International Day of Education
When it comes to education in the year 2020, we are stuck somewhere between ease of access and the struggle to retain information. If you’re over the age of 21, then you most likely remember the “joys” of writing out notes; copying “word association” off the chalk board at school or visiting your nearest library for research purposes – or even just to read to broaden your knowledge. If you’re younger than 21 however, then you probably only know what it is like to have information constantly available, via your trusty mobile device(s). With the evolution of technology, we can fact check and research faster and easier than ever before, but is this a good or bad advancement? For some people and certain occasions, this is excellent. No longer “wasting” time looking for the correct page in a book, or having to attend a lecture to make necessary notes; it’s all available on a mobile device now, making things easier for sure. But is easier better? Perhaps with small facts and irrelevant subjects, but when it comes to fully understanding something, people are falling behind. Why think about something and develop an understanding when you can simply find out and forget – because you can always just go back and check again at a later stage. We are inundated with information, most of it completely unnecessary. Social Media may have helped us to connect and keep in contact, but at the same time it floods our lives with memes, gifs, jokes and pictures of other peoples’ food. There are of course constructive posts on social media, but we need to spend a great deal of our time sifting through ads and reposts before we can stumble upon something useful. With the International day of education upon us (24 January), we need to remind ourselves what education really is. Knowing something now and forgetting it in ten minutes isn’t education, it’s simply repetition. We need to step back from making life easier, and start making life worthwhile. Understanding is why we are here, knowing why the sky is blue and understanding why are two separate things. Think about going to the doctor, imagine she or he tells you what is wrong with you, but in the same breath, he or she demonstrates that they don’t fully understand the “why”. Knowing the facts is important, but knowing the details is paramount. This goes for everything in life. We have so much information available to us, we just need to start looking at things “holistically” so to speak… like a doctor looking at your diet and lifestyle as well as the facts of your possible illness. Having our devices on hand to check information is important and a fantastic scientific advancement; but that doesn’t mean we should cease the ways of the past. Just because emails and social media are easier than letters, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t write letters to one another. Writing has been proven to help ones brain and mental functions – even a casual letter to a friend of colleague will be beneficial. The movement of one’s hand combined with the thought process has been proven to boost creativity – something not as easily achievable via text message or IM. We have one go at this existence, we need to make the most of it in every sense. No one wants to be ignorant or to miss out on something, so why limit your education. Today, we need to remind ourselves and those around us what makes us human; what makes us different from machines or animals as...
Read MoreHome is where …
For some, home is a lavish room in the heart of each person, a nest fashionably feathered with love, devotion and fond memories. For others, the very thought of holding on to memories yields nothing less than a blackened heart. Deep-seated resentment recalls the pain of parental discipline that regularly spun out of control. Unconditional Love Home can also be a place to live in, where love builds a happy home from the inside out, where family members can let their guard down, are free to express themselves without fear of criticism, a place where people are fertile with peace, vitality and potential in all aspects of life. Home is also intended to represent an environment where the occupants can count on a reliable source of comfort, unconditional love, encouragement, emotional nourishment, safety and heartfelt nurturance. Delightful Nuances While the tail-wagging dog and other happy pets are familiar signs of wholesome family life, the outer home is a reflection of the inner home. An untended garden, litter and broken appliances rusting in the sun, speak volumes about the level of wickedness taking place behind closed doors. Laughter, music and the delicious aroma of dinner combine to warrant the assumption that there is no other place quite like home, with all its delightful nuances. Teaching Children Knowing what influences or actions toppled the proverbial apple-cart may take one back to a time preferably forgotten, often during our impressionable childhood years. Functioning households are traditionally headed by well-educated adults who have not only the financial means to support the household, and often an extended family, but also the intellectual capacity to pass on valuable life skills to their children. Other responsibilities include developmental activities, such as sports that take place outside the home. In cases where parents and their children live under one roof, it is safe to say that the home is a child’s first tutorial setting with parents, older siblings and extended family as their first teachers. It is in the home, rather than in the classroom, that children develop their most basic values and outlook on life. Social Ills Some households are uncomfortable places for adults, who as children did not have the benefit of growing up in a safe and loving environment, let alone a home where they were taught important life skills, empathy and respect for themselves and others, as well as kindness toward animals. If this hapless cycle is allowed to be passed down from one generation to the next it does not bode well for the future of our civilization. Poverty, illiteracy and unemployability deeply impacts the family because it not only affects the psychological functioning of its members, it is also linked to poor physical and mental health, crime, drugs and gang violence. Poverty Many children reared in squatter settlements not only endure starvation and pitiable living conditions, they are also vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. Many social scientists agree that children who are poverty-stricken seldom excel at school and usually drop-out at a young age. Promiscuous sexual behavior, and alcohol and drug abuse are often the result. Adults are usually poor because they can’t find work as they lack in-demand job skills. In retrospect, as parents, they are untrained to help their children acquire useful skills. And so sets a snow ball effect in motion. Many are illiterate and unskilled, yet these profound disadvantages are carried over to their children and their children’s children. The Family unit Our future leaders in growing up find themselves rudderless in a vast turbulent ocean of contradiction. Consequently, it isn’t hard to predict the dire consequences...
