bukan agama yang kau imani, tapi Tuhan.

semakin membaca, sering kali membuat sesorang semakin tak mengerti. adanya logika yg bercampur pengertian pribadi dan nurani, membuat keyakinan makin sulit dipahami. satu2nya yg dibutuhkan saat ini hanyalah hikmat yg berasal dari Sang Pencipta agar imanmu bukan berdasar pada pengetahuanmu saja, tetapi berdasar pada sebuah "Panggilan". Karena itu berdoalah, mohonkanlah hikmat itu. Ingatlah akan satu hal.. bukan agama yang kau imani, tapi Tuhan. Kau bebuat baik bukan karena agama, tapi karena Tuhan. berdoalah.. berdoalah.

ASE: ACTIVE SPEAKING ENGLISH, THE EFFECTIVE CLASS TO IMPROVE STUDENT’S ENGLISH SKILL IN SMAK FRATERAN MALANG

Introduction

Frateran Senior High School has founded exactly 23 years ago at 15 August 1988. It is located in Celaket, Jaksa Agung Suprapto Street, Malang. Frateran Senior High School has vision and mission to produce the best graduates, so they would be easy to apply science to the environment or social life. As a private school that based on Catholic concept, this school is leaded by a Frater (in Islam, it may be an Ustad, while in Hindu it can be a Pedanda). The motto of this school is: in fraternitatis discimus docemus et amamus, which means: in brotherhood, we learn, teach and love). So, the activities in this school are always interesting where teacher can be like student’s friend or family, which always share knowledge to each other.

Today, student of Senior High School tends to use English in the regular English class only. They speak English effectively in that class, but after the class end, they will go back to speak in Indonesian or Javanese language with friends. It may be caused by the environment which does not support them to practice English language efficiently, at least in a simple speaking. They do not enjoy speaking English because it feels strange and difficult. Students prefer to use Indonesian or Javanese as their dominant language. In fact, using native language for communication is more enjoyable than speaking foreign language (English).

 Knowing that English is actually an important language for international communication, Frater (the headmaster) of Frateran Senior High School decided to make an extra class namely ASE (Active Speaking English). This class is expected to be an effective solution for student who wants to learn English well especially in speaking. As a teacher of this ASE Class, I take a big responsibility to always control my students that already use English successfully or not. This class is scheduled every Saturday, even though it is labeled as “mata pelajaran bakat minat”, ASE class is held in the same hour like other regular classes.

ASE (Active Speaking English)

Bakat Minat ASE is a proclivity class programmed by school with a goal to sharpen the student’s English language skills especially in speaking. Student of Frateran Senior High School can join this class if they want to learn more how to use English well.

This class is different from the regular class which is commonly scheduled in English Subject, because in ASE we can learn English in a fun and relaxing way. The activity is also focused on student’s skill in speaking that is usually tested by discussion activity or conversation. In ASE, these activities can motivate students to use English both in speaking which is really fun. They are invited to be always active in speaking without feeling worried that they will be right or wrong. As long as the students want to be active, teacher will always appreciate their efforts.

I started to teach students in ASE Class since June 2011. I have a lesson plan that is developed continuously from year to year. There are several materials we discussed in class, such as: The Introduction of Program ASE, Greeting and Goodbyes, Story Reading, Story Telling, News Reading, Song, Speech, Poetry, Marketing / Promotion, Free Time Activity, and Evaluation.

In this paper, I am going to explain one specific activity that I applied in ASE Class two weeks ago. That activity is story telling.

Story Telling

Storytelling can be a powerful tool in the ASE Class, especially to motivate students to speak English fluently. In this case, this activity is often to begin with the teacher playing the role as storyteller. But it will be the greatest contribution to the classroom when the students themselves become the storytellers to others. In this activity, i have a procedure that is well prepared to guide me in teaching.

