What is peer pressure and how can we deal with it? - Rishona Chopra

Peer pressure is the pressure we face from our peers to do something. It indirectly or directly affects us. Often we find ourselves pretending to fit in the crowd, so we start doing things and becoming people we are not. We lose our own identity just to make 'friends'. But friends who force you to do something or friends who you cannot be yourself around aren't really friends, are they?

Each of us has our own identity, which we are given for a reason because we all are unique, we put on a different persona, and it affects no one but us.  

Being with the right company matters a lot. One ripe apple kept with ten other rotten apples will soon rot too. It is better to be alone than with bad friends. 

Dealing with peer pressure, though, is quite a challenge. Often people try to bully us by telling us that we are 'not cool' and 'boring'. But we must remember that the right path is often alone, but being alone doesn't mean we must be lonely. Ignoring people like that is the best way. We need to have a calm and composed mind that knows what is right and wrong. We do what we do, and pressuring someone needs to be corrected. 

When we start ignoring all of this, people start bothering us because peer pressure that makes you do bad things is just to trouble you or force you towards the wrong path. 

While dealing with peer pressure, we might think, "everyone is doing this", or "what could be wrong with this?" but something correct is not what the majority does. People around us may TRY to have a strong influence on us but we have to be that one person who stands on the right path, whether alone or not. Their TRY must be a left a try only and be in vain. 

Because of peer pressure, we start feeling insecure about our own selves and doubting ourselves. All our choices and decisions seem to be made by others and their opinions, but it is OUR life, OUR choices, and they cannot be changed. People may give us good advice that we should always lend an ear to, but then again, there has to be a straight line between right and wrong, people you trust and don't. 

We may need friends at this age, even if that means pretending to do things they don't. It feels terrible when you have no one to sit with you, talk to you and a person you can share your thoughts with, but it's hard to find someone like that, with who you can be yourself ( apart from your parents, of course)!

Sometimes, I am in the impact of my peers. I know what they might be doing is wrong, but I just pretend to do what they do just so I can get along with them, but then you have to remember that you have higher goals in life. You have higher aspirations than pretending or changing yourself to make friends. 

Instead of finding company outside, we can be our own friends! No one knows us better than we do, and no one ever can! 

Rishona Chopra
Grade VII
Gyanshree School

The Friendship of the Oven and The Fridge - Rishona Chopra

Hello my friends! Oh wait, don't hug me just now, you see I am very hot, I might burn you and then you would never talk to me again. Well, why am I so hot that no one can touch me? I was born this way and I am not proud of it! I hate it, I need more coldness in life, I deserve to be colder and not warmer. Because of this very extra ordinary blessing, which is really not a blessing, I don't have many friends but I have one best friend and that is Fridge. Now this was my side of the story, let's hear it from Fridge!
__________________________________________________

Hey there! As you might have guessed, I am very cold and I truly need more warmth.Even though I am cold I do not have a cold heart but I very warm and caring one. It's lucky that our owners kept oven and me together. He gives me warmth and I give him the touch of coldness he needs. Our lives have been extraordinarily twisted but we made the best of it!

Fridge and Oven

Swami and Friends: The Value of Friendship - Oshi Singh

You often hear people saying school life is the best. Wonder why people say that? Well, maybe because we spend the most fun and memorable moments of our lives in school with our friends. Gradually, we stop thinking about catching up with our old friends when we grow older. We keep making new friends and forgetting about the old ones.

Friends have one of the biggest influences in our lives. Having a good and faithful friend is the most valuable treasure one can have. Next week we will be reading a fascinating book by RK Narayan, "Swami And Friends". The story takes place during British rule in the year 1930. The story is about a group of friends living in Malgudi and their friendship. The story's young protagonist Swami and his friends teach us many valuable lessons about life, like celebrating & accepting our differences, the innocence of youth, and the importance of friendship in one's life.

I'm looking forward to reading RK Narayan's first and one of the most famous books.

Written by Oshi Singh

Gyanshree School, Noida

Swami and Friends - Anvesha Rana

Somewhere in life, there must be someone to take your hand and share the torrid day. Without a touch of Friendship, there is no life, and we must fade away. There are friends, there is family, and then there are friends who become family. Friendship is a tonic for all of us that only grows stronger over time; it is the cure for every challenge, the outlook for every good day, and the wish for every person. Probably no relationship is as essential yet versatile as Friendship. The intimacy and affinity we have with our friends are irreplaceable, and it comes in many forms; whether we are next to each other or miles apart, we always remember them, and they are our Friends. 

