Writing Competition

Writing Competition for Girls, Issy 13 Years

Yeah, so I’m a girl. That means a lot of things to me: that it is acceptable for me to wear a skirt, and that my voice is higher and I’m shorter than most of the un-girl population. It also means that my room is painted baby blue and that I have a dolls house, and that I love ballet more than anything else…

Well, not really. These stereotypes may be considered part of the female populace, but I know at least two boys who love ballet, and I’m sure plenty played with dolls, just as we have probably all fiddled around with matchbox cars. And I suppose skirts are really no different to the Scottish kilt. I’m not even that short. 

Some things, I just couldn’t be or do or have, without being a girl. Being a girl means I go to the school that I attend, instead of the male equivalent half a mile away, it means I have the friends that I do and that I wear the clothes I choose to wear. It also means I get cramps once a month and that I sing in the soprano part of my choir. In ballet, I’ll be on pointe and I don’t need to worry about supporting any weight but my own. Being a girl is a pretty trivial thing, most of the time; just because we have never known anything different. 

But sometimes, in some sort of moment when your brain goes really philosophical, you sit down and realize how special it is to be female. In being born a girl, you’ve already overcome the chance, which is just over 50% of being male – so you are already more rare and unique. In all honesty, however, you are so special because, with most women; anything they achieve, they are already defying what people thought they could do.

Once upon a time, a woman wouldn’t have a job of any status, she’d be owned by her husband, she wouldn’t be properly educated. If a girl goes to school and goes on to a good job, then she has already done what many people, once upon a time, would never have believed possible. If she marks a ballot paper and votes for a new Prime Minister or President, then she is doing what men said women were too weak to do.

To me, that’s really something. Just being a girl at school, right now, means that I am surpassing ancient expectations. Nowadays, there are far less pressures on women; but some things are still here. If you like a boy, and you ask him out – that’s too eager. Your average girl would flirt and sit around and wait for him to ask her…and in society, that’s not too keen. As a girl, you are expected to follow certain trends – you get told that you should wear makeup or high heels, follow fashions.

Boys don’t seem to have all this pressure on how they look, and that appeals to me sometimes – to not be told I should care.

Most of my role models are fictional characters, because these people are often far better than in real life. One of the women in a book that I admire greatly, is Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter series. The one thing that makes her special and unlike anyone I’ve ever met, is that she honestly doesn’t care about what other people think about her. She is brave, good, witty and loyal; and she is fighting against the Dark Lord wearing a necklace made of butterbeer corks and billywig earrings.

Another is Katherine Valentine, from Mortal Engines; because she was a strong female without being violent or coarse – she broke down barriers within “London”, she put cities that could feasibly kill her first, because of the civilians inside, and finished her mission with death, when she realised she could do no more, and when not doing so would kill a stranger who had more to give. Those are the heroes, of my books, but more special to me are girls like Sylvie (Sylvie and the Songman) or Clarice Bean – they are good people who I can be like, who I can achieve with and feel like they are completely real people.

So, yeah, I’m a girl. In some ways, that means nothing, and in others; well…it means the world.

 

 

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Writing Competition

Writing Competition for Girls – Jo, 13 Years

Jo is 13 years old. This was her entry for the 2012 Jump! Mag Writing Competition

 

 

 

I’m a scout and I go on a lot of camps every year. My favourite is a camp called Bivouac. It is a back to nature camp where we learn all sorts of useful survival skills and is great character building.

We set of very early on Saturday morning and travel, without tents, to the Forest Of Dean. We then build our own shelter and a fire. We cook all of our own food but we aren’t allowed certain foods because they are too processed.

There are four years to complete, Training, Assessment, Junior Leader and Junior Staff. On Training you are taught how to build your Bivvy (shelter) , how to make your own implements,  how to start a fire and keep it going, and how to cook on a fire when you don’t have any pans.

We were also taught basic first aid and other things you would need if stuck in the wild.

On Assessment we are tested on all the things we learnt last year. This time we have to do it by our selves and get points for skills in:

Building a Shelter

Building a Fire and keeping it going

Food you prepare

Identifying which are the Edible plants (you don’t have to eat them)

Direction Finder (2 methods)

Water Filter

Site Clearance

I’m not old enough yet to have completed the other two,  but hope to return next year and the year after.

This is a really fun thing to do and you find out a lot more about yourself and what you’re made of by challenging yourself like this.

 

Jo

Birmingham

Aged 13

 

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Writing Competition

Writing Competition for Girls – Libby 10 Years

Girls. If you were a person a couple of decades ago you would think of a  basically second-class citizen. Despite everything that women have done to try and stop this cultural discrimination we seem to have gone backwards in the past twenty years.