Procedure

·         Tell and re-tell

In this part, I tell (or read) a story in front of the class. The students will re-tell the same story in pairs, in small groups, or to the whole class. Sometimes it is not necessary to have one student to tell the whole story but rather take turns until the story is told. Sometimes, I also do additional activity like: the small group chooses a storyteller and helps them to prepare the story for telling it to the whole class.

·         Tell a familiar story from another perspective.

This activity will make students interested to my explanation in front of class and I will give questions related to their own opinion. In this case, my question will stimulate their willing to share perspectives. Sometimes, we need to choose story that is familiar to make them easy to understand. Example: Story of superman or other American superheroes which is discussed from Javanese or Indonesian’s perspective; then compare it with our heroes like Gatutkaca etc.

·         Tell a personal story about something that happened to me, about someone who is important in my life, or some experiences that is memorable in my life.

This activity will interest students to share their personal story too. This is very good idea to encourage a warm conversation in class. It will make other students want to share their opinion too. There will be a close relationship between student and teacher. It is related to the motto of this school that teachers should be a family for their students.

·         Conduct interviews for some students to check they already understood the content of that story or not

·         Create student’s original stories following the typical format of a folktale. Who is the hero? What challenge must be overcome? What obstacles are presented to prevent the hero from reaching the goal? How are they overcome? Element of magic?

·         Map out the main events that occur in a story to aid in the telling. Once children learn to create story maps for telling, the skill can be applied to their personal writing experiences.

·         Give the students a story outline (story map) and have them tell it filling out the details to make the story more interesting.

·         Examine stories that should be read rather than told because the language needs to be maintained as it was written or because the pictures carry the story.

·         Examine different kinds of stories: fables, legends, fairy tales etc.

·         Challenge students to tell the story in front of class

·         Invite the students to use some media for telling story in front of class. The media can be picture, music, doll, or map.

Discussion

By doing this activity, I found that actually story telling activity has several other benefits. At first i thought that story telling will only improve student’s skill in speaking, but then i realized that story telling has other great contributions related to other skills for the student in Frateran Senior High School.

1.      By listening to stories that are told by another, students can:

• Develop their listening skills

In this part, doing story telling activity in class will improve students listening skill too. By listening to other student’s story, they will develop their ability in listening English effectively.

• Increase concentration

When students listen to their friend’s story, it will increase concentration. They will focus on the content of story, to find mistakes or some new vocabularies.

• Develop vocabulary

Sometimes, student can find a new vocabulary that is mentioned by his/her friend in front of class. In this case, if this activity is repeated continuesly, their knowledge of English vocabulary will be improved continuesly.

• Develop a sense of story

Some stories have a sense for students. Especially for story that has messages or moral values. In this case, students develop their skill in learning some new lesson from story.

• Motivate students to read

This is really important part because some stories can motivate students to read. When they wonder to know where the story from, or when the story tell them about some beautiful places, they will search book related to that story and read it.

2.      By learning to tell stories to others:

• improves oral language skills

• improves story writing

• develops the students’ understanding of plot and sequence on that story

• encourages reading and critical thinking skills

Conclusion

            By applying storytelling activity in ASE Class, I found this method is successful to make my students develop their speaking skill. In this case, stories can be used to remember important events, explain creation, and preserve culture.

Students in my class are rediscovering the joys of telling and listening to stories. They are learning that storytelling is an intimate experience where, regardless of the size of the audience, it seems that there are only two people present - the teller and the listener. Each listener feels that the teller is speaking only with him/her. In this case, it makes them to be more confident to always share opinion especially to improve their ability in speaking English.

In this part, i want to recommend storytelling as part of lesson plan in every speaking class, because this method has so many benefits, such as: engages student’s imaginations, promotes language development, encourages reading, develops listening skill, and helps students understand to each other.

References

Brown, Gillian, and George Yule (1983). Teaching the Spoken Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Harmer, J (2007). The practice of English language teaching. Fourth edition. Essex: Pearson-Longman

AGAINTS PLASTIC SURGERY NOW, WHY NOT??