Read MoreWriting For Comics
My childhood was enriched by the comic books I bought with my weekly allowance. These visual masterpieces awakened in me the love of reading that led to a career as a full-time writer and editor. Today people choose to rather watch television or listen to audio books instead of reading a book. Sure it’s a lot faster than reading, but this instant gratification is fleeting, and so is the value and memory of the story. Perhaps this preference is due to time constraints, but mostly it’s because the love of reading was not instilled in them as a child. Reading a good book is not only a leisurely activity that has the capability to trigger your imagination, it also furthers one’s knowledge in every topic under the sun. Imagine the stress a student encounters when tasked with reading a 400-page book and having to write a short summary based on their interpretation. Just to satisfy your curiosity, ask any mainstream school teacher whether the pupils who achieve good grades are avid readers or not. Teachers across the board agree that people who enjoy reading from a young age have a great advantage over non-readers. Many may disagree with me, but I am convinced reading comic books as a child not only helped improve my grammar and enjoyment of pictorial storytelling but also set the stage to learn more through other forms of literature. A valued birthday gift each passing year was books; now I just buy them myself to expand my library. I’m hugely selfish about my library; it is difficult to part with any of my books. It is a great pity that educators today fail to recognize just how important it is to expose children to picture books and graphic novels as an effective learning tool. Comic books are especially helpful to young readers who might initially believe books are boring and who are struggling to improve their reading skills. A child naturally fond of reading develops a powerful imagination that must be nurtured. The child might show an interest in writing; this raw talent must be encouraged by teaching the budding author to write short-short stories. The child may not yet have the vocabulary to write the tale, dictating to someone who can write down the child’s verbal account of their story. The combination of visual format and text in comic books is much more engaging than other literary media, including short stories comprising block text and a few illustrations. Our technology-driven world obliges us to keep abreast with developments and human competencies, which means children from the time they are born must be exposed to early childhood development exercises; effective training must be pursued by scholars to develop reading and comprehension skills. Here’s an interesting fact: people who read comic books process information differently. According to University of Windsor English professor Dale Jacobs (2007), comic books require readers to create meaning, using multiple modalities. In other words, readers of comic books simultaneously process three stand-alone components, namely the visual and spatial aspects of the pictures and textual. However, more research remains to be done regarding the neurological benefits of reading comic books, but it is evident that there is far more to this genre than simply “looking at pictures” as some critics of comic books believe. Reading is actually good for your brain function and can change the way we think. I’ve been thinking a lot about comic books lately, mainly to write a script and commission an artist to create the drawings. While some people believe comic books are for kids, it is clear...