 

Even now you get the cultural branding ‘Girls cry. Boys don’t.’. Why? Where exactly is the scientific proof, the experiments and evidence?Also the ridiculous beauty products that women are expected to wear. Once more, why? Why is it that women are expected to wear these beauty products and boys are not? It just does not make sense. If it is a once in a while thing on special occasions it is understandable but all of the time! It can also be very damaging to your face, causing some people’s faces to be unable to move.

 

It is the same with school. A recent survey showed that nearly half of all state schools sent absolutely no girls to do physics A-levels as it was stereotyped a ‘boys’ subject.

 

In fact in nearly every thing women do there is some sort of restricting thing that stops you doing things, whether it is running around or showing what your face actually looks like.

In modern society you always seem to here about teenage girls of vulnerable age getting pushed around and used… again, why?

 

Yet despite all of this many women do amazingly well in their careers and lives. In a way this makes all of the great women in the world even more remarkable than the men because they had to overcome the particular obstacles of being born women.

 

The Olympics has really underlined the fact that this country and every  other has just as much female talent as male.

 

My particular role model is Professor Frances Ashcroft, who found a way for people with a rare type of Diabetes called Neonatal Diabetes to take pills instead of injecting themselves or relying on insulin pumps to give them insulin.

 

I find it very unfair that, even now you get men controlling women, less chances of education for girls and cultural stereotyping. I think that if we don’t do something now completely equal rights just isn’t going to happen and I really hope that something happens that will show the world anything boys can do girls can do better (no offense boys!)!

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Writing Competition

Writing Competition for Girls – Nicola, 11 Years

Hi, My name is Nicola. I’m 11 yrs old and am a Scout. I have been through Beavers and Cubs, and enjoyed them both enormously.   Last weekend, I went on a camp called BrumVenture, where Scouts from all over the County, camp at Pikes Pool for the weekend. 

You do not have to go with your Scout Troop, any Birmingham Scout can apply, and you mix with lots of other Scouts from right across the City.   BrumVenture is a badge camp, where you can choose which badge you do from a choice of about 12 badges.   Some of the badges were – pioneering, radio communicators, DIY, kayaking, cycling, mechanics or photography.  I chose Forester badge.   We learned about different types of trees, and also learned how to use axes and saws safely.

The camp itself was excellent.  We had lovely food – all cooked by Scouts doing the Camp Cook Badge – and we were lucky enough to have great weather too.

In the evenings, there was a camp fire on the one evening and a quiz on the other. The camp fire in particular was loads of fun with lots of songs and lots of fun.

What made this even better than other camps I’ve been on, was that we were visited by Bear Grylls, the Chief Scout.  He arrived and left by helicopter, and stayed for 55mins, and went round to lots of the badges, and had a go at some of the activities. At the end, as he ran back up the hill to his helicopter, ha gave as many Scouts as he could a ‘high five’. I was lucky enough to get a ‘high five’ off Bear Grylls.

The camp was good fun and I learnt lots of new skills and made some new friends. I’m looking forward to my next camp in December.

That’s what real girls do to have fun.

 

 

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Writing Competition

Jump! Mag Writing Competition for Girls – Zara, Six Years Old

 

Zara was the youngest participant in the Jump! Mag Writing Competition for Girls. We think she has a great career ahead of her as a writer, and look forward to her further contributions to Jump! Mag.

Don’t forget to <like> Zara’s article by clicking on the little heart next to the title.

Check out the the other entries, and the winners of the Jump! Mag Writing Competition for Girls 2012.

 

I have my own bus that has my name on the front in big red letters. I’m very lucky because I have lots of toys and a little sister who is annoying sometimes but very funny. I like reading Roald Dahl books and I like going to school.

My favourite part of school is lunch time because I can play on the tyres. I wrote a story at school about a dragon who was guarding a castle with a prince and a dinosaur inside.

When I grow up, I want to be like Mummy because she has beautiful hair and I would like to be a coffee shop lady and work in Mummy’s coffee shop.

love my teacher, Mrs Rogers because she teaches me lots of things.

I don’t think it’s fair that some girls aren’t allowed to go to school. But I hope they all have a Mummy to look after them.

My favourite thing to do is digging holes in the garden. I am going to dig to Australia.

The best thing about being a girl is playing with girls toys. I like hair style barbies. I used to want to be a hairdresser but now I want to work in Mummy’s shop.

I don’t like bedtime or eating horrible food.

 

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