Today, the existence of Plastic Surgery in Indonesia has increased. Plastic Surgery has become an extremely popular for people especially woman influenced by stereotypes of what is beautiful. A study by “Psychology Today” magazine shows that many people are not satisfied with their looks; 60,000,000 do not like their noses; 30,000,000 do not like their chins; 6,000,000 do not like their ears; and 6,000,000 do not like their eyes. (http: //www.englishforums.com /English/AgainstCosmetic-surgery/gbzak/post.htm). But, actually not all the people who have plastic surgery, do it for the reason of fitting into the beauty picture of society, or because of physical problems. For example, some people had an accident and have to find reconstruction of their body; some people were born with a physical defect or disfigurement, etc. But, how if the people do plastic surgery are the normal men/women? Is it accepted? This reality makes a controversy in society. There are pro and contra in issue of the existence of plastic surgery for normal man/woman in Indonesia. This prolonged dispute becomes more controversial. People have tried to criticize it by some religion’s reason, so many clarifications of disadvantages of plastic surgery, etc. Therefore, I think that the existence of plastic surgery for normal man/woman should be banned in Indonesia, because there is some religions interdict it and it has so many disadvantages.

            First, some religions in Indonesia interdict the plastic surgery for normal man/woman. Islam doesn’t agree about the existence of plastic surgery for normal man/woman. Islam said that people have to always be thankful to God for what they have had. If people can’t receive their natural condition, it seems they can’t admit the God’s omnipotence. In this case, Christian also has the same religious law. Christian said that people are created by God’s omnipotence perfectly (Bible, Genesis 1). We should always be thankful because our face, body, all our physical appearance are created by God’s hand reasonably. It is the best which He did for us. So, why should a normal man/woman do plastic surgery? Both Islam and Christian permit the plastic surgery practice just if it is for an abnormal man/woman, because surely they need to find reconstruction of their body/face. So, we can conclude that plastic surgery for normal man/woman is forbidden by Islam and Christian.

            Secondly, there are so many disadvantages of having plastic surgery. Plastic surgery is very dangerous. There are so many failures in practice of plastic surgery in Indonesia. Although we know that plastic surgery might look nice (it can change the form or appearance of our body part) the process is not viable for all. Plastic surgery usually costs a future and cannot be availed by everyone. Plastic surgery also gives the possibility of death. The surgical process often involves usage of chemical and equipments that are not suitable for a person’s body. Excessive bleeding, heart attack, or even a drop in blood pressure, while the surgery is going on, some of the factors can lead to death of the patient (Dr. John Norris). It has made us become surer that there are so many risks for people who do plastic surgery.

            In conclusion, because of the plastic surgery for normal man/woman is forbidden by some religions in Indonesia, and it gives so many risks for people in Indonesia, I think that Indonesia should make a prohibition to plastic surgery practice for normal man/woman. There are so many reasons for stopping the existence of plastic surgery for normal people in Indonesia, so what are we waiting for? Let us against plastic surgery now.

PERBANDINGAN GAYA PENULISAN KARYA SASTRA THE WITHERED ARM DENGAN AN IMAGINATIVE WOMAN

berikut adalah salah satu proposal yg saya buat di semester 5...
tumben saya membuatnya dalam bahasa indonesia, entah pas itu dapet berapa nilai nya dari bu dosen...
moga bisa jadi referensi buat teman-teman... :p

PERBANDINGAN GAYA PENULISAN KARYA SASTRA

THE WITHERED ARM DENGAN AN IMAGINATIVE WOMAN

(Oleh Thomas Hardy)

