Lost in Ancol

Traveling is one of the most exciting things for me, especially when I can travel with my friends. It must be so funny. I remember when I was in Senior High School, I traveled to Jakarta with my classmates. We  decided to have a trip to refresh our mind after a long discussion. Finally, we had decided where we would go and our destination was Ancol. It is located in North Jakarta. We chose Ancol to be our destination because it has so many games and it serves us so many places to recreation. I never imagine that traveling to Ancol would gave me a warning.

            It was already night when we arrived in Jakarta, so we decided to stay in a hotel. Hotel Jatra was a place where we spent the night. Next morning, we continued our trip to go to Ancol. I was so amazed that Ancol is very large; there are lots of games that can entertain us. The first game which my friends and I chose was Kora-kora. It just like a swing of a huge ship. Some of my friends were so excited to try this game, therefore they forced me to try this for three times. The next game that we chose was Hysteria. This game made my heart beating so fast. I could see two of my friends, Adit and Wina, vomit because of this game.

            It was 5.30 pm when Adit, Wina, Perey, Ika, Puspa, and I were trying the Tornado for the second times. There was an announcement from speakers that told us to leave Ancol immediately because our bus was already waiting for us. My friends and I still enjoyed the Tornado for fifteen minutes then we realized that we already so late to get to the bus. We ran and tried to get out of Ancol  but we were so panic to find out the exit way.

            We need ten minutes to get out of there and finally we  arrived at parking area. When we get in the bus, everyone was looking sarcastically to us. We knew that it was our fault. We did apologize to other who already waiting for us patiently. It was so embarrassing me, but I was glad that my friends and I were not left by the bus. Finally, we went to Hotel at 9.00 PM then we have to take a rest because next morning would be a long trip again to back home.

            Having lost in Ancol, made me realized that I have to be discipline with time; I have to listen to every announcement or warning which addressed to me. Traveling to Ancol is the best traveling ever for me and for my friends. If you want to travel to anywhere, make sure you are on time in the time on your schedule or you should have another ticket to back home in your pocket.

Sex Education in School

Sex education is one of the most controversial issues in education and there had been many debates over this topic. It may be the most debated topic that will always have a divided opinion. Some people may agree and some may disagree. Most people limit the sex education’s scope by taking it at its face value. It is not just about sex, it involves other complicated issues like sexual health, sexual reproduction, sexuality, and others that parents often feel awkward to talk about with their children. Therefore, it becomes the responsibility of schools to take up this topic, to inform and to educate the students about it appropriately and effectively. However, this is almost never taken in the right spirit by parents and students themselves. They begin to state their own opinion why it should or should not be taught in school. Although sex education is considered taboo, it is necessary for it to be taught in schools because: (1) it promotes safe sex, 2) it prevents the sexually-transmitted diseases, and 3) it is indeed a need in case of parents’ absence.

According to Witmer (nd), there are two types of sex education classes. The comprehensive Sexuality Education tackles age appropriate  topics about body image, safe sex, contraceptives, etc. (Witmer, nd). Safe sex means to use measures such as contraceptives, like condoms and birth control pills, in order to avoid sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs) and unwanted pregnancies when engaging in any sexual activity. The second type of sex education is the Abstinence Until Marriage, which emphasizes abstinence from all sexual behavior. Studies show that teaching sex education before youths become sexually active can actually help them to stay abstinent or use protection when they reach the stage of becoming sexually active. This program does not tackle any information about contraceptives, STDs, etc. (Witmer, nd). So, both of those sex education classes will promote safe sex among sexually active individuals or teenagers.

“Having sex education only encourages pupil to engage in sexual intercourse which lead to sexual diseases and teenage pregnancy”. This argument, although attractive, is flawed. The truth is that sex education does not encourage pupil to do it. According to Bleakley(2006), in a survey conducted, only about 17 percent of the respondents answered that sex education does encourage them to do “it” and that the remaining 83 percent strongly disagreed. According to Masland(n.d.), kids are becoming more sexually active at an earlier age. In America, there are 66 percent of high school students who have done it by their senior year. These kids are in danger of sexually transmitted diseases. There is also a big possibility for them to become pregnant and that is why sex education should be taught to avoid these things from happening, so that they can prepare themselves about the mysterious subject of sex as they grow up. They would not have to be curious about it anymore if they would have been properly informed in schools.

