All the Transition Year work placement slots in The Irish Times are now full for the rest of this school year. We'd still love to hear from you, so if your submission is published in Media Scope's `Over to You' column, though we can't offer a placement, we will send you out a £20 book token. Just send us a 200-word piece on a media-related topic.
Aine Sills, St Mary's Secondary School, Tralee, Co Kerry
Global warming - an international problem which is threatening our planet and which has the capacity to destroy the human race. But how often are we reminded of this?
The power that the media holds leaves everything else in the shadows. It shapes and educates the nation's mind. Thus it is the media which has a responsibility to highlight the seriousness of this issue.
This means consistent coverage - not just a front-page headline when the latest frightening statistics are thrown at us every couple of months, or when President Bush made his recent announcement. We not only need to hear news that will effect our immediate future, but also that which will affect the future in the long-term.
Just like a smoker kicking the habit needs to constantly remind themselves of the consequences of their actions, so too do we need reminding with regards to global warming. The media has this power and it must be used.
Ruth Mac Mahon, Alexandra College, Dublin
With the time approaching when Ireland will be converting pounds to euros, there is a lot of talk about inflation. But what is inflation? It is said to be the general rise in prices over a period of time. One of the causes is certainly greater wage demands.
But inflation has also been caused by pressures that we as a nation cannot control, for example scarcities of goods such as oil and now meat (the latter because of the foot-and-mouth crisis).
In 1992 Ireland accepted the Maastricht Treaty, which would introduce a single currency. As part of this agreement, Ireland agreed to curb inflation. Earlier this year, after Mr McCreevy's Budget, the EU rebuked Ireland for its high inflation rate - but it was this Budget that contributed to the present reduction in Ireland's rate: we had the highest inflation in Europe, but now our rate is only the fourth highest.
Will the EU have to eat its words, or will inflation begin to rise again? Can we, as a people, help our country and economy to reduce inflation further, by limiting our demands for more money and thinking first of our country, and only then of our pockets?
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media scope is a weekly media studies page for use in schools.
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media scope is edited by Harry Browne.
