Think carefully before gossipping or telling secrets

Most people like to gossip. It can be hard not to talk about other people's business and be curious about their private life. At school, I often talk about other people, especially the more popular students, with friends.

The most significant example of our curiosity towards others' lives is celebrity gossip. There is an industry dedicated to uncovering their secrets and making money from it.

Is it healthy to be obsessed with gossip about the private lives of others? And when you are told a secret, do you ever break your promise and tell someone else?

We should think carefully before spreading rumours and telling secrets.

CECELIA CHONG Thanks for your letter, Cecelia. The public obsession with celebrities and their glamorous loves and lives has spawned a whole industry of celebrity-watchers.

I used to flick through 'Hello' magazine and the other gossip magazines when I went to the hairdressers. Then, one day last year, I picked up an old magazine without realising it. I read it for 30 minutes before realising it was a year old! Such is the nature of gossip, that after a while it doesn't matter who is doing what with whom - it's all just junk food for the mind.