1.      Objek Material: “The Withered Arm” dan “An Imaginative Woman”

"The Withered Arm" dan "An Imaginative Woman" merupakan dua buah novella yg dibuat oleh seorang penulis yg sama, yaitu Thomas Hardy. Paper ini akan memberikan penjelasan mengenai beberapa persamaan dan perbedaan di antara kedua karya tersebut. Novella yang berjudul “The Withered Arm” dibuat pada tahun 1888, sedangkan “An Imaginative Woman” dibuat pada tahun 1894. Jarak rentang pembuatan kedua karya sastra ini memang cukup jauh, namun keduanya memiliki nada yang sama dalam pengisahan seorang wanita. Kedua karya tersebut ditulis dalam narasi yg menggunakan sudut pandang orang ke tiga (serba tahu). Gaya penulisan dari kedua karya tersebut memang terkesan kuno (jaman dulu), yang mungkin ingin mempengaruhi kita sebagai pembaca bahwa isi cerita yang terdapat dalam  kedua novella tersebut terjadi di sekitar abad 19-an. Tema utama dari kedua novella tersebut ialah mengenai takdir dan ironi kehidupan. Inilah yang membuat cerita dalam kedua novella tersebut terkesan begitu tragis, yang dapat membangkitkan minat dan emosi para pembaca. Menurut penulis, mungkin itulah alasan yg telah dipilih oleh Thomas Hardy untuk membuat sebuah karya sastra dengan gaya penulisan seperti ini.

Penulis sengaja memilih kedua novella buatan Thomas Hardy ini sebagai sasaran penelitan, dikarenakan unsur-unsurnya cukup lengkap untuk dapat diteliti sehingga menghasilkan penemuan makna dari cerita di dalam karyanya. Pada saat ini banyak penulis sastra yang hanya mementingkan kuantitas karya mereka, namun kurang memperhatikan kualitas dan karakter di dalamnya. Saat membaca novella Thomas Hardy, ditemukan ada karakter penulisan yang mungkin dapat diteladani oleh para sastrawan modern. Kedua novella Thomas Hardy ini sangat menggugah minat hati penulis untuk mengadakan penelitian secara mendalam guna menggali makna melalui pemahaman terhadap gaya penulisan Thomas Hardy yang tercermin dalam cerita.

2.      Objek Formal: Pendekatan Analisis Struktural

Penelitian ini dirancang berdasarkan pendekatan analisis struktural, karena pendekatan ini dianggap paling sesuai dengan tujuan penulis untuk dapat membandingkan isi dan unsur-unsur yang terdapat dalam karya sastra "The Withered Arm" dan "An Imaginative Woman", untuk dapat mengetahui gaya penulisan Thomas Hardy pada kedua novella tersebut.

            Model penerapan pendekatan analisis struktural dalam penelitian ini ialah dengan menjadikan karya sastra sebagai pijakan utama untuk menganalisa. Jadi, yang terpenting ialah unsur-unsur struktur yang ada dalam karya tersebut beserta transformasinya secara keseluruhan.

Pendekatan analisis struktural ini bertujuan untuk memaparkan secermat mungkin keterkaitan dan keterjalinan semua unsur karya sastra yang secara bersama-sama menghasilkan makna menyeluruh (Teeuw, Membaca dan Menilai Sastra, 1984:135). Unsur-unsur karya sastra yang dimaksud dalam penelitian ini ialah tema, alur, suasana, latar, penokohan, serta gaya bahasa (penulisan).

3.      Teknik Pengambilan Data

Teknik pengambilan data yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini ialah teknik simak. Dalam hal ini, teknik simak yang dimaksud ialah proses membaca karya secara keseluruhan dan mencatat bagian-bagian penting di dalamnya, untuk kemudian dapat dijadikan objek data yang layak diteliti. Data-data dari kedua novella yang telah dicatat oleh penulis ini, akan diteliti lebih jauh sehingga menemukan perbandingnya satu sama lain, yang pada akhirnya akan menemukan kesimpulan gaya penulisan Thomas Hardy dalam pembuatan dua karya sastra tersebut.

4.      Sampel Data

Penelitian ini akan mengambil contoh/sampel data dari kutipan fakta-fakta yang tertulis pada karya sastra “The Withered Arm” dan “An Imaginative Woman”, yang menunjukkan gaya penulisan Thomas Hardy dalam pembuatan dua buah karya sastra tersebut. Sampel data ini berupa kalimat-kalimat yang dikutip dari masing-masing novella, yang menunjukkan tema, alur, karakter/penokohan, suasana, serta gaya bahasa dari masing-masing karya sastra.

