, then I wouldn't be writing this blog. My opinion would never be voiced. The school would assume total control over how the internet is used. And the homework will still be overdue.