Two years ago, my family and I travelled to our village during the festive period. We were excited to see relatives we had not seen in a long time. When the celebrations ended, it was time to return to Abuja.

We left the village around 5:00 a.m., and I was still very sleepy. We travelled early because the journey from the village to Abuja was long, and my daddy was the one driving.

When we got to Okene in Kogi State, we met a large crowd dressed in white clothes. They were holding weapons such as cutlasses, machetes and local guns. They were shouting, dancing, and hitting their weapons on passing cars. Aggressive masquerades, roughly dressed and carrying long canes, were running after people and beating them.

My daddy did not know he was supposed to stop until they finished whatever they were doing. He drove into the middle of the crowd, and about twenty masquerades surrounded our car, hitting it and threatening to kill us. They ordered us to keep our faces down.

We bent down, crying and praying for our lives, until some people came and pleaded on our behalf. We were eventually allowed to go, but not before my daddy had to give them some money to calm them.

It was a very frightening experience, and I pray never to go through such an experience again.

Radiance Chibuzo is a grade 4 student of Lordswill Academy, Abuja

The post The aggressive masquerades appeared first on Teen Trust News.

The benefits of blogging are tremendous, especially for young people. They can develop much improved writing skills which will stick with them forever, their thinking muscles will be in continuous development, and they will also develop a better understanding of the world that surrounds them.

Here are several reasons why students should start their own, personal blogs.

Blogging exercises student creativity

One of the best benefits that come as a result of blogging is that it allows people to express and hone their creativity. This can turn a boring paper into a fun creative process.

Bloggers always need to use their creativity and thinking to:

•         Develop unique and original content
•         Solve problems
•         Express their perspective and personality visually trough custom themes, headers, layouts, designs, and pictures.
•         Respond to their followers’ feedback and comments.

Besides, it’s also a fun and innovative process in which they can combine much of what they have learned.

Regular writing sharpens the brain’s performance

The development of a student’s thinking may be the most important benefit that comes with blogging. Many specialists talk about the phenomenon of how daily writing (content, thoughts, experiences, fantasies, or anything you want) improves and sharpens your brain’s performance.

Blogging helps you connect the dots better and faster. You should encourage each of your students to develop their personal blog and create a portfolio around it. It will help them big time when they seek their first jobs!

Promote expression of self

In the traditional classroom, the students’ audience is mainly the teacher and perhaps, sometimes, parents and the classmates. If a student were to blog regularly, she will reach a broader audience, and can receive constructive feedback.

Blogging gives students purpose, this being a crucial aspect of every personal motivation. Also, when a student starts a platform, he would feel the need to consistently provide his audience with good information. These are aspects that truly cant be found in the traditional classroom learning system.

Blogging Boosts Confidence

People that own blogs report critical changes in their lives. Many of them suggest that they have found themselves or that they have finally understood. This may sound like a spiritual breakthrough, but it is not.

In fact, what most people want to say is that their confidence levels have improved. They are no longer afraid to speak what they hold in their minds, and they feel less pressure to conform to the standards.

Improve Communication Skills

Writing, after all, is simply a type of communication that people use in order to exchange thoughts and feelings. Let’s keep it simple: if your students write something for their blog every day, they will express their thoughts and feelings on a consistent basis. The more they practice through blogging, the better communicators they will become.

Earn Income!

Are your students aware of how much money can be made with blogging? Are you?

Indeed, writing is a skill that never goes away. Just like you learn how to drive once, your writing skills will stick with you no matter what. Many bloggers find aside work, writing for extra income.

If your students want to take their blog to the next level, they can start monetizing it by doing affiliate marketing, e-commerce, consulting, and so on.

Takeaways

The world is evolving. Along with it, so do many aspects of our existence. Ten years ago, very few people were affording an iPhone, only a few were able to access information on the web while mobile, and blogging was a relatively new thing. Now? Everything is slowly turning to digital. Blogging is a great way to reflect, sharpen writing skills, express yourself, and gain know-how that can benefit students in many ways.

The post Why students should blog: 6 powerful benefits appeared first on Teen Trust News.