 In the case of the parents have not get any free-time to gather with their children, sex education should be taught in school to them, so that they would learn it from an educated and responsible adult instead of learning it from the media or from their friends (Masland, n.d.). Students can now access any site on the internet that contains adult content or pornographic materials. To avoid any bad impact of it, we must put sex education into any subject matters in schools. It is better for children to be informed earlier because they will still know about it when they grow up as they will be more exposed to it through their peers and the media (Cooper, n.d.). Some people say that sex education teaches the students about how sexual intercourse is done, but the truth is sex education lets the students know about the consequences and the truth about sex. Students are also informed that it is only for unity and procreation of married couples who are committed to each other. They are also informed that they will know the true purpose of sex when they grow up as adults.

Another groups of people believe that when it comes to sex education, it is beyond a doubt, that their children should not be exposed to something as crude as sex in their school because their religion does not permit it. It goes against their religious beliefs and sentiments, and they do not accept it, on principle. This groups must be open-minded to overcome these big problems caused by misinterpretation of sex education. Problems like sexually-transmitted diseases, teenage pregnancies, abortion, baby-dumping, rape, molestations, and incest are better preventing instead of curing, so the best way to do it by implementing sex education in school. Remember, it is better to prevent those problems through sex education although it is taboo for some groups of people or religions rather than neglecting those problems and let teenagers having free-sex. Isn’t it more sinny to have a free-sex instead of to attend a sex education class?

In conclusion, sex education is a vital subject that must be taught to young children or adolescents. The perception of having sex education only encourages teenagers to engage in sexual intercourse which lead to sexual diseases and teenage pregnancy should be corrected because based on the survey done by Bleakley(2006), only 17 percent of the respondents answered that sex education does encourage them to do “it”. Other perception about religious beliefs and sentiments should be corrected as well because it is much more effective to be open-minded in overcoming these big problems. Teenagers cannot rely on media and on friends for information about sex, rather they need to be properly educated about these things in school, in order for them to realize the importance of safe sex, the risks of sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs), and the need in case of parents’ absence.

A Lesson in Differences

“You can close your eyes to the things you don’t want to see, but you can’t close your heart to the things you don’t want to feel”

                                                                                                            -Johnny Depp-

           

Being a police officer, my parents don’t have so much time for their beloved children. Both of them usually go to office early in the morning and back home in unpredictable time, even my dad always goes to work twice a day. I hate when he must work again at eight at night and back home at midnight. I realized that I couldn’t put any wishes to have a quality time with my family on the weekend because their job always forces them to be a standby officer. I am, as their oldest child, trying to understand this condition wisely. I appreciate their hard work and also their sacrifice to bring us to a brighter future. However, they forget that they have to take care in every phase of their children's development. I can pretend that I am alright to the world but I can’t fool my heart that I feel broken inside. My parents inspire me to be better than them, to be more affluent, and to be the best parent for my children when I am at their age.

            Just as what my parents do, I also want to get a big income but I’ll do it in a different way. If my parents chose to be police officer, I would rather choose to be the owner of a company, not to be an employee of someone’s company. I plan to build a seafood restaurant in Jimbaran, a boutique, and a mini-mart near my house. I believe that being a business woman will make me more affluent than being a police officer. I think that my parents really enjoy their position, being controlled by someone’s authority, but in contrast, I hate it so much. I love controlling people, not to be controlled. That is why I would rather run my own business than run others’ business as their employee. Besides, I can decide whether I want to work or just stay at home spending time with my beloved family. I do not need to spend my time only for working, I just need to control my business regularly because I have my own employees at my restaurant, boutique, and mini-mart.