Some stories will make you smile, some will bring tears to your eyes, and some may even make your heart skip a beat, but all of them will renew your faith in the power of Friendship. Penned down beautifully in the words of a celebrated novelist, RK Narayan, is this tale overflowing with mischievousness, oozing with love and pondering over our relationships. 

So, join us as we dive into this adventure with Swami and Friends. We won’t know what’s coming next, for this will be full of twists, turns and steep ends, but one thing we can be sure of, whatever it is, will be the most memorable.

Anvesha Rana, 

Grade 10-B, 

Gyanshree School

Totto-chan's World - Anvesha Rana

Totto-chan was oozing with inquisitiveness; she always wanted to know this or that; she squeaked at the sight of anything new and liked it immediately. Similarly, when she saw the Health Bark, Tottochan wanted it for herself and her family, and after taking money from the Headmaster, she bought the health bark. The man selling the Health Bark was a fraudster who used tricks to sell the simple, ordinary bark by claiming it to have magical properties. Still, little Totto-Chan couldn't see the reality for the only thing that mattered to her was that her family, rocky and all her friends were fit as a fiddle, thanks to the miraculous bark. 

Another time a new student joined Tomoe; he was from America and hardly knew anything about Japan; he was Miyazaki. All the children at Tomoe helped Miyazaki to learn the Japanese way of life, and in turn, Miyazaki became like an English tutor for all of them. The amount of learning that can take place between people from diverse cultures is portrayed through the means of a few words.

Once Totto-Chan was also going to be a part of the school amateur drama, she was supposed to play Yoshitsune, but Totto-Chan didn't like her character very much because Yoshitsune was only supposed to be beaten. Still, Totto-Chan couldn't wait to retaliate when someone hit her, even if it was for a play! So, Totto-Chan was not a part of the first, and the last time an amateur drama took place at Tomoe Gakuen. 

Each year on an annual day at my school, I am part of the dance; since an early time, dance has been an art that attracted me the most, and I immensely enjoy it. My favourite dance was when we performed a classical item. 

The best part about Tomoe is that the students are let free; they are allowed free of discipline, stringent rules, and free of strict teachers. Sternness can only kill the imagination, but freeness can ignite it further. The Headmaster lets the students write music notes with chalk on the polished floor by keeping in mind that they will be the ones scouring the floor after their musical transition. This way, everyone learns to take responsibility for their actions. 

This was so far from Life at Tomoe Gakuen, a small school blended with love and values, making Totto-chan's small world complete. 

Anvesha Rana,

Grade 10-B,

Gyanshree School

My World of Stories - Anvesha Rana

The Library may be better and far, 

but the one at my home, to it, has no par. 

The Library may have more books, 

but the one I have has more love but no looks. 

I love my library, 

may it be small or short, 

but life is also not counted by years but by friends, 

a library is not counted by books but ends. 

The friends in the corner of my room, 

the lessons in life loom,

The Library has taught me everything, 

from love to compassion, all of them ring. 

I have a friend called Harry Potter, 

a mate Percy Jackson, 

I know a lovely man who is Morrie Schwartz, 

and the most beautiful Totto-Chan. 

The Library has opened my world, 

it may have been small once, 

but now it's twice that same once. 

Let's all read, 

for one life may be monotonous, 

but hundreds will make that one super anonymous. 

Anvesha Rana, 

Grade 10-B, 

Gyanshree School

Coffee With The Coach: Love Goes on - Anvesha Rana

Today We Talk About How Love Goes On.

We all love our family, friends, and teachers, but that is when we are alive. We live and love but do we ever worry about being forgotten after we die?

All throughout our life, we are involved with so many people in different ways, and after all, love is how you stay alive, even after you are gone. After a dear one passes, we may hear their voice when we are back home and all alone; that is love. If we can hear their words, they are not gone. Just listen to their call, and they will be there.

Making people feel welcome is another way of love. Only when we believe in being fully present can we love and let love. When we talk to someone, we should focus only on what is happening between us. We should not think about what someone said last week or what is coming up next Friday. If we want to love and wish for others to love us, we should live in the moment now. 

Learning to pay attention is an important way of love. So many people are always self-absorbed in their lives; their eyes glaze over if you speak for more than thirty seconds. They already have something else in their mind - a friend to call, a fax to send, work to do. They only snap back to full attention when you finish talking, at which point they say "Uh-huh" or "Yeah, really" and fake their way back to the moment. 