Berikut ini adalah beberapa sampel data yang telah penulis catat untuk dapat dikembangkan menjadi bahan-bahan penelitian:

1.      Tema karya sastra

-          Gaya penulisan Thomas Hardy yang menunjukkan adanya tema mengenai “sebuah ikatan pernikahan yang tak berarti”:

Marchmill considered his wife's likes and fancies, those smallest greatest particulars that no common denominator could be applied. (An Imaginative Woman, halaman 1)

Kalimat di atas merupakan salah satu sampel yang menunjukkan adanya suatu ikatan pernikahan yang terasa kurang berarti. Di dalamnya terdapat ketidakcocokan suami istri yang akan mempengaruhi perjalanan cerita. Dalam hal ini kita dapat memahami karakter Marchmill (suami) yang kurang bijak dalam menyikapi rasa ketidakcocokannya terhadap Ella (istri).

The Withered Arm juga menunjukkan hal yang sama, Di dalam karya "The Withered Arm" terdapat ketidakcocokan antara Farmer Lodge dan Gertrude. Gertrude lebih memperhatikan dirinya sendiri (her arm) dibandingkan bagaimana dirinya di hadapan Farmer Lodge.

-          Gaya Penulisan Thomas Hardy yang menunjukkan adanya pengkhianatan yang dilakukan seorang manusia

"I found them in the closet here," she said, "and put them on in a freak. What have I else to do? You are always away!" (An imaginative Woman, halaman 9)

Kalimat di atas menjelaskan bagaimana Ella membohongi suaminya ketika ia menggunakan pakaian Mr. Trewe. Pada kenyataannya, Ella menggunakan pakaian Mr. Trewe karena mencintainya. Ella telah mengkhianati suaminya.

Pengkhianatan juga terjadi dalam karya  "The Withered Arm", Farmer Lodge telah mengkhianati anaknya. Dia lebih memilih untuk mengabaikan anaknya karena ia merupakan hasil hubungan gelapnya dengan Rhoda Brook. Farmer Lodge mengabaikan anaknya itu juga dikarenakan dia adalah anak haram, serta dikucilkan dari masyarakat.

2.      Penokohan

Tokoh utama dalam kedua cerita ini ialah wanita. Pada "The Withered Arm", yang menjadi tokoh utama ialah Gertrude, dan pada "An Imaginative Woman" tokoh utamanya ialah Ella.

3.      Setting (latar tempat dan waktu)

Kedua novella ini mengambil setting waktu yang sama, yaitu pada abad 19-an, pada masa pemerintahan Victoria. Meskipun cerita dalam kedua novella ini berada dalam setting waktu yang sama, namun mereka dibuat dalam latar tempat yang berbeda.  "An Imaginative Woman"  dibuat dengan latar tempat di lingkungan urban (daerah perkotaan) sedangkan “The Withered Arm" dibuat dengan latar tempat di daerah pedesaan (rural area). Hal ini menunjukkan adanya variasi dalam gaya penulisan yang dilakukan oleh Thomas Hardy.

5.      Penjelasan mengenai objek formal

Dalam penelitian ini, penulis mengingat teori Abrams yang menyatakan bahwa penelitian karya sastra memiliki beberapa model pendekatan, yang dibagi dalam 4 kelompok besar:

-          Ekspresif: yaitu model pendekatan yamg menonjolkan kajiannya terhadap peran pengarang sebagai pencipta karya sastra

-          Pragmatik: yaitu model pendekatan yang lebih menitikberatkan sorotannya terhadap peranan pembaca sebagai penyambut dan penghayat sastra

-          Mimetik: yaitu model pendekatan yang lebih berorientasi pada aspek referensial dalam kaitannya dengan dunia nyata

-          Objektif: yaitu model pendekatan yang memberi perhatian penuh pada karya sastra sebagai struktur yang otonom dengan koherensi intrinsik.