Are you a student with a passion for visual arts? Great news you can turn your talent into a money making opportunity! Here’s how you can start earning while perfecting your skills:

Sell Your Artwork

Create and sell your drawings, paintings, or digital art to classmates, teachers, and even online. You can organise small art sales during school events or showcase your work on social media platforms to attract buyers.

Offer Custom Designs

Many people need custom art, such as portraits or personalised designs for birthdays, holidays, or special events. Advertise your services by showing samples of your work and taking orders for unique pieces.

Create Handmade Crafts

If you enjoy working with your hands, consider making and selling crafts like handmade greeting cards, key-chains, or painted notebooks. These items can be sold at school or at local markets.

Teach Art Classes

If you’re skilled enough, you can offer beginner art lessons to younger students. You can charge a small fee for teaching basic drawing or painting techniques during your free time or after school.

Collaborate with School Clubs

Work with school clubs to create posters, banners, or decorations for their events. They may pay for your designs, and it’s a great way to get your name out there as an artist.

Join Competitions

Many art competitions offer cash prizes. Look out for local or national contests you can enter. Even if you don’t win, participating in competitions helps build your portfolio and reputation.

Sell Digital Art

If you’re into digital illustration, consider creating logos, avatars, or social media banners for people. Digital art can be sold online easily, and many small businesses or individuals may be interested in your services.

Making money as a visual art student is possible with creativity, hard work, and a bit of entrepreneurial spirit. Start small, promote your talent, and watch as your passion for art turns into a profitable venture!

Participating in Art Exhibitions

Art exhibitions provide an important platform for artists to display their work and potentially sell it. These events not only serve as a showcase of talent but also create opportunities for artists to interact with the broader art community.

Direct Income and Exposure: Selling art at exhibitions can lead to direct income and the chance for future commissions, significantly boosting an artist’s visibility.

Valuable Networking: Exhibitions provide exceptional networking opportunities, linking artists with gallery owners, collectors, and other experts who can benefit their professional journey.

Teaching Art Workshops

Teaching art allows artists to share their passion and expertise, providing a meaningful income source while contributing to their community. Art workshops cater to a diverse audience, enriching the artist’s teaching experience and skill set.

Community Contribution: By teaching art, artists engage directly with their community, fostering a supportive network and enhancing local art appreciation.

Personal Skill Development: Instructing others challenges artists to refine their own techniques and understanding, promoting professional and personal growth.

Licensing Artwork

Licensing art for commercial use opens the door for artists to earn passive income and reach a wider audience. This method allows artists to expand their brand beyond standard art spaces and into the commercial market.

Sustainable Revenue: Art licensing offers a steady income stream, as artists earn royalties from the sale of products featuring their designs.

Brand Visibility: By licensing their work, artists introduce their art to new audiences, expanding their reach and influence beyond the gallery setting.

Balancing art and income

For art students, the journey to financial stability is both a challenge and an opportunity for growth. Exploring ways how to make money from art requires creativity, initiative, and a willingness to venture into less traditional roles like art shipping. By expanding their range of income sources and applying both artistic and academic skills, students can guide their academic years with financial security and gain valuable professional experience, allowing them to establish a strong foundation for a future career in the arts.

The post How to make money as a Visual Art student appeared first on Teen Trust News.

She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed.

Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire.

Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot and ground coffee beans in the third pot. He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter.

The daughter moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. After twenty minutes he turned off the burners.

He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup.

Turning to her, he asked. “Daughter, what do you see?”

“Potatoes, eggs and coffee,” she hastily replied.

“Look closer” he said, “and touch the potatoes.” She did and noted that they were soft.

He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.

Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.

“Father, what does this mean?” she asked. 

He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity-the boiling water. However, each one reacted differently. The potato went in strong, hard and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak.

The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg becomes hard.

However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.

“Which one are you?” he asked his daughter.

Moral of the story: 

In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is how you choose to react to it and what you make out of it.a

The post The struggles of our life appeared first on Teen Trust News.

