Love expressions from Portuguese students

Love always chased me

Everything went so fast, I had found myself in the doors of youth in just a glimpse. I was twelve years old when I found my first great passion, it started as a mere joke but it evolved to a great complicity, he went from just a friend to my best friend, everything was so perfect: I wanted to be with him, liked being with him, had butterlies in the stomach while I was with him; I remember with great joy all those moments I went through.

In the past fifteen – almost sixteen – years of my life, love always chased me. This feeling never came alone, it embraced me with happiness, sadness, success, failure, anguish, pain, accomplishment and obstacles, always causing me to become uncomfortable

In my path, despite of its shortness, I have suffered, fought storms and lived through greyer days. In those days my feelings are of predominant anger, in which I just want to forget that love exists, I mean, live through all my life, leaving this feeling that sometimes causes me such anger, behind. Generally, when I find myself in the middle of these storms, when love isn’t successful, I just want to lock myself in my own bedroom, grab a pillow and listen to a song that actually makes me feel a little bit better. In those days, the grown-ups like my parents or any other adult that is my relative, never helped me in these situations, that love, is this gigantic problem. Maybe they didn’t help because they didn’t want, or maybe they actually didn’t really understand what I was going through. The people who probably helped me the most in these situations, in the course of my life, were my close friends, since they were the ones who know me best and could see how I really felt, sometimes. It’s not easy to define and understand what love is, but the way I see it, to love is to live, because
while we are in this trip so-called life, we need love to live, and we can almost never leave it aside.

B.
(10º A)

My second great passion came little after the last one, he appeared to be a great friend, and without even noticing, I suddenly had a crush. We spent a lot of time together, he knew all about me, and I knew all about him, but since we I had finished a long story not so long ago, we decided to keep still and become very special friends, it worked out pretty well, even today, and since the summer, he is my best friend, and the only person that can make me laugh when I’m cranky.

Since then, I have been quite a flirt, I never let myself get too much into the same guy, since I’m scared of getting too much into him and suffer because of it. Probably I often confuse good friendships with passions, but I don’t really care, at least while I still have my friends around their love is the most important and the most unmissable, they are the ones who complete me, which means, my mood, my joy and my sillyness, without them I could never be what I am today. I call it a friends love.

Poem «Hart break/ It happened to me»

Poema «Quebra do coração/Em mim aconteceu»

The Blow of the heart

Broken heart

Happened to me

In a land of nostalgia

Everything died

I was a pawn of fate
That a passion lost
In the middle of my way
My love disappeared

After the disgust
No one consoled me
I lost my life
And nothing left for me

Now I move on,
And forget everything

I’ve got hope

Of a new beginning

Anónimo (10º A)

The blow of the heart

Part of me, today, doesn’t make loves.
Passions arise. Fade without ever having life.
It is as if the heart had been hit by a breath, and not
with the blow of the heart.

It becomes difficult to overcome a day
when the love is not reciprocated.
It’s difficult to pass;
but in my course everything stands and everything hides,
with embarrassment or perplexity
caused only by a breeze;
The blow of the heart

Revolt.
We feel it when we need someone
that belongs to other eyes;
other lips;
another face,
We feel it when we can’t live, see, touch
this blow of the heart

Old people do not care.
They say that it’s only niceties of the youth
But, young like I am,
I give it considerable importance;
It could be a mistake but all I feel is true
I feel it like a whirlwind,
that takes walls, doors, shutters and even hearts.
And not as a mild

Blow of the heart.

10th of May of 2010
Filipe Ferreira

Sexual education in Portuguese schools

Portugal was a pioneer in the connection between health promotion and school. In 1901, it had already been created the Scholar Sanitary Inspection, mainly focused in the controlling of epidemics and endemics.

With the passage of time, school's role has been transformed, and it is no longer just a place where knowledge is transmitted; is now faced as the domain of education broadly understood, including in this concept the citizenship promotion, involving deepening of the sense of personal and social responsibility. It is in this context that the education for health in schools is framed, a goal which has won great strength in the educational projects of the Portuguese schools during the last decade.

Associated to health education appears sex education as one of its many facets, in an approach that has been the promotion of health in the broadest sense, involving the physical, psychological and social well-being. Thus, in the year 1999 a law, which strengthens guarantees regarding reproductive health was published; in 2000 it was attributed to the schools the role of integrating strategies to promote sexual health not only by organizing activities to develop curriculums, but also activities to complete curriculum, always requiring a school-family relationship.

The Portuguese legislation foresees the sex education in a school context, in primary and secondary school, and is embedded in the educational programs for health, along with nutrition, physical activity and the prevention of harmful consumption and violence in the school environment.

