WHO I'AM

I been labeled, I been talked about and I been hated. Most of all I been alone and left to survive, Hi my name is Martina I'm 16 and I'm an Confused Teen. I ain't your average girl, I do things that others find wrong and corrupt. Maybe if you lived my life for one day you would understand. My parents got divorced when I was real young, after my dad left my mom lost the hope of living on her own and left me to some foster parents. Later on they grew tired of me so now I'm living in a TeenHomeShelter. I haven't heard from My mom since or my dad. Who know's where that fool is. I have a brother his name is Jay he's 20 I don't know who he is, I wonder is sometimes he feels guilty for not being there for me and helping me out or taking me in when I had no one else. I guess guilt can eat you inside. I'm not gonna lie or say I'm a good girl. I know I'm not, and my peers seem to see that to. Drugs have been my escape towards life and the pain I suffered, it takes me away from my problems. Money hasn't been an issue since sometimes I do sell my body because I need the money to survive the next day. So school is pretty much my **Money-Maker** and where I' am labeled and seen as the school SLUT. I got my 2 girls that I can call Family something I don't have. Kimberly and Shay la, honestly I don't know where I would be if I didn't have them. I know I wouldn't be alive, Their my escape. They get me and I get them. We go through shit together that no one else understands and would judge use. I don't know what the meaning of family is but it's( people that will never judge you,there for you no matter what situation with true unconditional love and that support you) then I'm proud to call them My family. This is me an Angry Teen

You either get me or you Don't

Hero's Trial

So apparently, crime rates (firearms) are down in Toronto, as well as Canada. Stabbings are more prevalent. Now the funny thing about that is when I heard it on the tv news, the reporter made it sound like it was such a good thing and it got me thinking: THIS IS "GOOD" NEWS?

It's beginning to look like we live in a real world Gotham City waiting for it's hero to emerge and bring salvation for its future. This is how I feel; almost as if we have to turn towards fiction for hope of change and it's becoming ridiculous. We shouldn't have to say to ourselves "if only superheros were real." I personally find myself thinking that all the time. It's come down to an endless backslide, almost as if it will NEVER end.

No matter what. there will always be a misled child that starts packing heat because no one is around to tell him otherwise. And it will continue to stay that way because before the people band together, they sit on their couches and stare at the news with wonder and amazement talking about ". . .someone needs to do something." Why not you? We blame music, movies and television before we take a look around and realize that people are sitting on their porches, balconies and doorsteps watching their community wither away, instead of making movements. No one man, woman or child can accomplish change all by themselves. United we stand, divided we fall.

School Violence: It's No Longer New

School violence: The shocking thing is we're not shocked anymore.

Rob Roberts from The National Post wrote an article on school violence and how it's no longer as shocking as it was before:

"Another day, another school lockdown. When I began in this business two decades ago, no one had ever heard of lockdowns. Now it is part of the language for teenagers who practise lockdowns as I once practised fire drills. Today, there was a stabbing outside Albert Campbell Collegiate Institute, which led to the lockdown at the Scarborough high school. There was a time we would interrupt regular programming and broadcast live on the air, our news chopper flying above, the satellite truck on scene, but not anymore. Such incidents have become so commonplace we don’t always report them. In our afternoon editorial meeting at Global, where we decide the line-up of our nightly "News Hour" broadcast, today’s lockdown was bumped down to a part of the broadcast usually reserved for features, after the health news, even after the weather forecast. As a city, we should not — cannot — become numb to a school lockdown. One student has already died on school property, and all the signs suggest it will happen again. Perhaps it's no coincidence we don't hear it called 'Toronto the good' anymore."

He was right. Why is it that now when a crisis breaks out, a school locks down, or someone gets killed, it's all old news, not even worthy for the front page? This just goes to show what Toronto is coming to. The once peaceful city is now slowly being consumed by all this evil and not enough people are getting involved. How many more have to die for us to be shocked once again?

For me it’s a scary thought going into high school in a few weeks. The basic worries of grade school, such as whose turn is it on the climbers, have upgraded to being stabbed or shot or robbed coming home from school. I bet quite a few kids my age going into high school have the same feeling of anxiety about what could happen. Hopefully by the time I get to school my fear will have died down but for now, I don’t see my nerves settling any time soon.