Butt Out!

An issue that gravely concerns me is smoking. Smoking is a seriously risqué activity with the potential to have very real consequences including cancer, death and even bad breath. I feel that the activity of smoking should be prohibited and in this article I shall attempt to outline my reasoning for such radical action.

It has been proven that there are no negative side effects if you greatly reduce serious risks to your health

Smokers are jokers.^[1]. Unfortunately for them April Fool’s comes only once a year. So for the other 364 days of the year (and 365 in a leap year) these clowns are left damaging their lungs and leaving a warpath of destruction in their wake.  What does this warpath consist of you ask? It consists of murder. These homicidal maniacs are not only playing Grim Reaper with themselves through their dangerous activity but through the recently discovered phenomenon of passive smoking they are spreading over 4,000 minute doses of toxins into your body too! I mean let’s be realistic, do you want to die because of these walking health hazards? If the answer is no, then you agree that smoking should be banned.

On a personal note I was sitting in an unnamed major fast food chain's outlet innocently eating my Large Big Mac Meal^[2] and as I was about to take a sip out of my large Sprite^[3] when I inhaled something toxic. You can probably already guess what that was, yes it was smoke from a smoker. I felt the cancer brewing in my cells and my lungs rapidly deteriorating, I passed out and saw the pearly white gates of heaven. Thankfully I woke up from my comatose but I had to visit my local general practitioner and have many precautionary tests taken to see if I indeed was still healthy. Luckily I was but this should send a message out to others. If this is what can happen after inadvertently inhaling passive smoke once what could happen if you were to accidentally inhale twice or maybe even thrice!

I would further like to dismiss the notion that smoking is “cool”. Please refer to the image below and tell me if that is “cool”^[4][5].

Definitely not cool

The thought of smoking killing not only the apathetic smoking fraternity but innocent bystanders also is alarming. We cannot allow for this genocide to continue! If we unite together as one these jokers will no longer destroy the moral fibres of society through their anti-social and lewd behaviour. 

Keep it clean

We all know one, they are sneaky, manipulative, irresponsible and they are slowly destroying society as we know it, these treacherous vandals go more commonly by the name of litterbugs. No, they are not actual bugs, this is merely a moniker given to the dastardly people who go out of their way to ruin our existence.

Sound advice from a soundly made anti-littering campaign poster

Littering is prevalent in today’s society and it is a significant environmental problem. That is a fact. If we are haphazard in our fight against littering, society as we know it will be undermined by this sick, despicable and unnatural act. That is also a fact. We as a modern society should not have common waste products such as containers, papers, wrappers and an litany of various plastics being disposed of without consent. Throwing these items on the ground is not responsible as they have not been disposed of properly. That also is a fact. These facts are disconcerting and we should do something about them!

While it is true that throughout human history people have disposed of their unwanted materials in public domains this plague of irresponsibility is curable! We cannot allow ourselves to lose our happy and healthy lifestyles due to our laziness, because these unsanitary conditions will ultimately overcome us and we will become a world overrun by famine and inadequate hygiene.

Another soundly made anti-litter poster that I feel truly gets the message that littering and rubbish are dirty whilst maintaining its sense of humour with a clever pun. A tactful ploy if I've ever seen one.

Below are the decomposition rates for common items that are disposed of without consent

Banana/Orange Peel	2-5 weeks
Cotton rag	1-5 months
Cigarette butt	1-5 years
Wool clothing	1-5 years
Plastic-coated paper	5 years
Plastic bag	10-20 years
Painted wooden stake	13 years
Plastic film container	20-30 years
Nylon fabric	30-40 years
Leather	up to 50 years
Rubber boot sole	50-80 years
Aluminum can	200-500 years
Plastic 6-pack cover	450 years
Glass bottle	1 million years

Some of these numbers are astronomically high and unfortunately the current chemical properties of these various items prevent them from being reduced to zero. So now it is clear that we cannot change the decomposition rates of these items that are being readily littered we must instead reduce our littering output to zero.

An unsightly sight

I believe that we can do it as we are already taking the right steps in attempting to rectify this epidemic, littering is now a finable offense though I believe that we should be harsher on litterbugs. They are criminals and should be treated as such, I believe that along with fining these deviants we should incarcerate them for their heinous acts. They are denying our human rights to feeling safe. How can we feel safe when there could be a plague imminent!

Please report these disturbers of the peace

I thank those of you who do not litter but this is not enough. We must fight these cruel souls that destroy this planet in a safe and non-violent manner together. While they are ignorant of their acts we must become tolerant of them and hopefully we shall eradicate their selfish mindset for once and for all.

An Introduction

Hey guys, my name is Filip and I have decided to create a blog

.

Firstly I should probably introduce myself, I am seventeen and I attend Viewbank College. I enjoy school, considering it to be an extension of myself viewing it as a place where I can better myself. Being in year twelve I do consider myself a role model to other students and I try to encourage them to respect the school with my diligent, safe and fun-loving demeanour^[1]. I made this blog in hope to make it easier for students of the college to acquire good study habits and to promote safety.

I am more than happy to tackle the controversial issues that plague modern day society. Some of these have become so common that they're barely noticed. I believe that this is a disgrace! We should not be accepting such degrading behaviour! I feel that we should take a stand against these matters and move society forwards through preaching the moral virtues of diligence, earnestness, sobriety and chivalry.

The other day I was walking down the street in a safe manner and to my horror I saw a youth jaywalking!  This reckless method of crossing not only endangers the pedestrian's life but it is an illegal^[2] activity! The youth in question evidently did not consider the possible ramifications of jaywalking as his illegal crossing of the road could have lead to serious injury or even in some cases, death! It is an urban traffic safety problem. In America 59% of pedestrian deaths occur outside of designated crosswalks while fewer than one fifth occur in close proximity to a crosswalk^[3]. I stress to youth that jaywalking is not "cool", rather it is a foolish practice that needs to stop as it is taking a lives at alarming rate.

Dangerous and destructive behaviour by some ignorant young males

Getting hit by a car is something that we should avoid at all costs because it will not only affect us, it would affect the ones around us too. While some may dismiss that jaywalking is an issue worth discussing, I wish to ask them this, is it really okay to readily expose yourself to serious bodily harm^[4]? Using traffic lights when they are within twenty metres is not optional, it’s the law!^[5] Some people need to realise that these traffic lights have been placed there so they can safely cross the road and avoid potentially dangerous situations. I was shocked that this youth would have the courage to jaywalk, with what, his whole life ahead of him, so willingly. I have started a petition that if it garners enough support, I will send to the State Government that will promote an educational program in every school in Victoria regarding jaywalking that alerts adolescents that jaywalking is not only dangerous, but criminal.

I hope that there are other such like-minded and responsible youths like myself who are willing to crusade against this illegal activity and that this case of the jaywalking youth is an unfortunate and an isolated one.