Global Village Voice

Several GVS students recently participated in a writing competition put on by YES! Magazine.  Here is the entry submitted by Alex, a GVS 9th grader.

A gift. Does everyone have one? Yes. It may be obvious, or not. Some may push it down, or some may discover and develop it. A gift comes in many shapes and forms. It could be the gift to write, to communicate with animals (like the boy in the Blessings Revealed article), to dance, to fix cars. But my gift is none of these. But can’t anyone do these things? You may ask. Yes, I say. I may be able to do these things with time and perseverance, but what is my real, true gift? The gift that I was born with to give to the world, and to myself? It is the thing that I love most. It is acting.

Read More…

Posted under Culture, Current Events, Education, Homeschooling, Personal Growth, Students and Alumni

Bullying – Dying to Be Accepted

By K, a GVS 11^th grader

I chose to study the subject of bullying because I strongly feel it is relevant to the time we are living in right now.  Old modes of behavior that belong in ‘The Old World Order’ are being put away in favor of a new way of thinking about human development.  High profile cases in recent times have brought attention to a subject that has long been considered a rite of passage for young people.  The true nature of this rite has been exposed as a human rights violation.  It is not ‘kids being kids’.  It is an institutional and societal-condoned breach of basic trust.

I have been a victim of bullying.  It was so degrading, because I didn’t want to be known as weak, but I didn’t want to fight.  I also didn’t want to be known as a tattle tale.  There is a saying: “Snitches get stitches,” which every high school teenager is familiar with hearing.  I walked into a bathroom the first day of school and three boys on the wrestling team confronted me.  One of them challenged me and then put me in a chokehold.  I was vulnerable and outnumbered.  Luckily for me, I have a strong support system at home and the situation was resolved. Still, it stayed with me, in my mind.  I can imagine that someone who does not have support at home or does not feel they can talk to their family about bullying would feel very isolated and helpless to take action.

Bullying has become a national epidemic and suicides have drawn attention to the plight of teenagers who are victims of the practice.  This is why I chose to write ‘The Ten Amendments’ to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  They make provisions for children to be protected from the practice of bullying.  It should be a zero tolerance law.  No one should be afraid to be who they are because they fear being bullied.

Read More…

Posted under Culture, Current Events, Education, Personal Growth, Students and Alumni

Get tips, tricks, and insights from this family trying to live a low-impact life in the heart of the city of Pasadena.

http://urbanhomestead.org/about

Posted under Activism, Current Events, Personal Growth, Resources

Parents, make sure you’re working some time outside into your curricular plans!

Source: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/06/want-to-feel-more-alive-study-shows-you-need-to-go-outside.php

by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California

We kind of already know this – if not intuitively then through past studies – but a new study has shown that when you spend more time out in nature, you feel more alive. Published in this month’s issue of the Journal of Environmental Psychology, the study shows that getting out and communing with nature is better for feeling rejuvenated than reaching for the ever-so-urban cup of coffee. “Nature is fuel for the soul, ” says Richard Ryan, lead author and a professor of psychology at the University of Rochester. Both physically and mentally, we’re zippier when we step into the wild.

Science Daily writes, “The findings, adds Ryan, are important for both mental and physical health. ‘Research has shown that people with a greater sense of vitality don’t just have more energy for things they want to do, they are also more resilient to physical illnesses. One of the pathways to health may be to spend more time in natural settings,’ says Ryan.”

Read More…

Posted under Current Events, Personal Growth, Soul Food

by Pam Allyn

When the sun goes down, fears come up. The blessing of a transcendent story for any age is that it helps us to escape, to relate, to connect and to understand the perils and magic of our mortal universe.

Great children’s literature assures us that frail looking boys with scars on their foreheads can become heroes, spiders can write words to save lives and bunnies can go to bed fearlessly. Great children’s literature inspires us to want to live backwards: to live as openly and tenderly as a child. Great children’s literature for adults encourages us to live every day with intention to make the world harmonious for children, just as Fern’s father did in Charlotte’s Web when he lowered the ax on that fateful day and spared Wilbur.

Here, below, are my top recommendations for bedtime reading for all ages for the year 2010. In the midst of the swirling clouds of conversations on recession, terrorism threats and environmental anxieties, our great authors, honoring the mysterious yet profound world of childhood, steer us toward peace and community, and the promise of hope in the morning.

Read More…

Posted under Culture, Education, Personal Growth