My daughter had a bullying(欺凌) problem a couple of years ago. She kept receiving rude text messages from kids at school. Dealing with school bullying wasn't easy, but I finally ended it. When you realize things are serious, it is no time to be silent.

    If your kids are also receiving such text messages, take them directly to the headmaster and show him. Describe to him how it is affecting your kids. Tell him you will not tolerate it and that you want him to put an end to it now.

    School bullying is a dangerous and serious issue these days, and any good headmaster will take your charges seriously. He will probably address the issues with the parents. If they are crappy(糟糕的) parents, then they may do nothing to their child. You may have to repeat this process several times, but you need to keep a check on those text messages and don't allow your child to delete them.

    Now it is time to draw your child close and take care of him/her, because he/she needs it. My daughter did not like me being involved either, but you are the only person your kid can depend on to solve this problem, so do it and mean business. Always be polite, but straightforward. The headmaster and parents must know you mean business.

    If repeated meetings with the headmaster (and parents, if he allows it) do not work, then I would consider hiring a lawyer. That will send the message loud and clear. When you are talking about financial loss, most parents will stand up and take notice and act to keep their kids under control!

    I know a lawyer is a big expense and not something you do lightly, but when bad things like school bullying are happening to your children, you must act and act quickly.

    He is a lesson to every boy who ever picked up a basketball and dreamed that it would change his life.

    The lights were never brighter and the crowds were never bigger for a homegrown sports hero than they were a quarter-century ago for Ray Hall. But his athletic achievements, as impressive as they are, are to my mind not what is most admirable about the man.

    Known as “Sugar Ray” in his teens, Hall was rated among the country's top 25 high school basketball players. An inner-city kid from a solid family, Hall took on the challenge of lifting Canisius College — still recovering from its failure — back to respectability, rejecting more favorable offers. His status of a savior (救世主) brought more pressure than any 18-year-old should have to handle. However, I watched him mature into the player who led Canisius back to daylight.

    After college Hall played professionally in Italy and Greece for over 10 years until a car accident at 32 ended his basketball career. The news that he would never play again shocked Hall but unlike so many others he was ready for life after basketball. When I met Hall — still fit at 46 — for lunch Monday, he wore a cut-sharp gray suit, designer tie and blazing white shirt that screamed Success. “That was always the question — when the cheers end, where do you go? Who do you turn to?” he said. “It starts and ends with that person in the mirror.”

    Hall got the concept of academics-first from his parents. He graduated from Canisius a semester early. “No matter how good of an athlete you are, you are just one injury away from losing it all,” he said. “But if you take care of things academically, you are prepared until you leave this earth.”

    For the past 14 years, he has been in a computer sales job at Ingram Micro. He married his college sweetheart. They have three kids and a nice house in the suburbs. He figured out early what others learn too late: Athletics is part of a journey, not the destination.

    Congratulations, Ray, you made it. In more ways than one.

    As computers become more popular in China, Chinese people are increasingly relying on computer keyboards to input (输入) Chinese characters. But if they use the computer too much, they may end up forgetting the exact strokes（笔画）of each Chinese character when writing on paper. Experts suggest people, especially students, write by hand more.

    Do you write by hand more or type more? In Beijing, students start using a computer as early as primary school. And computer dependence is more wide-spread among university students. Almost all their assignments and essays are typed on a computer.

    All the students interviewed say they usually use a computer.

    It's faster and easier to correct if using a computer. And that's why computers are being applied more and more often to modern education.

    "When I'm writing with a pen, I find I often can't remember how to write a character, though I feel I'm familiar with it."

    "I'm not in the mood to write when faced with a pen and paper."

    Many students don't feel this is something to worry about. Now that it's more convenient and efficient to write on a computer, why bother to handwrite?

    Many educators think differently. Shi Liwei, the headmaster of a famous primary school in the capital, said, "Chinese characters enjoy both practical and aesthetic（审美的）value. But those characters typed with computer keyboards only maintain their practical value. All the artistic beauty of the characters is lost. And handwriting contains the writer's emotion. Through one's handwriting, people can get to know one's thinking and personality. Beautiful writing will give people a better first impression of them."