Only in 2005 the government made mandatory the inclusion of health education in educational projects for each school. Later, in August 2009, was regulated by law of Parliament, the requirement for planning specific time in the curriculum for sex education. Until publication of this law, approaches to sex education were not universal or regular, depending greatly on the willingness of teachers in classes and teams of draft health education. The law of August 2009, reaffirms the need for sex education arise from the complementarity of roles between family and school on behalf of existing conceptions of pluralism in Portuguese society. Already in April this year the Government set out the content to be addressed in sexual education. These are long and variable depending on the course. Are distributed across all years of primary and secondary education.

1st to 4th year deal, among others, topics such as:

• The notion of body and harmony with nature and the social and cultural environment;
• The notion of family;
• Differences between boys and girls;
• Body protection and limitations on abusive approaches.

In the 5th and 6th grade, new topics are introduced, such as:

• Puberty and its defining transformations;
• Sexuality and gender;
• Human reproduction and growth;
• Birth control and family planning;
• Menstrual and ovulatory cycles;
• Maltreatment and abusive approximations;
• Ethical extent of human sexuality.

Between the 7th and the 9th grades, those topics are recalled and new ones are introduced

•  STD (sexual transmitted diseases) and its impact worldwide;
• Motherhood an fatherhood in youth;
• Voluntary interruption of pregnancy, meaning and consequences.

Between the 10th and 12th grades, knowledge on the previous topics are deepened, focusing in ethic approach to human sexuality. Other topics such as:

• Initiation in sexual relationships in Portugal and in the European Union;
• Pregnancy and abortion rate in Portugal and in the European Union;
• Contraceptive methods, its safety and reasons of improper contaception.

Here we are! March, 8th. International day of Woman.

In a project like this, whose motive is to think sexuality and to educate our students in such an important field of human life, I must post some words under this topic.

Sexuality is very important because it can be the most deep experience experience in life of each human being and because it’s the source of life. We mustn’t forget it. And we must face it without prejudices – it is part of life, it is natural and it can be the best of life, but only if everyone can live it in a complete human way. This complete human way of living requires good thought and good emotions, that requires respect for the way of thinking and the way of feeling of everyone that is evolved. It must be this way. Really, because we are talking about a social relationship, it’s essential that each one is pleased. Otherwise, it’s a bad relationship and shouldn’t be tolerated. For a long... long time women all over the world have been submitted to violence because this basic rule was not respected.

Millions and millions men, Christians, Muslins, Jewish and members of other religions or without religion were violent with their women. Men have hit women. Men have stolen their freedom, arresting them in their houses that are prisons in silence. Men have raped them. Men have stoned them, and have burned them and have killed them. There are so many situations every day in every place in entire world that, in this particular subject, we must say our history is tragic!

I think we are facing the prove that human life, and life in general and life of universe has no sense of justice. In fact, women are the source of love and they’ve always been submitted to violence. It’s nonsense, isn’t it?

The life of each one of us starts in a love act of them. To refer the situation they and our fathers give us life, they use to say they make love, that is different to say they make sex (I think this is a typical way of male expression). It is not just a difference in terms, it’s different in semantics.
After, they carry us in their bodies, and they take care of their nutritional behaviour because of that. After they carry us in their arms and take care of our education. And, at the same time, they work and they are wives and they take care of our houses. Wou!
In spite of this fantastic performance, too many times they receive back carelessness, insensitiveness and violence.

While women take care children, educate them, men are making war… and they say they are superior then women because they make more dangerous things… like war! It’s stupid!

We should look at Human History: it’s a sequence of wars. It's an History of blood! Empires against empires to dominate more and more territory, to dominate more and more richness, to dominate more and more men and women. Always to dominate, never to cooperate (happily Europeen Union is an exception that is growing based on reoson, not on arms; based on cooperation, not in fight).

How could our Human History be if it has been done by women, if we have been a matriarchal society? A society made with their words and not with brave men muscles, with their kindness and without males testosterone?!

In this international day of women, I want to say I’m pleased for all the long way West societies have run in order to put women side by side with men… our society became so much interesting because of that!

Sometimes, when women get power, they make the same mistakes men used to make: they use power in the same aggressive way men usually do it. That is the antithesis, and that is wrong. I hope they get power in women way of being: the power that leads with sensitivity and thought and not with muscles. Muscles are an attribute of basic nature, not an attribute of human nature.

My closing words are kisses and flowers to all women, with a deep wish they teach world to get right balance between thought and feelings. I hope they can teach us how to be educated in thought and specially educated deeply in emotion. In fact, more important and more difficult than educate thought is to educate emotion and that is basis of a good personal and social life.

Jorge Rocha

Camões - Poem about love

Noémia, the portuguese teacher of our students Said:

"My first contribution to the theme it's a poem, and about love - what else? Poet? Camões – he leaved in the XVI century, but he knew and experimented all you can get from life and love!

