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SCMP Reporter

Stand up for your planet
School Children Stand Up for Your Planet is a global group based in Britain. It aims to spread the message that saving the planet is something that demands immediate action by  us, the next generation.
 On March 3, students around the world will literally stand up for the planet. They will put down their pens and stand up  in protest for 10 minutes.
 Some students at Diocesan Boys' School, Diocesan Girls' School, Ying Wa College, Maryknoll Fathers' School and other secondary schools are taking part in the programme.
But we still need as many people as we can get to pull this off effectively.
The planet needs your help. 
Jiang Zixin, Diocesan Boys' School   
The environment, not money, is No1
I don't understand why some  countries  insist on not reducing their carbon emissions.
Don't they know that climate change is creating big problems for the world? 
A few months ago I saw a television programme about polar bears that said they would become extinct in the next few decades. I felt upset thinking how we are destroying their home by releasing so much greenhouse gas. How can we be so ruthless?
If we want to pass on a  better environment to our children, we should do something to save the world now, such as using electric fans instead of air conditioners and travelling by public transport.
We should realise that the environment is the most important issue facing us. 
Ngai Po-yi,  PLK No 1 W.H. Cheung College   
Facing the future with courage
The New Year is a festival filled with blessings and happiness. But, for many  Form Six students, it is a time for reviewing and tackling an  overwhelming number of exercises and revisions.
The calendar always reminds me that I will soon have to sit for my examinations. Whenever I think of my future, I am filled with fantasies and fear. 
While I have high expectations for my university life, I am uncertain about my aims.
We do not know what lies  ahead of us - misfortune or opportunity. 
But we can, and must, try our best. I am anxious about my future but, for the moment, I must put all my  efforts into the A-level exams and work towards my dreams.
 I believe that being well prepared and courageous are the keys to fighting our fears of an unfamiliar future.  
Wong Tsz-ching, Fung Kai Liu Man Shek Tong Secondary School 
Being careful with your money
Some parents apply for credit cards for their children.  This does not help children learn how to manage their money. 
Some students need government loans to pay for their studies. They repay only the minimum each month, so the loan becomes bigger and bigger. They are always in debt.
Students should learn good money management skills, and not borrow money without considering whether they can  repay the loan after graduation.  
Leung Yi-ting, Pooi To Middle School 
Against the rail project
I'm  a teenager born in the 1990s and an opponent of the express rail link to Guangzhou.  
An obvious reason for opposing the project is that it costs too much.  We are facing a lot of serious and urgent social problems.  If we spend a huge sum on this project,  other budgets  will be cut down.  
Secondly, we already have convenient transport to the mainland.  
Thirdly,  the rail link will only benefit a small group of people in Hong Kong - most of them businessmen.  
We post-80s teenagers are part  of this city's future; the government should listen to us, not focus just on the economy!.
Claire Lo, Lingnan Hang Yee Memorial Secondary School



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