Dear Madame,

Considering the current worldwide outbreak of COVID-19 and the current health situation in Brunei, I am writing this letter to suggest ideas on how the government can make the public more aware of the negative effects sugar can have on society.

As everyone aware , people in Brunei commonly rely on quick, processed foods for meals and supper. Since these products often contain added sugar, its make up a large proportion of their daily calorie intake. Experts believe that sugar consumption is a major cause of obesity and many chronic diseases such as heart diseases and even cancer. These diseases and conditions impact the individual and his or her quality of life. These health problems are already big issue in this country. Now with the corona virus hitting the nation, it is associated with the increase of health care costs that place a burden on the government and businesses that is causing Brunei to be severely affected by the virus.

To reduce these health problems, the government should help limit the types of food available to people in Brunei so that they eat less sugar. It is very important for the government to discourage them from eating the most well known sugary foods like candy and fizzy drinks, but also the familiar low-fat yogurt that has a lot of added sugar to enhance its flavor. Not only that, fruit juice, like whole fruit, fruit juice contains some vitamins and minerals. However, despite seeming like a healthy choice, these vitamins and minerals come with a very large dose of sugar and very little fiber. These foods are packed with sugar, yet people don’t realize it.

To help people comprehend how much sugar they consume in a day and educate them on hoe to eat in a healthy way, the government can do a lot of things. Firstly. start with the youngsters by educating them on how to read nutrition label proportion that will help them decide on what is good to eat. The government should also start building a committee for guidelines that will be revised every month and are based on the latest scientific evidence, providing information and advice for choosing nutritious diets, maintaining a healthy weight and adequate exercise. Finally, start up a campaign on the healthy lifestyle that focuses on creating awareness of the importance of a healthy lifestyle among the general public that takes a multi-pronged approach with different activities each year.

Taking into account the significant health emergency caused by the worldwide outbreak of covid-19, I hope that the government can help and make the public more aware of the negative effects sugar can have on society.

Your sincerely, Dania.

Good morning, everyone. My name is Dania Md Nor from grade 10. I am very honored to speak to you about this big issue, the effect of social media on teenagers.

It is no easier than ever to access the internet. there is no doubt that many young people are spending more time online, but did you know there are also negative and positive consequences of using social media? Lets start with one advantage of social media; is that young people can do research for their school work and homework. This often helps teenagers widen their knowledge and improve their grades. On the other hand, there are also negative consequences. Excessive internet use means that some young people hardly talk to their family because they are always on their tablet. They tend to forget how to communicate with strangers when they’re put in scenarios that require face-to-face interactions. They become anxious and have problems articulating their thoughts into coherent sentences.

Social media also has good and bad impact to Bruneian culture. In Islam, we are told to wear unrevealing clothes as revealing clothes show part of the body which we supposed to hide. However, people on social media nowadays tends to post stuff with revealing clothes, making the young people think that is a proper way to dress. Most of the time when trying to argue, they would make an excuse comparing them to the people they see on social media. Although the bad outshines the good, social media does have good consequences. Fashion wise, social media has helped many designers to share their creations to the world. Some examples on how they help us is by watching tutorials on Instagram, YouTube and other platforms. What is posted on social media usually stays on it for a long time, this helps the tradition not to extinct.

Teens have not so great reputation when it comes to knowing how to use social media responsibly, but it’s incredibly important that adults everywhere teach younger generations how to be wise on social media. One, social media and the internet, in general, both , have way of sucking away valuable time without us realizing it. Allow your phone to track your screen time or set limits for yourself on your tablet when it comes to how much time you’re on social media. Sometimes it’s nice t relax by looking through your timeline full of meme or keep up with friends via their Instagram pages, but one huge part of knowing how to use social media responsibly is about your time management. Two, when everyone you know is on social media , it can be easy to caught in online drama don’t you think so? Whether someone posted a horrible picture of someone else or people are simply arguing about politics, you need to stay as uninvolved in the drama as possible and really check your emotions before saying or doing anything. It’s okay to be passionate about causes or stick up for your friends but you need to do it wisely, responsibly and respectfully. Think through your response and be as level-headed as possible so that you are above reproach when it comes to online interactions.

