Are you interested in one week's work placement in The Irish Times? Transition Year students can learn first-hand about the workings of this newspaper if their submission is published in Media Scope's weekly Over to You column. Just send us a 200-word piece on a media-related topic.
Aine Tuohy, St Mary's Convent Secondary School, Nenagh, Co Tipperary
Christmas is known as the season of peace, hope and goodwill, but annually we have people who bemoan the unrelenting stream of adverts. They object to the mercantile exploitation of the advertising agencies and toy companies and they drone repetitively about the commercialisation of the birth of Christ. I agree that Christmas is commercialised, with the spotlight shining on St Nick rather than the baby Jesus. However, though the emphasis lies on spending money rather than strengthening our religious beliefs, I am confident Christmas has not lost its value.
Christmas is a celebration for all those who believe in Christ. But it manages to unite people of every race and creed as they go about the customary festive traditions. There is a widespread atmosphere of contentment, wellbeing and goodwill towards others, especially in towns and cities, where the usual animosity is replaced by Christmas lights and smiling faces.
Those who complain of commercialisation should realise that the festive spirit is alive, almost solely due to the very thing they are campaigning against.
Phelie Maguire, Wesley College, Dublin
It came, we saw, they conquered. Australia deservedly won the Rugby World Cup because they played flowing rugby more times than not and held themselves together in beating defending champions South Africa.
In the other semi-final the French were lucky to beat the All Blacks. New Zealand's mistakes let them down and France showed composure to capitalise on them.
Before the World Cup had started I believed France would make the semi-finals, because of an easy draw, to join all of the TriNations. This meant, to me, that 37 out of the 40 matches would be pointless. To be honest, this World Cup was as exciting as getting up in the morning to face another endless day at school.
I think we should look at the way the tournament is set up. For instance: teams such as Spain, Uruguay, Italy, Tonga, Namibia, Canada, Japan, Romania and the US realistically are just in the tournament for the experience and the fun. For teams that do not qualify for the quarter-finals or playoffs, there should be a "plate" knockout competition. This would put teams with the same standard of rugby together and would also mean they would have something else to play for.
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media scope is a weekly media studies page for use in schools. Group rates and a special worksheet service (see `faxback', right) are available: Freephone 1800-798884. media scope is edited by Harry Browne.