Part of the problem is that everyone is in such a hurry. People haven't found meaning in their lives, so they are running all the time looking for it. They think of the next car, the next house, the next job. They find those things empty, too, and they keep running. Once you start running, it's hard to slow down, but it's not impossible. 

We are great at small talk: "What do you do?" "Where do you live?" But really listening to someone- without trying to sell them something, pick them up, recruit them or get some status in return - how often do we get this anymore?

So to be loved, we first need to learn to love

Anvesha Rana, 

Grade 10-B, 

Gyanshree School

The 22 Values - Rishona Chopra

Joy Of Learning (JOL) is based on The Little Book of Values: Educating Children to Become Thinking, Responsible and Caring Citizens. Learning happens through these values.

The future of education will be built on these values alone: 

Appreciation, Caring, Cooperation, Courage, Freedom, Friendship, Happiness, Honesty, Hope, Humility, Love, Patience, Peace, Quality, Respect, Responsibility, Simplicity, Thoughtfulness, Tolerance, Trust, Understanding & Unity.

These values make up our life. We don't have to do anything significant to master these. Just opening a door for someone, bringing a smile to someone's face, making friends with someone, trusting someone, understanding someone, and other little acts can do it all.

Why don't we promise ourselves that we will try our best to inculcate these values?

Rishona Chopra 
Grade VI 
Gyanshree School

A pencil's friends - Rishona Chopra

Hi! I am a pencil. A rather big one. I am yellow in colour and am grand and cute.  

I used to stay with two of my best friends, ' Eraser and Tip'. Eraser was red in colour and was so adorable. She used to sit on my back, and I loved it. Tip was black in colour and very sharp and used to sit in front of my face. They both were my true friends but now are gone!

My owner, no, my enemy took of Eraser from my back and tore him! How cruel. She sharpened Tip so much that he died! And without them, I was nothing at all, and now I am in the dustbin, telling you my sad story.

See how friends for life together with help us to write! Together as a team, they help us to do so many things!

We should be friends like a pencil who care and feel for each other!

Rishona Chopra

Grade V

Gyanshree School

Friendship - Vihaan Bisht

Friendship is one of the most incredible bonds anyone can ever wish for. Friends have immense care and support for each other. My best friend is Shlok. We both have lots of fun together. We invite each other to our birthdays, but that’s not the only reason why I consider him as my best friend. He is my best friend because he is very kind and he never talks rudely to me. He helps me when I am in a problem. He shares his things with me. What I like most about him because he never thinks that if he helps me, I will also do something in return for him. So a best friend isn’t someone who looks good, but who is at heart. A true friend helps his friend when he is in trouble. I also admire him for his politeness and calmness.

During Corona, we weren’t able to see each other. Lockdown was there, and our school got shut, but now the school is reopening, so I hope to see my best friend again from April.

Vihaan Bisht
Grade III
Gyanshree School

My Good School Season 2 Is here!

Friendship at My Good School, Anvesha and Simar share with you a heartwarming chat on Friendship and what it is like to have someone to chat with?

My Good School celebrates Friendship and has developed a podcast made and produced by our Interns!

Anvesha RanaSimar Kaur, Rishona & Anoushka - Gyanshree School

Saisha - Doon Girls' School

Anusha Jain - Ahlcon Public School

Arav Agrawal - Billabong High International School

Piyush & Sushmita - Guest Teachers

Friendship - Khushi Badgeri

Friendship is a state of trust where two friends spend time talking and knowing each other. Friendship is an important relationship in everyone's life. It means understanding, forgiveness, growing together, sharing, and keeping secrets. Mainly it also needs to have lots of patience.

For me, my true friendship is with my books and nature. I love to see the beauty of nature and write its beauty in my book. I love to plant seeds and see their different stages of growth. I can talk to them
while watering or being around them. Plants can listen to you and feel your touch. You have to preserve nature. It's our responsibility in friendship. The more you plant trees and take care of nature there will be greenery everywhere which will help our ecosystem.

Name: Khushi Badgeri

Grade: 2A

Billabong High International School, Thane

My Good School Season 2 - Opening Episode

Friendship at My Good School, Anvesha and Simar share with you a heartwarming chat on Friendship and what it is like to have someone to simply chat with!

Releasing on the 2nd day of March 2022.