In English:

Let Love devise new ways, new wiles

to kill me, and new forms of disdain;

he´ll take away no hope of mine,

since he can´t take what I don´t have.

Look at the hopes that hold me up!

See how precarious my defenses!

For I, not fearing reverses or changes,

am tossed by the sea, having lost my ship.

Though disappointment can´t exist

where there´s no hope, there Love has hidden

a bane that kills and remains unseen,

for he placed in my soul some time ago

I don´t know what, nor where it was born,

nor how it got there, nor why it aches."

Click here to read in Portuguese

Our school, land and country

Let's go to know better our school, our land and our country.

Henriques Nogueira school

Here we are!

Hello, from Torres Vedras, Portugal!

We are portuguese travelers and we want to do this trip very much! :) It'll be something special. We are very excited, because we are sure we have a lot to learn with our partners in so different countries!
Here we are to start our trip.
So, let's go! Click here to meet us!

In Portuguese/Em Português:
Olá, desde Torres Vedras, Portugal!
Nó somos viajantes portugueses e queremos muito fazer esta viagem!:) Será qualquer coisa de especial. Estamos muito entusiasmados porque estamos certos que temos muito que aprender com os nossos parceiros de países tão diversificados!
Aqui estamos nós para começar a nossa viagem.
Vamos a isso! Clica aqui para nos conhecer!

Hello Italy, Poland and Romaine

Now we have three new partners. They are:
- Milena Kecik from Poland (scholl: Gimnazjun Me 3 in.T Kasciuszki, Pabianice);
- Nicola Maiellaro from Italy (school: ITCG Bernalda, Matera);
- Rodica Dimitrovici from Romaine (school: Benjamin Franklin Highschool, Bucharest).

The portuguese students say wellcome to their new friends from Italy, Poland and Romaine.

So we join in our project students from five european countries: Portugal, Turkey, Italy, Poland and Romaine.

Our students can start communication now: they can change photos of everybody, photos of eachone schools and towns, everything posted in this blog. Then we can organize a chat and communicate also through email.

It will be a great experience for all!

In portuguese / em português:

Agora temos 3 novos parceiros. São eles:
- Milena Kecik da Polónia (escola: Gimnazjun Me 3 in.T Kasciuszki, Pabianice);
- Nicola Maiellaro de Itália (escola: ITCG Bernarld, Policoro);
- Rodica Dimitrovici da Roménia (escola: Benjamin Franklin Highschool, Bucharest).

Os estudantes portugueses desejam as boas vindas aos seus novos amigos da Itália, Polónia e Roménia.

Desta forma, juntamos no nosso projecto estudantes de 5 países europeus: Portugal, Turquia, Itália, Polónia e Roménia.

Os nossos estudantes podem começar a comunicar: podem trocar fotos de todos e fotos das escolas e cidades de cada um , tudo através deste blog. Podem também organizar chats e comunicar ainda através do email.

Será uma grande experiência para todos!

Jorge Rocha
Portugal

Our trip is borning

This is our blog.

It's created to alowed us to communicate and put information about our project.

This project is a partnership between two european schools:
- Escola Secundária Henriques Nogueira in Torres Vedras, Portugal;
- Özdebir iöo in Instanbul, Turkey

The main porpose of our project is to find the influence of sexual culture in human behaviour. To do that, we should compare present and past sexual cultures of 2 or more peoples (values in present and in the past; sexual education agents; punishment to those who don't follow the rules; etc.). Making inquires about sexual behaviour of our students, and their mothers, fathers, grandmothers and granfathers - it's a trip in time in what concerns to behaviour and emotions related with sexuality and the way society impose rules and punishment to push people to be in sexual rules. This work must be done in two or more different countries - it's a trip in space.

It will be a meeting place of those who realy want to make part of this project!


Now in portuguese:
Este é o nosso blog. Foi criado para nos permitir comunicar e colocar informação acerca do nosso projecto.

Este projecto é uma parceria entre duas escolas europeias:
- Escola Secundária Henriques Nogueira em Torres Vedras, Portugal;
- Özdebir iöo em Instanbul, Turquia

O objectivo do nosso projecto é encontrar a influência da cultura sexual no comportamento humano. Para isso, deveremos comparar o presente e o passado da cultura sexual de duas ou mais pessoas (valores no presente e no passado; agentes da educação sexual; punições para aqueles que não seguem as regras; etc.). Fazendo inquéritos acerca do comportamento sexual dos nossos estudantes, das suas mães, pais, avós e avôs - é uma viagem no tempo no que diz respeito ao comportamento e às emoções relacionadas com a sexualidade e a forma como a sociedade impõe regras e força as pessoas a cumprir essas regras. Neste trabalho participam dois ou mais países, pelo que também é uma viagem no espaço.

Espero que se torne um local de encontro para todos aqueles que querem fazer parte deste projecto.

Jorge Rocha
Portugal