Science, Nature and Tech

Facebook For Kids – Good or Bad?

Do you use Facebook? While it is officially banned for under 13 years, a survey last year showed that almost half of Britain’s pre-teens have a Facebook account. Joanna Bradey tells us what she likes about Facebook.

 

Facebook: What’s it all about?

 

Facebook is a website created in 2004 by a US college student Mark Zuckerberg. It started off as a way of college students to network with each other, which quickly spread throughout the world, and now has millions of members. Facebook works by people registering and creating a profile for themselves, and then becoming ‘friends’ with other people. A user can update their status to let their friends know what they’re up to, upload photos to share, send private messages to each other, and play games.  You need to be at least 13 years old to be a member, and Facebook is banned in some countries altogether, like Syria and Iran.

The thing that I like about Facebook is that it is a quick and easy way to keep in touch with all those people I have met in real-life but don’t have time to write to or call them, like old workmates or family that have moved away. I can upload a photo and anyone I am friends with can see it, and comment on it. In the days before Facebook, if I wanted to share a photo with everyone, I would have to print out lots of copies and send them in the post, which is very expensive and time-consuming. Since I joined Facebook, I am better at communicating with people and I enjoy seeing what all my friends and family are doing. I think that I know them better and it’s easy to keep-in-touch.

Read More...

Toys and Games

Video Games for the Family – For Everyone To Enjoy

My name is Andy Robertson and I write about video games for a living and have three children (10, 8 and 6 years old). Video-games are a tricky part of life to get right in a family, too much and they take over every waking hour, too little and they become consigned to kid’s bedrooms and dad’s bathroom breaks.
I’ve been working with families for the last few years to help them get more out of the games they play. Playing games together, usually downstairs in the shared family spaces, along with introducing a wider range of gaming experiences can transform their place in the home.

Read More...

Written By You

The Fall – A Short Story in Three Parts – Part Three

This is the third of a three part story by 10 year old Alice. Read Part One and Part Two first.

 

My view is hazy, but I can work out the blurry shape of a nurse, standing by my bed. My eyelids shut; the light was stinging my eyes.

“Hello?” The voice is soft. I decide to answer.

“Hello,” I answer.

“I’m Josie,” says the nurse, pulling up a chair beside the bed. “What’s your name?”

“Kieran,” I reply, chewing my lip.

“Well, Kieran, you’ve been through a lot,” she says. She feels my forehead. “You had a raging fever you know. How do you feel now?”

Read More...

Art & History, Written By You

Gentry or Servant? Which Would You Choose To Be? – Written By You

You will all know what a ‘servant’ is, I am sure  – Perhaps your Mum says that sometimes when you ask her to do too much for you ‘Do you think I am your servant?’ 🙂

Do you know we mean when we say ‘the gentry’? According to this website 

The gentry were the people who were knights, squires, gentlemen and gentlewoman whose fortunes were great that they did not have to work with their hands for a living. Their numbers grew rapidly and became the most important class during Elizabethan time. They could start as a knight and through generations and marriages, they could gradually build a wealth and title. Most of the important people of this time came from this class.

Back in Tudor times (between 1485 and 1603), a person couldn’t choose to be born into the gentry. Today groups of people all over the world get together to reenact various periods of history, including the Tudor period.

Alison has been on both sides of the gentry/servant divide and tells us all about reenactments, making your own clothes and living like a Tudor girl, at least for a weekend. 

Read More...