    To encourage students to handwrite more, many primary schools in Beijing have made writing classes compulsory（必修的）and in universities, some professors are asking students to turn in their homework and essays written by hand.

    WHO'S WHO IN THE ZOO?

    Is it amazing that the WHO'S WHO IN THE ZOO makes it fun for young children to save? With the help of Standard Bank's Kidz APP and the Big Five animal friends, teaching your children about managing their cash has never been more fun. Let the WHO'S WHO IN THE ZOO show your little ones what it means to earn and save money as well as share in the enjoyment of spending their well－earned cash.

    Elephant

    As your children use the mobile app to complete various actions—achieving savings goals, completing missions and achieving wishes—here various medals will be rewarded.

    Earned medals are displayed in the elephant habitat as well as locked medals still to be achieved.

    Leopard

    Reward your kids with pocket money for completing ‘missions': household chores, achievements, etc.

    You can create a mission for your child, or your child can request a new mission. Once created, it must be accepted. The mission needs to be completed by your child and approved by you before you can pay him or her.

    Lion

    Help your children create and fulfil wishes. Wish cards and their savings progress can be tracked from your banking app.

    Once their savings goal is reached, lion will inform you of their achievement.

    Buffalo

    Kidz can request to withdraw cash or purchase airtime and data using their savings.

    Rhino

    Rhino shows your child's latest account balance and transactions.

    Download the Standard Bank's Kidz APP from Apple App Store on the phone. Use the comment section to interact with other Standard Bank customers and bank consultants.

    I've been really lucky this year. Not only did I have the opportunity to live in France, but I was able to see some other countries with my girlfriend. Now she is studying in Essen, a large city in Western Germany. I recently went to stay with her—it was my first visit to Germany! Essen is a very large city. It has all the conveniences of any large city so I felt immediately at home. I loved the variety of shops, restaurants, shopping malls, cocktail bars, nightclubs, parks and even a lake. There is also a city­wide network of trams, which makes getting around a piece of cake!

    I found the people to be really friendly, and most Germans speak very good English which made life easy for me. I was surprised by the casual attitude to alcohol in Germany, where it seems normal for people to drink beer on the street, or on the tram. My girlfriend and I visited two famous local cities, Düsseldorf and Cologne, which are both on the Rhine River. Düsseldorf is an urban metropolis with a great variety of restaurants. We took a boat tour on the river and went up the Rhine Tower, a really tall building which offers great views across the city. Cologne, as you might know, is world-famous for its perfumes. The cathedral there is an unmissable landmark. We made the effort to climb to the top of one of the cathedral's towers. The spiral (螺旋的) stairs seemed endless, but it was worthwhile for the impressive sights from the top.

    We also went in a cable car over the river and tasted a German delicacy called "Spaghettieis" which is ice cream with strawberry sauce! I also got to try the famous German sausage. I must admit, I really enjoyed the food! The only disappointment was the grey and rainy weather, which proves that Britain does not have the worst weather in Europe!

Libraries

    Public libraries

    Most towns in Britain have a public library. A library usually has a large selection of books and other resources, which library members can use and borrow for free.

    Britain's First Public Library

    The first public library in Britain opened in Manchester in1852. It's first librarian was a man called Edward Edwards, Edwards attended the library's opening ceremony and two famous writers called Charles Dickens and William Thackeray were there too.

    How to Join a Library

    To join a library, go to your local library and fill in a form. You'll receive a library card which is needed when using library services.

    Mobile Libraries

    Not everyone can get a library. Some people live far away from towns and cities. Other people find it difficult to go out because they have an illness or a disability. Thanks to mobile libraries, these people can still borrow books.

    Unlike most libraries, which store books in buildings, mobile libraries usually keep their books in a mini-bus. The back of the mini-bus has shelves for the books, and it is big enough for borrowers to step inside and look around. A driver takes the mini-bus to a certain place at a certain time, so people know when to expect it. They can then return their books and borrow some more.

    All Aboard the Library!

    A school in London didn't have space for a library inside the building. However, everybody agreed that it was still important to have a school library. So the head of the school, Graham Blake decided to park an old bus on the school car park and changed it into a library. Pupils helped to paint the bus, and after eight months, the new library was ready.