Our Joy Of Learning (JOL) Program is based on The Little Book of Values: Educating Children to Become Thinking, Responsible and Caring Citizens by Julie Duckworth and Ian Gilbert, explores twenty-two values that can be taught through schools.

Friendship February coming to an end!

Coming Next
My Good School Season 2 podcast on Friendship is releasing on the 2nd day of March 2022.

Question for you!
Put on your thinking caps and write one word in the comments that will bring a smile to your friend's face?

Do listen to our podcast!
#mygoodschool #podcast #creativethinking #creativity #communication #Citizenship #School #app #OpenSchool #service #skill #study #sport #collaboration #getvurbl #friendship
@my_Good_School

Friendship - Linisha Agarwal

Linisha Agarwal 

Grade 7

The Doon Girls School

Friendship - Sayogita Kunwar

Friendship is the fragrance of a flower, 

Friendship is purity of heart,
Friendship is the flow of air.

Friendship is a beautiful part of our life. It is the second name of happiness. Whenever we feel down or exhausted, there will be a person who will be patting our head with vibes of relaxation. It is difficult to describe this as a bond because it's is widely spread era of joyfulness. Having a special friend in life is like having heaven on the land. A friend is like a shield that protects us from this cruel world. If you are blessed with such a friend, you are the luckiest person in the world. 

Never ever let go of your friend's hand; you are incomplete without them in your life.

Name: Sayogita Kunwar

Grade: XA

The Fabindia School

Friendship - Vinisha Choudhary

Friendship is one of the most precious gifts of life. It is a relationship between people. It is the purest and divine relationship among all other relations. Friends support you in life, not only in the happy times but also in your hard times. 

True friendship is what gives us reason to stay firmer and happy in life. Many people don't have a family, but they have family friends to them. In a good friendship honesty and loyalty plays a very important role. Having a best friend in life is a blessing that doubles your joy and divides your pain. Friends never leave up in bad times. 

We learn how to understand people and trust others. A real friend will always motivate you and cheer for you. When we make friends on the first day of school, we become delighted, but when we all get far from our friends, we miss them a lot. Whether they made fun of us and whether they helped us in our bad times.

TRUE FRIENDS ARE NEVER APART, MAYBE IN DISTANCE BUT NEVER IN HEART 

Vinisha Choudhary

Class: 11th Science

The Fabindia School

Friendship - Akshar Rajpurohit

Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. Friendship is a more vital form of interpersonal bond than an association. Friendship has been studied in academic fields such as communication, sociology, social psychology, anthropology, and philosophy. Various educational theories of friendship have been proposed, including social exchange theory, equality theory, relational dialectics, and attachment styles.

Such characteristics include affection; kindness, love, virtue, sympathy, empathy, honesty, altruism, loyalty, mutual understanding and compassion, enjoyment of each other company, trust, and the ability to be oneself, express one's feelings to others and make mistakes without fear of judgement from the friend.

Name: Akshar Rajpurohit

Grade: XI Commerce

The Fabindia School

Friendship - Rananjay Rajput

Friendship is Fun and Glory!

In friendship, there is no thank you, no sorry, 

There is only fun and glory. 

I called my friend, 

And told him to come down,

 But he gave me a frown.

 Said he was making a video on the new trend!

 I messaged another buddy,

 Who I thought was always ready.

 I told him to come and play,

 He replied that his face had turned grey!

 I then ringed my best friend,

 Who used to always study.

 But surprisingly he said, “ok I'm ready buddy!”

 He asked me, “what are you going to play?”

 I said “football”, 

And he said, “sorry it's not my day”.

 I was very angry with all my friends.

 The inquisitive, the sick and the one who always tries trends,

 But tomorrow again, I realized that,

 In friendship, there is no thank you, no sorry,

 There is only fun and glory! 

Dedicated to all my friends!! 

Name: Rananjay Rajput

Grade: 5A

Billabong High International School, Thane

Friendship - Arnav Sharma

“Anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you.”

I, Arnav Sharma, of grade 3, would like to share my personal story about friendship. When I was in Grade 1, one fine day, on reaching the school, I didn’t find a place to sit, and I felt awful and got disheartened. Suddenly, one boy, Rajveer, told me to come and sit with him. I felt good and happy because he was very kind. After that, Rajveer and I became good friends. That day, I realized that ‘A friend in need is a friend indeed.’  

I also learnt that we should observe the things and situations around us very carefully because we can help many people around us.

We need to be determined because friendship is fantastic, and our parents and siblings are our best friends.

Arnav Sharma
Grade III
Gyanshree School