By the time students reach high school, friendships become more stable. “In middle school, it’s unusual for an individual to maintain the same group of close friends over the space of 18 months,” says B. Bradford Brown, an educational psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison: “In high school, that is no longer the case.” 

Likely because individual identities are more solidified, older teens tolerate greater dissimilarity in one another. As a result, compromise and collaboration increasingly take the place of conformity.

Like friendship churn, concern over one’s reputation in broader groups peaks in middle school (and early high school). That leaves most high school students relatively less worried about their larger reputation and more focused on the social dynamics within their chosen peer groups, Brown says.

By the tenth grade, teens tend to interact more with romantic partners than anyone else, and research Laursen has been part of shows that as adolescents become involved in romantic relationships, their drinking increasingly mirrors that of their partners rather than their friends.

Peer influence as a positive?

As a predictable corollary, romantic partners begin to exert more influence than friends in high school, and friend groups more than larger crowds.

Most educators know the basics of peer pressure. One famous study showed that the number of one’s friends using drugs is the biggest determinant of drug use. We also know that when peers are present, adolescents take more risks (for example, teenage males drive faster in the presence of other teenage boys). 

But recent research reveals a twist: It’s not necessarily because of any direct egging on. Just presence is enough, because the reward centers of adolescents’ brains are more active with peers than when alone, according to the research of Temple University’s Laurence Steinberg.

For her book, Denworth tracked him down as well as Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, a professor of psychology and cognitive neuroscience at University of Cambridge, who explained the academic upside: “Risk taking in an educational context is a vital skill that enables progress and creativity.” 

That’s just one positive lens on peer influence. Scott Gest, a University of Virginia professor, says: “People talk about negative peer influence … but they neglect the pretty substantial literature that shows a lot of negative behavior of high school kids is discouraged by friends.

There is a lot of very positive pressure that peers apply, like, ‘No man, that’s stupid.’” This “obstructing” is one of the many underreported modes of peer influence, Brown says. There’s also teasing, reinforcement such as laughing or nodding, and creating situations that facilitate a certain type of behavior, like throwing an unchaperoned party.

None of these modes is inherently good or bad, Brown points out. A teen could just as easily create a situation conducive to altruism, like asking a friend to meet them at the food pantry before a concert, knowing full well they’ll end up handing out meals for a few minutes—or cracking a joke about tongue brushing that reinforces oral hygiene.

“Behavioral display,” or modeling that leads to emulation, is another type of peer influence. In one 2018 study of college freshmen, researchers found “having friends with higher propensities to study is predictive of receiving higher freshman grades.” Because the study looked at both assigned roommate pairings and chosen friend groups, the researchers were able to show the effect wasn’t just a reflection of “selection bias,” with studious kids having already chosen to befriend each other.

Hanging out with someone studious, they concluded, caused adolescents to study for more hours and post higher grades. The findings confirm previous research showing a correlation between how a child views the importance of doing well in school and how their friends do. 

Similar effects have been demonstrated for volunteer work and health-promotive behaviors, such as exercise. Positive change has also been documented in high school students dating high-functioning peers.

What does all this mean for educators? Influential students can be explicitly tapped to improve classroom dynamics. In one program, kids were trained to publicly encourage anti-conflict norms. Disciplinary reports of student conflict dropped 30 per cent over one year.

This success may be owed in part to the fact that the program enlisted kids’ help. Efforts that engage teens in actual, real-life tasks have been the most promising when it comes to changing the content of the values transmitted within adolescent peer groups.

Other successful efforts to “benevolently exploit peer influence,” include using small group discussions to combat bullying.

Even greater benefits of cooperation

A cousin of peer influence is collaboration, and high school students get unique benefits from it. Carefully structured cooperative learning experiences have been tied to students exerting greater effort and using higher-level reasoning strategies more frequently, ultimately boosting achievement and decreasing problematic behaviors, according to the research of Michigan State University’s Cary Roseth.

What’s more, “in a study of high school seniors,” he reports, “a predisposition to work with peers cooperatively was found to be highly correlated with psychological health.”

The promise of boosted academic and social-emotional learning doesn’t always have to mean group assignments though. Laursen says by high school “many kids hate these sorts of paired activities when a grade is riding on the product.”