In conclusion, spending time on the internet can have impact on the youngsters, but it also has many good impacts. Personally, I think the internet is an incredible tool and the benefits of internet access outweigh the dangers. However, we should be careful not to use the internet excessively. Do you hear that? My stomach already grumbling. Well, that brings me to the end of my speech today on social media impact and teenagers. I would like to thank every each one of you who come here listening so attentively to everything I have had to say. I hope that you can take some advice from this session to help you use social media more responsibly in the future.

MEDIA’S INFLUENCE ON TEENAGERS
Seeing violent content often enough can make it more likely that someone will be aggressive and violent way and be less understanding of other’s needs and feelings or feel less afraid of their environment. Video games have become one of the favorite activities of children mostly teenager. A growing body of research is linking violent video game play to aggressive cognition, attitudes, and behaviors. Furthermore, Adolescents who expose themselves to greater amounts of violence video game were more hostile, reported getting into arguments with teachers more frequently, were more likely to be involved in physical fights, and performed more poorly in school.

Indirect communication. One of the primary reasons why social media is so popular is because of the lack of real-life interaction that is involved while communicating with people. Texting is one of the biggest ways teenagers communicate nowadays, and while it does have its pros, the cons are also eternally present — the biggest of them being that people are they tend to forget how to communicate with strangers when they’re put in scenarios that require face-to-face interactions that they become anxious and having problems articulating their thoughts into coherent sentences. Teens are masters at keeping themselves occupied in the hours after school until way past bedtime. When they’re not doing their homework they’re online and on their phones, texting, sharing, trolling, scrolling, you name it. For one thing, modern teens are learning to do most of their communication while looking at a screen, not another person

MEDIA’S EFFECT ON CULTURE
Media can manipulate, influence, persuade and pressure society along with controlling the world at times in both positive and negative ways.

Media made it easier to learn about breaking news on social media because it has unlimited access and flexibility that earth has become a global village. We can now know about any part of the world within minutes through TV and internet. Media is the best way to spread knowledge, info and news from one part of the world to other. Media educates the people to know their basic rights and how to use them. As for Teenagers in Brunei who are exposed to and taken interest in the news are more likely to be interested in major social and political issues. This can help to educate them and encourage them to become more involved as citizens of youngsters in Brunei and in their communities. This can also decrease the unemployment in Brunei.

Health experts love to say that sitting is the new smoking. Given the number of diseases to which sitting is linked, and the number of people it apparently kills every year, sitting is one of the worst things we can do for health. But possibly as concerning is the thing that we often do while we’re sitting: Mindlessly scrolling through our social media feeds when we have a few spare minutes. In a study, it was found that the more media adolescents used, the more likely they are to score high on a depression and anxiety sale.

Part of the reason social media makes people feel socially isolated is the comparison factor. We fall into the trap of comparing ourselves to others as we scroll through our feeds, and make judgement about how we measure up. Study looked at how people make comparisons to others posts, in “positive” or “negative” directions—that is, feeling that we’re either better or worse off than our friends. It turned out that both types of comparisons made people feel worse, which is surprising, since in real life, only negative comparisons make people feel bad. But in the social network world, it seems that any kind of comparison is linked to depressive symptoms. It’s no secret that the comparison factor in social media leads to jealousy—most people will admit that seeing other people’s tropical vacations and perfectly behaved kids is envy-inducing. Feeling jealous can make a person want to make his or her own life look better, and post jealousy-inducing posts of their own, in an endless circle of one-upping and feeling jealous.

RECOMMENDATION

Be nice online. Treat people the way you would want to be treated, don’t be hard going person. People who are nasty and aggressive online are at the greatest risk of being bullied or harassed themselves. If someone’s mean to you, try not to react, definitely don’t retaliate, and talk to a trusted adult or a friend who can help. Use privacy tools to block the meanies.
Be your own person. Don’t let friends or strangers pressure you to be someone you aren’t. And know your limits. You may be internet savvy, but people and relationships change, and unexpected stuff can happen on the internet.