Read MoreSubmit Manuscript
Imagnary House is a boutique publishing house for children’s books and young adult literature in South Africa. Their Mission: Imagnary House is focused on building a larger market for local authors and illustrators of African children’s books. The intention is also to ignite the love of reading. Imagnary House is committed to engaging with both local and international readers, and literary agents. A Call for Submissions: As of 1 July 2018, Imagnary House opened their Call for Submissions to build their publication list for the next 2 years. Submissions close on 31 July 2018 at midnight. What are they looking for? Their priority this year is to find teen or young-adult fantasy, science-fiction, and alternative history novels. They are also looking for children’s chapter books and picture books that are sophisticated, fun and imaginative. However, they are not looking for educational, didactic, or moral-focused stories, definitely leaning towards manuscripts that are diverse and can travel across different cultures and countries. Imagnary House will consider submissions in the following genres: Children’s picture books (junior-grade) Children’s chapter books (middle-grade) Teen science-fiction, fantasy, or alternative-reality novels Young-adult science-fiction, fantasy, or alternative-reality novels Writers and illustrators can submit their work on Imagnary House’s submissions page. Website: https://imagnaryhouse.com/ Email:...
Read MoreThe current “future”- In a world where privacy is up for debate
The current “future” – by Matthew Smith In a world where privacy is up for debate and identity is increasingly fading. What do you do when the world begins to resemble the likes of a sci-fi novel? People find Science fiction interesting, creative and thought provoking, but what happens when it is no longer an idea, but part of our everyday lives? “Fiction” has become reality. Already we see people glaring at devices instead of conversing in the “real”; preferring online personas to real human interaction. Why be yourself when you can essentially portray what you want to be; filters, editing and face correction… showing a visible difference between who we really are and who we would like people to think we are. For some, your online self is more relevant than your real self and if you don’t have online popularity, you’re irrelevant. Progress is change, and change is inevitable – but to what extent? Since the creation of the internet, the lines of privacy have become increasingly blurred. Gone are the days where “privacy” simply referred to your physical self. With the evolution of technology, the very definition of “privacy” has changed. Your “private” information is at risk and “Cyber bullies” or “trolls” lurk the internet, creating viruses and stealing peoples’ identities. The world is becoming increasingly complicated with the older generations being left behind by a tech-savvy youth that has access to more information than they could possibly need. Along with the general privacy implications of technology, we now live in an era of false information where with a few simple photographs and some free software, you can insert anyone into an image or video of your choice; most frighteningly, pornographic images/videos or GIFs. (https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/24/16929148/fake-celebrity-porn-ai-deepfake-face-swapping-artificial-intelligence-reddit ) On an even more frightening note, Google is currently experimenting with the possibility of AI adapting to social cues from humans – body language, facial expressions and what makes humans happy. Although the intention may be to help AI better understand human needs, there is always the possibility of things going wrong – “Terminator” comes to mind. If companies like Google and organizations like MIT are able to successfully “teach” AI to have emotional intelligence, it could be extremely good for the “future”, but it could also mean complete human redundancy. With Technology already able to best the average human (or even above average) with regards to equations and so forth, all humans will have left is their emotional intelligence, which we are teaching to technology. (https://qz.com/1209466/google-is-building-ai-to-make-humans-smile/) However, if you fear that technology is going to surpass you, don’t worry – Elon Musk is working on it. Elon Musk; CEO of SpaceX, CEO of Tesla, Inc and Chairman of SolarCity; and the same man who is planning to take humans to Mars within our lifetime; is currently working on “Neuralink”(A thin mesh device inserted into the skull) -essentially merging your mind with a computer and creating an interface. (https://futurism.com/scientists-cant-replicate-ai-studies/) Sounds fantastic; but why would you ever bother trying to learn again? The purpose is so that we can have a fighting chance against AI, but humans adapt, and over time it could be our downfall. Not to mention the implications of direct marketing – really, really direct. What about Privacy? Viruses? Hackers? There is a never ending list of complications that may or may not arise, not to mention the social; religious and economical implications. (https://www.outerplaces.com/science/item/17444-neuralink-brain-implant-elon-musk-black-mirror) Recently people in Europe couldn’t pay for purchases due to a Visa network outage – further proving our reliance on technology. https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/1/17418684/visa-cards-europe-not-working-network-outage Furthermore, people are leading such busy, competitive lives, that we are leaving...
Read MoreAbout Theresa
I’m a published author of four business books and have written a number of self-study tutorials [creative writing; editing and proofreading; business writing; and self-publishing] and an eBook [Workplace Harmony]. I am an experienced writer, editor and publisher. 
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