On the other hand, they appreciate the opportunity to work alongside a peer on their own work. Friends are distributed over classes so the bump students see from working with someone they like and trust may be easier to get in a study hall setting where students undertake, in toddler parlance, “parallel play” or “being with.”

Both logistical benefits and moral support can also be fostered in a high school class with no preexisting friendships. One small Australian study of first-year university students showed that when students discussed class content outside of class, they were more likely to progress to second year. Friends provided feedback, reassurance, and encouragement that “increased students’ emotional engagement, their enthusiasm and interest in the course content and in the classroom.” The study’s authors ultimately encouraged teachers to instruct students to talk to each other during breaks, exchange contact information, and consider arranging study sessions.

During distance learning this fall, Mira Debs, executive director of Yale’s education studies program, had students write introductions. She hosted a weekly virtual lunch. One student set up an optional group text message chain for the class. Each of these actions increases a sense of belonging—which in turn boosts motivation—and also provides students with tangible resources.

Elizabeth Self, an assistant professor at Vanderbilt University, explains how these college-level findings relate to teens: “If you think about an AP class—high workload, high stress—the way that kids can come together to study, the way they come together to share notes, the way they come together to figure out an assignment …. For those that do, it’s a huge advantage.”

Technology and distance

With schools across the country closed, child development experts worry most about the future of our youngest learners. After all, high school students already had mechanisms in place for connecting at a distance, practices like exchanging Snapchat videos about the parts of the homework that don’t make sense. 

But Denworth says we can’t discount “Zoom fatigue.” In a recent article for Psychology Today, she describes a book called Relating Through Technology by Jeffrey Hall, a professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas. He told Denworth, “Compared to face to face, texting and using social media, energy use during a Zoom call is higher.” Disruptions like your own image, delays, and cross-talk make video calls more intense. They also heighten loneliness: “Zoom is exhausting and lonely because you have to be so much more attentive and so much more aware of what’s going on than you do on phone calls.”

And even though teens can socialize virtually, Brown says, “the intensity of seeing close friends and romantic partners in person is difficult to give up, so the lack of those face-to-face opportunities is going to create anxiety.” Their developmentally appropriate craving for intimacy is what drives “the way that individuals 18 to 25 are behaving right now,” he says, “having real difficulty engaging in social distancing, wearing a face covering, and staying feet apart.” 

While distance learning may work best for teenagers, everything we know about friendship in late adolescence suggests they too would benefit from in-person learning experiences at the earliest safe opportunity.

This article is part of the “Friendship in Schools” series, which explores the complexities of friendship at various stages of learning.

The post How friends influence one another–for better or worse–in high school appeared first on Teen Trust News.

Fifteen-year-old highest-scorer in the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) from Edo State, Master Gold Oviota Ajagun has emerged as a one-day speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly.

Master Ajagun, a student of Gloryland Secondary School, Akoko-Edo Local Government emerged as the best-performing candidate in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), in Edo state.

Daly Trust reports that Ajagun scored 335 marks in the examination.

The Speaker of the Assembly, Hon Blessing Agbebaku, who received the student in the company of the lawmaker representing Akoko-Edo constituency II, Donald Okogbe made the student a one-day speaker of the Assembly.

Agbebaku commended the student for achieving the feat and making the state proud and also offered him a one-year scholarship covering his tuition.

According to him, the scholarship takes effect immediately after he gets admission into the University of Ibadan to study medicine and surgery.

Earlier, presenting Master Ajagun to the speaker, Hon Donald Okogbe said he was impressed by the young boy’s results being a member of his constituency.

Okogbe explained that his WAEC result was earlier withheld for further investigation before it was finally released.

The lawmaker, however, presented a laptop and also announced the payment of Ajagun’s second-year tuition.

Responding, Master Ajagun commended the Speaker and members of the House for the scholarship and the opportunity to serve as a one-day speaker of the house.

He called on the State Government to increase budgetary allocation to the education sector to enable children of school age to acquire basic and quality education.

The post 15-yr-old highest JAMB scorer in Edo emerges one-day Assembly Speaker appeared first on Teen Trust News.