Dari teori model pendekatan yang terakhir, yaitu pendekatan objektif, penulis menyadari adanya perhatian penuh terhadap karya sastra sebagai sebuah struktur. Dari sinilah teori tersebut akan mengarah pada strukturalisme.

6.      Sinopsis

-          Sinopsis “The Withered Arm”

Seting cerita “The Withered Arm” ini ditempatkan di Wessex, dimulai dengan adanya seorang pelayan beserta anaknya laki-laki. Pertama-tama kita akan dikenalkan seorang tokoh bernama Rhoda Brooks, seorang pemerah susu yang bekerja untuk seorang pria bernama Farmer Lodge. Dalam bab pertama novella ini, kita akan menemukan adanya perselingkuhan yang terjadi antara Rodha dan Lodge yang kemudian menghasilkan hadirnya anak laki-laki.Mereka tinggal sendirian di sebuah gubuk kecil yang sudah rusak dan keadaannya sungguh memprihatinkan. Dan kita dijelaskan juga bahwa sejak saat itulah Farmer Lodge tidak mengakui keberadaan Rodha dan  anaknya lagi. Hubungan mereka berakhir. ”He hasn't spoken to Rhoda Brook for years” (The Withered arm, page 1). Sudah bertahun-tahun lamanya Farmer Lodge tidak mau lagi berkomunikasi dengan Rodha.

Selanjutnya ialah cerita mengenai kehidupan Farmer Lodge, bertempat di rumahnya dengan istri barunya yang masih muda dan cantik, yaitu Gertrude. Gertrude memiliki kepribadian yang lembut, sangat mudah terharu dan memiliki sikap kepedulian yang cukup besar, hal ini sangatlah kontras dengan suaminya, yang memiliki sikap busuk, tidak peduli serta penuh dengan keangkuhan.

Sebuah peristiwa terjadi, tidak lama setelah kehadiran Gertrude, saat itu Rhoda bermimpi bahwa dia dikunjungi oleh Gertrude yang memamerkan cincin pernikahannya. Rhoda, yang memiliki sikap pahit terhadap semua orang, merasa marah dan ia pun menyakiti lengan (tangan) Gertrude. Meskipun itu semua hanyalah mimpi Rhoda, namun kejadian ini mengakibatkan sakitnya lengan (tangan) Gertrude di dalam kenyataannya.

Cerita ini mengisahkan bagaimana Gertrude tetap berjuang menemukan obat untuk tangannya yang perlahan-lahan makin melemah dan sekarat, seraya ia tetap mencoba untuk menjaga kasih sayang yang pernah diberikan suaminya. Obsesi dan tekadnya untuk dapat menyembuhkan dirinya sendiri, membawa Gertrude ke tempat-tempat berbahaya. Dari sinilah kita ditunjukkan betapa Gertrude menjadi sangat pemberani.

-          Sinopsis “An Imaginative Woman”

Ella Marchmill, seorang wanita yang penuh dengan daya imajinasi (atau mungkin seseorang yang mudah berkhayal), ialah penulis puisi yang memiliki cita-cita tinggi.  Ia menulis puisi-puisi dengan menggunakan nama samaran John Ivy. Dia menggunakan nama samaran ini karena pada jaman itu, tidak akan ada orang yang percaya akan inspirasinya jika mengetahui bahwa sesungguhnya dia adalah seorang wanita, jadi Ella menyamar sebagai laki-laki.

Suami Ella adalah seorang gunmaker (pembuat senjata). Baik itu watak, kepribadian, karakter, minat maupun sifatnya sangat berbeda jauh dengan Ella. Ketika Ella dan suaminya, serta ketiga anaknya pergi berlibur ke Solentsea di Upper Wessex, tiba-tiba Ella menjadi sangat terobsesi dengan seseorang  bernama Robert Trewe, yaitu seorang penulis puisi yang pernah tinggal di kamar penginapannya sebelumnya. Selama di Solentsea, dia meyakinkan dirinya bahwa ia telah jatuh cinta terhadap pria yang belum pernah ia jumpai sebelumnya itu. Dari sinilah Ella merasa sangat ingin bertemu dengan Trewe.  