            This is not only a matter of how much money I save in a bank, but rather how I spend them for my enjoyment and my family. Getting more money for my wealth is important but it’s not my priority. I set my mind that family is always number one, so I will never let my children grow up without my love. I know exactly how it feels for having parents who never have enough time to gather and to take their children for a holiday. That bad condition will make children feel like they are not given enough attention from their parents. There might be any bad impact from this condition, such as: children will become a trouble maker in their school just for getting attention, or even they might become a passive student. Luckily, it never happen to my brother and me. From those explanation, I don’t want my children feel broken like me later on. Studying about psychology in collage makes me realize that our role as parents is very important for our children and it can influence their development, emotion, as well as their intelligence.    

            In conclusion, my parents and I are having the same purpose that is getting more money for a brighter future. However, the way we reach our purpose isn’t the same. My parents earn money without taking care of their children development, but in contrast, I will earn money as much as possible while taking care of my beloved children. I think their job seems like they are controlled under the government and they just enjoy it. On the contrary, I don’t like being controlled by someone’s authority; I’d love to control people, especially for my own employees. As a wise girl, I never protest about their business although I feel broken. In this differences I find a precious lesson, that is I will be the agent of changes in my family to apply a better way in searching for wealth without neglecting my beloved children when I am at their age later on.

The Innocent Wika

“Doubt … is an illness that comes from knowledge and leads to madness”.
― Gustave Flaubert, Memoirs of a Madman

For many times, I’ve heard about unimportant words from a girl. I said it unimportant because this girl talked about a boy who she never met before and I thought it was so innocent to think about that boy all the time. This innocent girl named Wika. I knew that she’s falling in love with that strange boy. She said his name is Doni. Recently, she told that she felt a bit doubt with Doni and her feelings to him. She thought that Doni was hiding something over her. I suggested her to be honest to herself and it would be good if she could over her relationship with Doni. However, she chose to keep her relationship with that boy and to act like she didn’t feel any doubt at all, while finding out who the real Doni was. As I look back, Wika’s ignorance on my suggestion to be honest to herself and to end up their relationship made me mad at her.

 As what other teenagers do when they reach a phase where they easily change their emotional because of a special person in their hearts, Wika does the same thing as well. Sometimes, she showed a happy feeling or expression and sometimes she showed the sad one. I realized that Doni already took every part in her heart. Everything she does would remind her to Doni, her dearest one. I was wondering how she can fall in love with a boy who she had never met before. Wika said that they only communicated through Short Message Service and they even had never had a call at once. From Wika’s explanation, they had become close since three months ago and they only needed two months to become a couple. Yeah, now Wika and Doni were  already in a relationship.

In this case, I just wanted the best for her and I just wanted to give the best advice to solve her problem. I told her to be assertive, not to be weak. I suggested her to leave Doni and think logically. I didn’t suggest her to do so with no strong reasons. I had a number of reasons why she should do what I told her to do. First, she had never had a relationship with any boy before. This is the first time for her to be in a relationship with a boy and of course she didn’t have any experience in romance. Second, they even had never seen each other’s eyes. Third, this strange boy said that he got seriously ill and said that his life was extremely short. I thought that was just his cruel strategy for grabbing Wika’s attention because he never explained what kind of illness that he was struggling for. I also thought it was just his reason for not being able to meet Wika. The strangest thing from him was he didn’t allow Wika to see him at Sanjiwani Hospital in Gianyar where he takes a medical care right now. Maybe he didn’t allow Wika to see him because of his ugly face or he is hiding something over Wika. Is this strange boy really exist or not? Only God knows the truth. The last reason was that, I didn’t want to see her to get hurt later on. That’s it!

When I told her about those reasons, I believed that she understood my worry over her. “Your worry as same as mine but I can’t do as what you suggested to me. If I do so, I will never know the truth behind these all. I will keep him mine while finding out who he really is”, said Wika. I kept silent for a while, then I tried to convince her again that she would be hurted by Doni. Unfortunately, she was still on her decision, ignoring my suggestion, so that I became angry to her. I was really sick of this situation.

For everyone who reads this writing, please don’t be blinded by love and don’t be weak. Girls can also be assertive and think logically about something, especially about LOVE.