When speaking about the influences of media on teenagers, we may quote the well-known singer and lyricist Jim Morrison, who aptly said, “Whoever controls the media, controls the mind.” Media has the capability of shaping the ideas and beliefs of the receptive brains of adolescents.

Continuous media exposure has proven impacts on a teen’s physical, psychological, and social development. In this post, we tell you about the possible impacts of media on teens and share some useful tips to manage media influence on children and adolescents.

Positive Effects Of Media On Teens

Exposure to media is not always bad. Media at large can have a positive impact on teenage behavior and attitudes in the following ways, but remember, it depends on the quality of content  you are watching. 

1.       Mode of entertainment and self-expression: Social media platforms, like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, provide space for teens to interact with people of similar interests across the globe. Teens find this interaction entertaining and satisfying for their self-expression, thus boosting their confidence and self-esteem.

2.       Could be a source of inspiration: Online documentaries, movies, inspirational stories on the internet, print, and broadcast media can be a source of inspiration for your teen. For instance, you and your teen could watch real life-based movies such as Steve Jobs and Chaplin to get inspired in life.

3.       Helps develop social skills: Some teens and tweens are introverted. For them, social media is a free environment where they can interact without much hesitation. Social networking helps them develop social skills that are necessary for effective communication. Effective communication is necessary to develop and maintain relationships.

4.       Develops social and political sense: Teens and tweens who take an interest in current affairs and news are highly likely to be interested in social, political, and human development issues, like poverty, global warming, etc. It is an important positive effect that could help determine your child’s personality and interests.

5.       Makes them aware of the importance of health: Media disseminates information on health and well-being. A teen, who pays attention to such information, is more likely to be aware of various health issues like teen depression, childhood obesity, etc., and their possible solutions. This might help them make informed and healthy lifestyle choices.

6.       Aids in developing an identity: TV shows, series, and movies with good-quality content can help your tween and teen develop an identity. For example, a movie that reflects gender equality may motivate a teen to follow that in their life. You can strike up a discussion on such issues to educate your child.

Negative effects of Media on Teens

There are several ways in which visual media and social media use can become a source of negative influence. Here are some scenarios that must be evaluated (1) (2) (3).

7.       Might lead to health and developmental issues: Extended screen time is associated with poor academic performance, sleep deprivation, reduced physical activity, and face-to-face social interaction. All these factors are associated with health issues, such as obesity and the negative impact on the overall development.

8.       Could develop unrealistic body image: Media has a sharp effect on how teens interpret beauty and positive body image. For instance, the media usually creates an impression that “thin and fair” are beautiful features to have. Such misleading messages can have a negative effect on the child’s self-esteem.

9.       Might instill wrong perceptions: Media often portrays a grown-up to be cool if they eat junk food, smoke, drink alcohol, use drugs, drive fast, etc. All these presentations of adult life can have an influence on a teen, making them emulate their favorite actors.

10.   Might develop erroneous beliefs: Social platforms sometimes are used to spread biased information and fake news. Teens may start believing the provided information, thus causing a shift in their attitude and behavior. Several real-life cases demonstrate how online platforms are used to promote hateful or biased attitudes towards a section of people, eventually causing dreadful results.

11.   May develop mental health concerns: Tweens and teens often get exposed to bullying, rumor spreading, unrealistic views of other people’s lives, and peer pressure through the media. All these factors can cause a negative ripple effect on the teen’s mental health. They may become depressed, anxious, isolated, and possibly suicidal.

12.   Might develop violent behavior: A study showed that watching violent television shows and an increase in children’s violent and erratic behavior are positively correlated. Similarly, studies show that playing violent video games alters a teen’s behavior and could make them aggressive.

13.   Might cause addiction: Habitual viewing or gaming may be the most speculated negative effect of the media, especially social media. Research shows that the overuse of social media networking could lead to stimulation that is similar to other addictive behaviors. Most teens post pictures or feelings online and eagerly wait for likes, shares, and positive comments from friends. These experiences activate the brain’s reward system and increase the levels of dopamine. It can raise the likelihood of media addiction in the long run

The negative and positive effect of media on your child depends on the amount of time spent on media and how well parents regulate the child’s exposure to it.

