CAPTAINS LOG: 13th January

IT really is but you won’t see it until the end….so read on people!

THERE are millions of children around the world right now who do not have the luxury of an education. Hating school is a rite of passage but to not even have the choice of going is unacceptable in 2019.

WHILST watching the box last year, it was mentioned that over 75% of kids today want to be a YouTuber. I’d laugh but it’s not actually funny. In the UK our kids get a FREE opportunity to go to school and they aspire to be a YouTuber? Do you know how many children globally don’t get that option? I worked for a children’s’ charity for 5 years and many of the kids we helped support walked miles each day; some through horrific and/or hazardous conditions for the opportunity of an education. They chose to get to school so they could learn and have a better life than their parents, some of whom had lived in the most extremes poverty or war zones.

THEY want to better themselves against a barrage of odds stacked against them. They may not have become doctors or lawyers or teachers, but they knew without study their futures would be as limited as that of their parents.

AND now 75% of UK kids wants to be a YouTuber/Influencer? Is that really a ‘career’ now? Apparently so.

AND the goods news is, it doesn’t take much to become one. Anyone can do it. Don’t bother working hard at school, don’t bother working to achieve great grades. You’ve just got to be pushy it would seem.

I have read various articles in the past few months’ and two have stuck in my throat…sorry, I mean mind. Both are about young, female ‘influencers’.

THE first was banned from entering The Louvre in Paris. Whilst the French can be an uppety bunch, I am totally backing them on this one.

THE girl in question was wearing a dress. A dress which revealed the majority of her cleavage. Did her parents never teach her that [really invaluable] lesson that there ‘is a time and a place’ and entering the Louvre with your tits on display is neither of those? Obviously not.

THE Louvre is not a religious establishment. But it’s not a bar either. Do these people not realise that dressing like that for a visit to a museum isn’t acceptable attire?

YEARS ago when I lived in Israel my parents came out to visit me. When went into Jerusalem one day and on our walk around decided to go into the grounds of the Rock of the Dome. We didn’t enter it, we merely visited the grounds. Now this is a place of religious importance but not my religion. But the rule was that we covered our arms and legs if they were bare.

TRUST me, summertime in Jerusalem, you generally boil if you are wearing anything more than shorts and a vest. But we covered up, of course we did, as a mark of respect. Respect for their rules and their religion. It’s respectful to abide by the rules; even the unwritten ones.

MORE importantly; where is her self respect? She didn’t look ‘cheap’ or nasty, just very, very out of place. I’m sure her and her ‘followers’ were incredulous at the ban. Bemoaning the old fashioned thinking, how dare they treat her like that? What utter losers they must be? Yeah, they’re not the losers love, you are. If you think dressing like that to enter a museum is acceptable then you have bigger issues than being banned from The Louvre.

THE second ‘influencer’ was after the perfect ‘shot’. She had the photo of herself taken in front of a moving train. Yep, you read that right…a moving train. This is an influencer at it’s worst. There is no respect for the life you have been given or the lives of those who think you are s’mazing and follow your every move, thinking that your actions [of standing in front of a MOVING TRAIN] is a really cool thing to do. Big spoiler: it’s not; its just plain stupid.

FOR those who feel I may have an issue with ‘influencers’ you aren’t wrong. But it comes with conditions. If an influencer adds value to life, works hard (that does not include perfecting the mirror pose) and understands that they may be influencing young, impressionable kids, then I have no issue.

IFyou are the type of influencer who, appears on the surface at least, to be so bloody desperate to be noticed and revered that you put yourself in danger or can’t obey the really simple rules of showing respect for people/institutions/life in general, then no, I think you need a reality check. To be fair you’ve got to be a pretty special kind of stupid if you don’t understand the impact of your self-styled title.

WHY is there such a lack of respect in todays society? Not just for others but also, and more importantly, for ourselves? Are we so consumed by grabbing attention that we forget what we actually have? A life. A life that many are denied.

AS a parent, part of my job, is to show my boys the importance of eduction but also of their roles in helping our world and people. Take the free education, work hard and if you want to influence people then do it in a way that actually helps. Highlight and work towards saving our planet, be an educator, give your time to charity, be kind, let go of ego and be true to yourselves. This world is dying on it’s arse because man got greedy and there is so much that can be done to help reverse the damage but for that we need kids who take an interest in what is going on around them. Make small changes. When I first started living with my ex-husband he used to drive me mad over many things. If I was cleaning my teeth I would leave the water running and he’d turn it off. I thought he was just being tight. But it stuck and it infuriates me to see water being wasted. Step away from the sink and clean your teeth; keeping the water running doesn’t make your teeth whiter but it does waste it. Turn the bloody lights off in a room that is not being used. If I allowed it, my boys would light our house up like Blackpool. As you can see….parenting is a work in progress.

BEING a social media star is not a career. It is, at best, short-lived but then what happens? Where do you go when your star has fallen? What do you do? Because it will happen.

SO if a career as an ‘influencer’ or youtube star is what you want, go for it. But add value. Understand that you may actually influence somebody and that somebody may be vulnerable or young or without a strong, healthy influence in their life guiding them.

SO why is this ironic? Well….here comes the shameless plug! There is a new Vlog in town….check us out on facebook or Instagram under Rants and Big Pants (@rantsandbigpants). We are not influencers….more like ‘under the influence’ but join in, comment and laugh along with us or maybe just at us!

BIG SNOGS
Kitty xxx