Movie review - A WALK TO REMEMBER

The movie "A walk to remember" is based on the best selling book of the sentimental novelist Nicholas Sparks.
Many people thought it was just a teen melodrama and didn't even watch it, but I think that it's worth a view. I can assure you that it will move even the most cold-hearted in a way nobody could imagine.

Landon Carter (Shane West) is a popular, moody and arrogant troublemaker who studies at Beaufort High School.
One night, he challenges a boy to jump into a reservoir in order to join his gang but an incident happens and leaves the fellow student paralyzed.
Landon is given community service to do: he is assigned to be tutor of disadvantaged students on the weekends and to participate in the Drama Club's spring play.  Here he meets a plain-Jane student called Jamie Sullivan (Mandy Moore), daughter of the town's church pastor, whom he has known all his life but always ignored.
She really doesn't care about people's opinion because she knows what she wants from her life.
Landon is forced to ask for Jamie's help, which eventually agrees to give but with one condition: He must not fall in love with her. With this emblematic and ambiguous sentence, the movie really begins.
In spending time together the guy is taught a important lessons from Jamie and time after time understands the real values of life. He learns to worry less about what others think of him and more about doing what he feels is right.
The two become friends and Landon struggles with the drop in popularity that his new friendship has brought him, but then a deeper relationship develops. However, Jamie has a very big secret she must keep from Landon, one that will get in the way of their romance and destroy their future together. In fact she is suffering from Leukemia and is going to die in a few months.
After Jamie tells Landon her secret, he decides to make every dream of hers a reality and through surprises, magic moments together, troubles with her father and other adventures, they both fall in love knowing that they will never be able to spend the rest of their lives together.

I personally think this movie is awesome.
It took me a lot of time before taking the decision to watch it, but this movie eventually has become my favorite ever since.
Everytime I watch it, tears flow from my eyes and trust me, this movie will move you for days.
If you truly belive in real love, the story will show you that people can change for the better.
One thing I want to emphasize is the chemistry between the actors (West and Moore) which is so amazing and believable. They seem to be really falling in love with each other and the viewer perceives it deeply, so there's an additional feeling that ties you strictly to the main characters.
The soundtrack "Only Hope" sung by Moore herself will bring you into the movie and on the stage where Jamie Sullivan performs it during the spring play together with Landon.

PLAN-B, NYC SCHOOLS DISPENSING MORNING-AFTER PILLS

The Department of Education, that already provides free condoms to the schools` students, decided to start giving 14 year old girls in 13 public schools in New York, not only the morning-after pills but also the more controversial Plan B, which can prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex or birth control failure and shouldn`t affect or terminate an already existing pregnancy.
Usually medication is available only by prescription to teenagers younger than 18.

New York City's program seems to be unique, according to the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) which works with school health educators in order to prevent unwanted pregnancy.

The girls are able to take the contraception pills without parental consent, but the parents received a letter containing all the informations about the so-called "B-Plan" led by CATCH (Connecting Adolescents To Comprehensive Health).
They may bar their kids from getting the tests and pill by signing and returning an opt-out statement, but only a very small percentage of 1 to 2 percent have signed it, says the Department of Health.

City data collected by the New York Post clearly states in New York about 7000 girls got pregnant last year before turning 17 and more than half decided to have abortion or to drop out of class.

In order to prevent this situation, students can tell their school nurse they had unprotected sex. They get a test to see if a pregnancy exists. If there is no exisiting pregnancy, then a pill will be administered.