Source: https://www.momjunction.com

The post 13 Positive and Negative influences of Media on Teenagers appeared first on Teen Trust News.

If you are interested in becoming a data scientist, then read on to find out the main responsibilities of a data scientist, salary information, and how to pursue this fascinating career path.

What data scientists do

Data scientists are reasonably new kids on the block, taking huge sets of data, which can be both sorted and unsorted, and analysing it for trends and meaning. Their role involves converting this data into comprehensive reports for organizations, which they can then utilize and implement within their strategy.

Data scientists draw upon different skills to perform this complex role. They need to use mathematics, information technology, statistics, industry knowledge, and socio-economic theory to make sense of complex information and influence leaders in developing meaningful business solutions.

The role of data scientists might look different across separate organizations and industries, but the following is a list of what the job generally involves:

• Develop systems and algorithms to efficiently export data and present it to stakeholders.
• Develop statistical techniques and use machine learning to develop solutions to problems
• Communicate data, results, and analytics clearly to facilitate people’s understanding of complex information.
• Create detailed, logical, and engaging reports that will bring data and findings to life.
• Work with areas that don’t effectively use data, developing ways to analyze information.
• Research different ways to collect data, determining which are best for your needs.
• Staying on top of data science trends and techniques
• Influence and negotiate with organizational leadership.
• Recruit, train, and motivate a team of junior scientists.

Steps to becoming a data scientist

So, if you have read through the above and have decided that data science is the industry for you, how do you get started? Becoming a data scientist takes a fair amount of preparation and upskilling, either through education or as part of retraining. This section takes you through what you might need, and how to become a data scientist.

Determine if it’s the right job for you

Data science is such a new field you might be wondering whether it is the right avenue for you to go down. When finding the right career, a good place to start is to see if there is alignment between the job and you as a person.  Here are the main skills and qualities needed for success in data science:

• Logical and analytical mindset
• Critical thinking
• Business strategy skills
• Problem-solving skills.
• AI, coding, and machine learning knowledge
• Attention to detail
• Exceptional communication and storytelling skills
• Curiosity
• Patience
• Self-motivation skills

If these skills pique your interests, or are aligned with your personality, or existing work responsibilities, then you’re off to a good start. Data science draws upon specialized skills and an unusual mix of qualities, and if you are not sure you have the right combination, then don’t fear.

One good way to determine if this career is for you is to take time to research the data science profession. Connect with data scientists on LinkedIn or contact companies to learn more about the role.  This is also a great way to show interest and build your professional network.

Focus on the right subjects at school

Like many careers, a foray into data science often begins at school by choosing the right subjects.  The best subjects to start on would be computer science or information technology (IT), as well as mathematics, including any specialisms such as statistics.

Find any excuse to learn more about IT – for example, if your school offers coding workshops or classes on AI, then sign up for these too. Other subjects that might help would be English (to brush up on communication skills) and business studies.

Learn to code

You might not be able to learn coding at school and picking up this skill at any stage of your life can seem daunting. There are plenty of ways to learn how to code which are inexpensive and sometimes even free.

The first step is to focus on the right programming language as this will align with what you can do and meet the needs of future employers. Websites with highly structured databases will require knowledge of Java or Python, so these are two good places to start. Next, research online courses to get an introduction to coding. If you gel with coding, consider taking professional courses and certifications too so you can enhance your credentials and CV.

The post Tips to become a Data Scientist appeared first on Teen Trust News.

Do well in school. No matter how boring it is now, education will help you be a productive member in society. Strive for excellence in school; try your best, listen to the teachers, do your homework, study, and get good grades. Doing so will help you get into a better college/university, which will enable you to get a great job in the future. School sets you up on the right track!

Help out in your community. Volunteering can not only improve your community’s status, it could make you happier. Studies show that people who volunteer are less likely to develop depression and other emotional issues than people who don’t. Find volunteer opportunities that interest you, for example, if you love animals, volunteer at an animal shelter. If you like helping people, volunteer at a soup kitchen. If you love helping the environment, plant trees or pick up litter. When you help others, it will make you feel better about yourself. You’re making a big difference in the world, and to top it all off, having lots of volunteer hours will look good on your resume!

