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Meghan and Harry wrap

marca 10, 2021

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Opponents start #FalaSprzeciwu as Polish Government threaten abortion law during COVID-19 outbreak

kwietnia 27, 2020

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news

People feel devastated as sexual education is about to be banned in Poland

fot. Pixabay

In October 2019, the right-wing party (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość) voted for banning sexual education in Poland, as it “promotes sexual life amongst young teenagers”. Although PiS party’s MPs reassured that this ban will bring many positives, it started a revolution within polish citizens.

Mostly, the act brought confusion amongst opposition MPs, such as politics from Wiosna party. Marcin Krzyżaniak, opposition party’s supporter says that the act will bring many negative outcomes: “It takes away the opportunity for teenagers to basic and actual knowledge about sexual life and its role in society. This act is going to cause a lack of sexual education, and, therefore, an increase in pedophilia and having sexual life without preventions.”

When PiS party voted for banning the sexual education, most of the citizens of Poland felt devastated. “I was shocked, I did not know what to find about that. I felt like the government actually does not want us to develop as an open-minded country. The way the PiS party promoted banned sexual education was that it will prevent teenagers from irresponsible sexual life and the LGBTQ community. It only showed me how racism our society really is. Polish youth has the right to sexual education”.

Pierwsza klasa podstawówki. Pierwsze "zakochania". Mój syn zarumienione opowiada mi, kto w kim się zakochał. W klasie śmichy chichy. Pani tłumaczyła dzieciom, że każdy ma prawo się zakochać i nikt nie ma prawa się z tego śmiać. To są problemy dzieci, a nie edukacja seksualna!!!
— Kingoola (@kiniar5) October 24, 2019

Not only citizens felt aggrieved about the act, but the European Parliament also disagreed with the doings of the Polish Parliament. In November, they accepted the resolution, where the act was criticized by over 470 MPs. 128 of MPs thought that the act will bring positive outcomes, 57 of MPs defused to vote. Most of the MPs in the European Parliament agreed that the act threatens all citizens, especially teachers, health service workers, journalists and more with 3 years in prison. Member of the European Parliament and a member of Platforma Obywatelska party, Elżbieta Łukacijewska, admitted that every parent should make sure that their child is sexually educated to prevent the child from sexual abuse and pedophilia.

Parlament Europejski zdecydowaną większiscią poparł projekt rezolucji pięciu grup politycznych ws.penalizacji edukacji seksualnej w Polsce‼️ pic.twitter.com/YOzoZUv1Mp
— Elżbieta Łukacijewska (@elukacijewska) November 14, 2019

The Ministry of National Education of the Republic of Poland spokesperson, Anna Ostrowska, commented on the resolution of the European Parliament: “Content of sexuality is being taught in school during sexual education classes, during the fourth year of education in primary schools. Therefore, it is hard to talk about banning sexual education in schools. However, those issues are being raised during other classes concerning social, emotional or physical maturation. This [act] is not a criminalisation of sexual education. It is a ban on promoting pedophilia. The whole project was directed to further work in the parliamentary committees. The Polish Parliament and then the President will decide whether it will be adopted and how is it going to be modified.”

listopada 28, 2019

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Number of stabbings has doubled in Coventry in the last 12 month

The statistics show that the number of stabbing cases in Coventry has doubled since last year.

In 2018, the police recorded 18 stabbings, whereas this year the number exceeded 30 cases. What is more, Coventry was named the eighth most dangerous city in the United Kingdom, that is according to a ranking published by an online magazine, The Travel.

Number of stabbings in 2018 and in 2019. (Credit: Emma Ray)

On October 12, an anti-knife crime event took place in the city centre. Coventry Says No Event has been organised by the Daniel Kennell Foundation, where the citizens rallied to talk about knife crime and pay the tribute to the victims.

The Daniel Kennell Foundation representative, Natalie Kennell, commented: “When we arranged #CoventrySaysNo, we had no idea how it was going to go. We joined forced with 44 other cities in the UK to make a stand, together to say no to knife crime and violence”

Many citizens actively took a part in the rally. Cailltlin McCarthy, who performed at the event, said it is scary that there is so much violence, especially amongst teenagers and young adults. 14 years old singer admitted: “You never know what is around the corner, I would not feel safe to go out in the evening”.

Unfortunately, there is no fully successful method of prevention when it comes to knife crime. As the Daniel Kennell Foundation representative said, “the blame for this madness does not lie in the hands of one group/party – it is a combination of lots of different things that need to be brought together to bring back unity and change people’s mind set”.

The other city that organised such an event was Leeds. Miss Marta Wawrzyniak, AIESEC Committee President who took a part in Leeds Says No, commented: “The problem in Leeds is that if you live close to the campus or in a city centre you do not experience such things as a danger of stabbing or any crime. However, it is worth to know that suck danger exists“.

“In my opinion, there might be various ways to prevent such phenomena. When in comes to students, free transport after 8pm would help, especially if they are living in districts on suburbs, to avoid the situations in which they need to come back home alone at night and they are in risk of being attacked. More police patrols in shady area, especially at night. Bigger police control of clubs and their surroundings during the night, generally speaking – bigger police presence on a daily basis”, commented Marta.

Because of people feeling they are not being checked or controlled, stabbing may be perceived as a major issue in British society. However, stabbing is only one of many forms of physical aggression. That is why, unarguably, the feeling of danger and threat in today’s society is even a bigger problem.

października 23, 2019

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lifestyle

Coventry celebrates World Mental Health Day

The Mind Charity Truck parked at Ironmonger Row, Coventry for World Mental Health Day.

This year’s World Mental Health Day is being proudly promoted in Coventry, especially in the city centre. The various events are taking place in the whole city to help raise awareness of mental health. 

The Mind Charity parked their truck in Ironmonger Row, where people struggling with mental health issues can talk with the charity workers and specialists. Mrs Debbie Lee, the Mind Charity Representative said: “We are here today to talk, so if there is anyone suffering from mental health problem you can come in to talk with us. We are here to give them (people struggling with mental health issues) advice and to put them in the right direction.”

Unfortunately, there are many people who struggle with mental health issues and do not want to talk about their problems. What can we do if we know the person who has mental health issues but do not want to overcome those problems? Mrs Lee gave us the answer: “The best way we can do in those situations is to encourage them to go and see the GP. The GP will listen to them put them in the right direction. It is also important to let them know they are not alone by telling ‘you know I will support you, I will be there for you’ because we can actually go and force them to see the specialist”. 

According to the Mind Charity representative, sometimes people having mental health issues do not even realize they have a problem. That is why celebrating World Mental Health Day is to important – is raises awareness of mental health issues and helps people who seek for help to find the appropriate one. 

Coventry University Student Union organised a Wellbeing & Mental Health Day at the Hub, where students could find out something more about wellbeing in general. There were also various institutions available such as It Takes Balls To Talk Community and Papyrus Charity. It Takes Balls To Talk is a campaign ran by local community which uses sporting themes to encourage people to talk about they feel. They are mainly focused on men’s mental health. 

The Papyrus Charity’s biggest aim is a prevention of young suicide. The charity provides a helpline service called HOPELINEUK, where they help children and young adults who are experiencing thoughts of suicide. The Papyrus Charity representative, Melanie Griffin, had a small chat with me earlier:

Remember, that World Mental Health Day is not the only day in the year when you can talk with people about mental health issues. If you do struggle with some problems and would like to talk with specialists, there are various institutions in Coventry where you can seek for help for free. Coventry University provides various services for CU Students at the Health & Wellbeing Centre. People of all age can visit the Mind Charity where specialists and charity workers would put them in the right direction. 

października 11, 2019