In conclusion, social is not always bad for you, they also help you in so many ways. Its you who decide it, to go for positive way or negative way on social media. Also, don’t measure your own life based on what others post. People typically post happy photos and stories online and don’t usually share their boring or sad moments or unflattering photos. Don’t assume that others have better lives than you do, based on what they post.

pedaling at an average speed, I took a look at the Segway by my side and smiled. the old figure next to me smiled while humming one of my favorite song, ‘Im Yours’, by Jason Marz. It was a beautiful autumn morning , the northerly winds were blowing swiftly as the sun rose in a pool of crimson and gold, spilling light all over the land and the white clouds. looking at him, he never grew old, no matter how gray his hair was and how much life spun by, he stayed the same. We simultaneously stopped our Segway in front of our house. My dad took the heavy blue backpack off and opened it searched and took out something i am excited to know.

My dad made way for me to come inside the living room like i was the princess of the day. The light suddenly switched on and blinded my eyes then i heard everyone sing the birthday song. I smiled as I look at everyone with glittered eyes, everyone smiled back. At one point I forgot how I was actually born into a huge lively family. My dad handed me the box with a happy birthday card. I ripped it open, the average sized box consists of the new iPhone generation. I smiled from ear to ear. H knew i’d always wanted a new phone. I could now take good quality pictures for my Instagram page I made recently. Everyone began to go home after chit-chatting and eating marvelous food cooked by the mothers. After everything settled down, I went up to my room to have a nice shower and rest.

I then started to do the assignment my teacher gave out to be handed in the next day. Not until my phone chimed and two notifications popped up and caught my attention that I started to feel comfortable playing with my phone. I curled up in my bed sheet with the phone in hand, leaving any kind of assignment undone. I read the text Honey, my friend ad sent me five minutes ago. She asked me to be her magazine model, Who was I to reject. She knew how i had always aspired to be a model, but every time I looked at myself in the mirror, I always saw a plain-looking girl with a waist, and lengthy messy hair. My self was always low but not after today. I was willing to take the risk.

I started the next day going to a salon to cut and curl my hair. I wore heavy make up for my very first Instagram post. Posted,my phone lit up again and show that someone liked my pictures. I was a little bit suspicious, but washed the feeling off and thought as long as I got more liker, it was good for a newbie.

The next weeks passed by nicely and fast I always had my phone on my hand to update my followers about my where about, a food and things that happened in my life. The same stranger from the first day was the first to like my picture, view my story, comment on every picture and tag me. I still didn’t mind him because I gained more followers everyday because of him. My friends shared shock with me how my Instagram followers increased so fast. They were all amazed by the constant selfie pictures I posted without missing. I couldn’t have felt more ecstatic. All that come to a halt though as I suddenly felt that hard grip, Before anything happened I was dragged inside the van and out of nowhere I felt sleepy.

I then woke up by someone talking something about payment and I found myself lying lifelessly on the ground of an abandoned barn. I grimaced, recalling what had happened. My rear end hurt from the effect of falling I believe. My head hurt from the sudden rush. All I could think of was to get out of here, to see my dad and get over with. As I tried to sit, something attacked me from the back and my vision become blurred.

I woke up I believe for the second time to someone crying I looked around and saw little girl crying at the corner of the place. I asked what was going on and where they were, but she wouldn’t answer me. I then somehow got loose from the rope and started to look for an escape. I found a window and broke it with a chair. I urged the other girl to come with but she was too scared to leave. I left them and ran non stop to he nearest town, staying off the road in case the kidnapper were looking for me. Luckily, I found a phone in the town and called my dad and police.

I am safe now. What I got out of it was it made me stronger. It made me think about my family and my dad during the experience . More and more, I realized how dangerous media is in life and realized I was completely vulnerable and totally at the mercy of the kidnappers. I never felt more revitalized than I am now. I mad an oath to myself never to exposed so much of my privacy on social media.

this is Dania, an ordinary girl who is looking forward to be one famous blogger!