Figure out your goals in life and work toward them. Start thinking about careers you would like to be in, but make a good choice based on your interests and strengths.[1] This could be your job for the rest of your life! You could also work towards non-career-related goals, such as creating your own fundraiser, getting good grades in school, joining a team sport, etc. Challenge yourself and you’ll be surprised what you can accomplish!

Think about what success means to you. What does it look like? What will it feel like when you achieve it? Then, create a list of all the ways you can achieve this success. Narrow down your options to the top 3-5 that mean the most to you.

Don’t get into any trouble, legal or otherwise. It could ruin your future plans. Avoid the peer pressure and ditch the cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs. Abide the law and avoid ending up in the back of a police car. If you’re being pressured into anything, walk away. If you can avoid these things during your teen years, they’re a lot easier to avoid once you’re out of high school and away from peer pressure.

Be nice to your parents and teachers. Remember, they’re there to help you be the best that you can be. Respect them and value their opinions, even if they annoy you sometimes.[3] Keep in mind that they do the things they do because they care about you and want you to succeed in life. You don’t get to choose your teachers or your family, but you still have to put up with them. Learn how to deal with people now, because when you’re an adult, you don’t get to choose your boss or your co-workers, so learn how to respect them now.

Have good friends to help you out! Friends are there to support you and lift your spirits. Be with people who make you happy, and ditch the ones who don’t. Create a group of supportive, loving friends that can help you succeed in life and live your dreams. Find a few really good friends that will stick with you once you leave high school.

Get active! Join a sports team at school or out of school. Go for a run around your neighborhood. Take your dog on a nice, long walk. Join a yoga group, go swimming at the local recreation center, do sit-ups during commercial breaks on TV – anything! Just exercise![4] It helps you feel better, mentally and physically. Studies show that people who get active in their child/teen years will be more active when they’re adults, so start getting active now.

Do what you love. Adopt a hobby; reading, writing, sewing, singing, dancing, playing a sport, making pottery, etc. It will pass time and help you develop your personality.[5] Experiment and discover new things; you might be surprised to find that you really like them!

Believe in something. Start believing in a cause, whether it is a social or environmental issue, or even a religion. You will start forming your own ideas this way. Form your own opinions and stand by them. Stand up for what you believe is right.

Live life to the fullest! You’re only young for a short time, and before you know it you’ll be an adult that will be lying around saying, “I wish I had done this when I was younger.” Be daring, go out into the world and live life! Life is short, so enjoy it while you can.

The post How to have as successful teenage life appeared first on Teen Trust News.

Culture in a simple way can be defined as the way of life of a particular set of people. Culture is very important so as Education. Education is the process of acquiring knowledge. Culture has much importance in Education. Culture is important in our day-to-day activities. Culture is practised every day all over the world.

Culture involves the mode of greeting, eating, and dressing and even affects history also. In Nigeria, there are different cultures in Yoruba land. Their mode of greeting is kneeling for the women and prostrating for the men.

Culture on education is very tantamount. In education, culture helps so much because there is an old saying that, “Charity begins at home.” Students and pupils are expected to greet their teachers at school and anywhere they find themselves.

Learning other cultures in school helps a lot here in Nigeria. It varies from place to place. If someone is being transferred from one state to another i.e. Yoruba states to Hausa states, learning the Hausa people’s culture would enable one to cope easily.

Culture provides work opportunities for a lot of people like wood carvers, iron smelters, brass casters, cloth dyers, leather workers, etc. on a daily basis. As people engage in creative efforts, they continue to improve the quality and style of what they produce.

Culture is learnt; it is not what people have at birth and so, it is not inherited. This is why babies don’t know what the culture of their parents is and acquire the culture of whatever society they grow up with. Culture determines how people behave.

Culture should be encouraged in the Education sector.

Aluko is of Excellent Kiddies Montessori Academy, Abuja

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