Ella merasa kesepian karena suaminya selalu sibuk sendiri. Di samping itu, anak-anaknya diasuh oleh perawat (baby sitter). Oleh karenanya, Ella lebih suka menghabiskan waktunya dengan membaca karya-karya Trewe di kamarnya. Dia mulai mengagumi Trewe. Dia mencari-cari kesamaan dan hubungan di antara mereka. Apalagi Mrs. Hooper sering meceritakan tentang Trewe kepadanya. Akan tetapi, mereka tidak pernah bertemu satu sama lain sampai Ella harus pulang. Setiap saat dia mencoba untuk menemui Trewe, dia gagal. Mereka berkomunikasi hanya melalui surat menyurat dan Ella menggunakan nama laki-laki, yaitu John Ivy.

Beberapa saat kemudian, Robert Trewe meninggal karena dia bunuh diri. Pada waktu itu, Ella benar-benar mencintainya dan ia pun merasa kecewa dan putus asa. Dia menghadiri pemakaman Robert Trewe tanpa memberi tahu siapa pun. Dia mengetahui kematian Robert Trewe melalui berita di surat kabar.

Mr. Marchmill datang untuk menjemput Ella. Saat itu Ella meminta rambut Trewe dan fotonya untuk mengenang cintanya.

Beberapa waktu kemudian, Ella melahirkan seorang anak dan meninggal setelahnya. Cerita menjadi semakin ironis. Dua tahun kemudian Mr Marchmill membandingkan rambut dan wajah anaknya itu dengan Robert Trewe. Dia menemukan banyak kesamaan di antaranya dan dia pun marah. Dia tidak mau menerima anaknya.

Avoid the Use of Visual Media!?

Today, using visual media frequently becomes a lifestyle for teenagers. In the course of our life we meet every day the visual media: we watch television, read magazines, surf on the Internet, and play computer or video games. However, these situations have already become so natural, that we usually don’t realize how they impress us. But, there are pro and contra in issue of the effect of using visual media frequently as teenager’s lifestyle. Some people say it gives many advantages, but others say that it’s not really useful because of so many reasons. In my opinion, using visual media frequently is bad, so people should decrease this habit as soon as possible.

There are so many studies have found that using visual media can make us become lazy to do something. It means that visual media can make us become unwilling to work. This condition is so bad, for example students play video games till they forget to study. The result of Media Magazine observation shows that 75% students in the world prefer to play video games than study. Using visual media is more interesting than other Medias. Some people argue that visual media is motivating, but I think that it is precisely not able to encourage people work. In short, we must be careful in using visual media because it sometimes can make us become lazy.

Using visual media is wasting time. I believe that we have so many experiences in using visual media but we almost never consider that it is wasting time. Too much entertainment, too much refreshing, but we will get nothing in using it. We are enjoyed by using it, feeling happy, but our time just being wasted. Using visual media makes us forget to do our important work and activity. The research of Psychology Study in Media Magazine shows us that using visual media becomes lifestyle. Some people argue that visual media can help us to make time management but I think it precisely makes us being unfocused. For example is playing video games. Instead, this visual media gives bad influence. So, we have to avoid using visual media frequently because using it is same as wasting our time directly.

                    Visual media is unhealthy. There are some diseases which are caused by visual media. Doctor John Wyorge (www.livinghealthy.com) said that using visual media can increase the risk of headache. Using visual media too frequently can make a headache by influencing some nerves in the brain. Some people say that visual media can refresh our mind but I think it is exactly reduce the effectiveness of our brain’s work. I believe visual media is unhealthy because actually it can make us being sick. Therefore, visual media is dangerous when it can give us a disease.

            From the explaining above, people should decrease the habit of using visual media frequently because it can make us become unproductive in society. There are so many reasons for stopping the use of visual media as the lifestyle. So, it will better if we try to stop using visual media frequently.