Amber Online

Whitehaven

I’m 18 and live in Whitehaven and Egremont as my mum and dad split up when I was about 10. It was dead friendly and I never think about myself as a girl from a ‘broken home’. In fact I’m really lucky as I’ve got two homes, which sounds corny but I think it’s brilliant because If I get sick of one family I can go and live with the other. Although, usually I spend a week with one and the next with the other. It’s also, although dad would disagree, made me more independent as I’m used to not seeing my family all the time and I can adapt to different situations.

At my mum’s, there are three of us so we, my brother and I, do as we like and are treated as adults. At dad’s, its different as there are five of us and although I’m treated as an adult, because of the two younger ones, there is a move obvious divide between the kids and the parents. At the moment my life revolves around: school; music; parties; ‘politics’; vegetarianism and lots more.

School - I really enjoy school but I also hate it. I got to Wyndham which is a brilliant school with a really relaxed attitude; such as no school uniform or corporal punishment. Some say it’s too laid back but I think that’s wrong because if there’s a friendly atmosphere, ie good student-teacher relationships, then work is more enjoyable and therefore more memorable. The teachers don’t teach us to pass exams as much as they try to give us a good understanding of the world so that whether we pass or not we’ll understand more and probably be nicer people. I know a lot of people who hate Wyndham but I think they’d probably hate anywhere else even more. As for nuclear weapons - I’m sad they were ever invented and don’t have any idea how someone could bring themselves to push the button. The thought makes me feel sick and I don’t care who else has them, Britain should get rid of them. Someone has to! If we all wait for each other we’ll be waiting forever. I can’t actually imagine them helping us in the ‘next war’. If there is a nuclear war we’ll all die so they’re not much use are they? (I hate rhetorical questions).