over to you

Even though we can no longer accept any more students for work placement in The Irish Times for this school year, we still love to hear from Transition Year students with opinions on various subjects. Send us your thoughts (200 words maximum) on a media-related topic - and if your submission is published, we'll send you a book token.

Paul Byrne, St Mary's College, Rathmines, Dublin

On watching recent sporting events I have been appalled by the behaviour of the top athletes. Chelsea's Graham Le Saux and Liverpool's Robbie Fowler, two of England's top sportsmen, and international team-mates, ridiculed and lashed out at each other in front of 40,000 spectators; Sheffield Wednesday's Paolo Di Canio pushed over a referee after being sent off.

More recently, after being sent off, Ian Wright took the law into his own hands by charging into the referee's changing room and throwing a tantrum; he is likely to get off lightly because he apologised - the same applied to the three players above.

What I mean by getting off lightly is that these players were fined between £50,000 to £100,000 by their clubs - two to four weeks' wages for some top soccer players. I really don't think that this is the right way to punish these players, as money is no longer a problem for them.

The English FA could do a number of things. They could do what the NBA does with players when they step out of line: fine them millions of dollars. Then we would soon notice the disciplinary records improving.

Another way would be to take points off the offending player's club. I think, by either means, the days of a professional player pushing a referee and getting away with it would be well gone.

Patrick Rooney, St Mary's Diocesan School, Drogheda, Co Louth

There is something missing from many schools in the Irish education system. We have so many subjects to choose from, from maths to Italian, so what could we be lacking? Music! Some schools provide it, but an awful lot don't. Music should be offered in every school as an option.

Music may be a hidden talent in students throughout the country. They may never discover this talent if they don't get the opportunity to explore and develop it. The vast majority of young people enjoy listening to music, yet schools fail to tap into this interest.

Students who are bored with the many academic subjects may find music to be the perfect alternative. This would greatly help their self-esteem and make school more appealing, and they may even stay in school longer.

The Department of Education should provide a music fund for all students to buy instruments. In this way, all students would have the opportunity to learn how to play an instrument - and they could form school groups, bands and orchestras. I hope someone from the Department seriously considers these points, as music could help a lot of students.

Write to media scope by posting your comments to Newspaper in the Classroom, The Irish Times, 11-16 D'Olier Street, Dublin 2 , or faxing them to (01) 679 2789.

Be sure to include your name, address and school, plus phone numbers for home and school.

Or you can use the Internet and email us at mediapage@irish-times.ie.

media scope is a weekly media studies page for use in schools. Group rates and a special worksheet service are available: FREEPHONE 1-800-798884 (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.). media scope is edited by Harry Browne.

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