How to react to bullying issues. First one must take a few steps to avoid being bullied in the first place here are a few: Avoid aggression and response to it. Try not to get involved in activities during which you are constantly harassed. Hang around with a few friends, whether in the school or the local park. NEVER attack the bully physically or verbally. A push in the schoolyard or someone calling abuse is not always bullying, especially if it’s a one-off instance. Since aggression is a common male thing, you should not take offense straight away and make it personal; instead, try to ignore him and don’t give him what he wants – that can be your response. He might say something bad about your family: this may cause you to make a nasty comment about him. The danger is that it becomes reciprocal: one day he gets angry, loses control and hits you: if he is a non-violent bully, he might circulate a rumour or verbally abuse you publicly. So, if the bully is a truck, try using another road. Remember that racism is illegal and should be reported to any figure of authority in school or even a policeman if necessary. Racism always twists into something nastier. Exclusion and separation are forms of segregation and racism so, if you are being excluded because of racism, you should report it. However it isn’t always racism. For example, if you are chosen last, maybe it’s because your soccer skills might not be what you think them to be, which can cause a misunderstanding. Currently, bullying people online isn’t easy to do as there are a lot of options that can prevent it. For example, if someone constantly sends messages that are not...

Running: the most natural form man has adopted throughout the centuries. Man was born to run, literally; it’s in our genes, our physiology. We needed to hunt, we chased down our kill for hours till it keeled over panting and exhausted. The first cave drawings were of us running – we were running experts. Yet why is it today that running seems less like Mo Farah striding out and comfortably clocking under 30 mins for 10k and more like a geriatric trudge? The mention of running is often followed by a groan. How did things ever get this bad? you may ask. Well, let me introduce you to our good friends at Nike and Adidas. Yes these guys have been telling us lies for years. See, there used to be a time where there was no such thing as the conventional running shoe; it’s more recent than you think, as late as 1964. A man called Bill Bowerman is to blame for fucking up your running. He began the craze by creating a new shoe designed especially for running. He claimed his shoe would guarantee injury-free running. At the time virtually everyone had perfected gait (technological term for running form); there was no such thing as orthotics because no one needed them; injury was an especially rare incident. Our ancestors fell for Mr Bowerman’s antics and they purchased the runners. The running boom during the 1970s spurred on the Nike Corporation’s success which contributed to making it the most recognised sports brand in history while in Europe a German company known as Adidas entered the market with the same mentality. Running shoes became more and more supportive with buzz words such as EVA, over-pronation protection and heel strike being bounced around. The general population...

I sat in the restaurant pursing my lips, bull-dog like, while I stared at the slim blonde at the counter, running her fingers through her hair while talking to a seventeen-year-old boy. To my left a brunette was gazing around, fiddling with her ring, as though wondering where her husband was now. As I thought this I looked at my watch. It was turned the wrong way round again; there was something that I had to remember. Scratching my nose I continued to take in my surroundings: there was an old man drumming his fingers along the steamy mug of tea. It was then that I realised that no one here was in pairs – we were all loners: single fish in a vast...