GORE BAY—The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 514 in Gore Bay is supporting a Grade 6 student at Charles C. McLean Public School in Gore Bay with the costs of mileage as he has qualified for the provincial Legion public speaking competition.
At a Legion branch meeting two weeks ago President Marilyn Clarke presented a cheque in the amount of $345 to Riley Hubbard and his family for the costs of mileage for his trip to the provincials.
Mr. Hubbard has qualified for the provincials, having gone through the Branch, Zone, District and Area championships in the Junior Grade 4-6 division.
Mr. Hubbard made a presentation to the Legion branch executive of the speech he will be making at the provincials at a recent meeting.
“Honourable judges, ladies and gentlemen. Hi, my name is Riley, and today I’m going to talk about how technology affects our society in these ever-changing winds of time. To start, let’s talk about the benefits of technology like communication with today’s society. Most people walk around with a mobile cellular device, or a smartphone. These incredibly useful tools allow a whole new world of assistance. For example, if you want to say hello to your penpal from New Zealand, which his 19,000 kilometres (11,800 miles) away from here, all it takes is a few seconds. Just whip out your phone and text them. Forty years ago it would take months if not more to just say send a note.”
“A very useful thing about technology is the time efficiency,” said Mr. Hubbard. “For example, if you need to know something for a school project, any time before 1990 you would have to scour the library for 10 different books for research. Now you can use search engines such as Google and Safari for lists of organized information. Did you know that my mom is older than Google? That’s … a long time.”
“Another way technology benefits our society is, well, social media,” said Riley. “Yep, that means Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc. Social media platforms are a great place to spread your voice and to share your ideas, to advertise your business, to kill a bit of time. There are endless possibilities of what you can do with social media platforms.”
“Mobile phones sound pretty great, don’t they, but with all the good things they have to offer there are dangers to the internet as well, like, well, social media. Social media can be a good thing, but it also has some dangers like your personal information can easily get into the hands of somebody with bad intentions,” continued Riley. “What you see on social media isn’t always true and you have to have a strong sense of what is right and wrong on social media, especially when a close friend may post something that they believe but you think isn’t right. It’s important to stay true to your beliefs. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be friends with someone who has a different opinion.”
“Another danger is the power of hiding your face, yes, your cell phones, computer, tablet, they are all tools that you are free to use at your will, you are an anonymous figure free to do and say as you like. You can pretend to be someone to send unfriendly messages or video blackmail. It’s terrible what happens. Not only can others harm you on the internet, but you can harm yourself, you can damage friendships, your body, your mental health and self-esteem.”
“Too much use of your phone and computer can lead to eyesight issues, a lack of social participation, you don’t see your friends and family as much which can lead to unhealthy relationships,” said Riley. “And to all you gamers: grinding dubs on Fortnite with your friends isn’t quite the same as talking to them and spending time with them.”
“But with all that aside; technology still is a great step in human evolution. And I believe society should continue to evolve our current state in understanding and unlimited ways we can bend our environment to create revolutionary products of our imagination to further develop science, medicine and comfort. But just remember: Take a break, and stay safe.”
Riley will be competing against three other speakers at the provincials taking place in Toronto in May.
