A friend of mine in her late twenties had a habit of stooping. She explained that the habit started as a teenager, when she did not want others to notice her breasts developing during puberty. Although it was uncomfortable, she would stoop and try to hide them. Most people want to protect themselves from negative attention. Sometimes, gossip can be hurtful but it is common among teenage groups. Many girls always wear jumpers, saying the air-conditioning is too cold. They even wear jumpers in the hot sun during morning assembly. But the truth is, they are afraid of being watched and discussed. 'Look at her! She is as thin as a rake,' or 'Wow . . . she's sexy!' My advice would be to take off those jumpers. Do you want to get heatstroke? An ancient Greek philosopher once said that if someone who is forced to go naked before a crowd of people still feels at ease with no sense of shame, then he is wise. This implies that those who have independent minds are free. No matter what we look like or how others treat us, we can still be happy because happiness comes from the heart. I hope you can treasure your life as a miracle and learn to love yourself. Perhaps those students who always laugh at others do so because they do not love themselves and so unconsciously attack others to release their own inner unhappiness. If they can see their life as a miracle, they can change. If you have self-esteem, you can build better relationships with others. My friend has learned to love herself. She can now talk about her past with a beautiful smile while sitting with her back straight. How about you? Do you have similar experiences? What suggestions do you have about how can we love ourselves despite all the pressure from our peers and the media? Share your experiences with us on our Web site. Ms Leung, a former secondary school teacher, is research assistant of the Quality Education Fund project 'Religious Education - in Search of Education for Quality Life' at the Department of Religion at the Chinese University of Hong Kong Ethical, Civic and Religious Education is sponsored by the Department of Religion at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. To make our column more interactive, we have set up a Web page at http://home.school.net . hk/~ecre for you to post your ideas, comments and suggestions to. There is also a discussion forum in which readers may talk to each other. You can also send e-mail us at ecreschool.net.hk