Ramshackle Head

"I love you more than the world can contain

In its lonely and ramshackle head"

Sufan Stevens

Some days you come home from work leaden with the weight of another batch of students of concern, but you are not calling them that anymore, so instead you worry about their overall wellness. Your afternoons and evenings becoming only the time in between work, so much so that you forget that you are living a life, raising a family, tending your own needs, maintaining a marriage.

Is this all that life is meant to be? Noticing and appreciating the in between moments? The few hours after you overcome the exhaustion and the few minuets before you succumb to it and sleep?

You wash the lunch boxes and make the next day’s lunches on auto pilot, you watch the late shows make fun of Trump as a pathway to your sanity. Who has the energy to worry about the world beyond the children in your life? You check in on the homework, hoping it’s done, but not really caring because let’s face it homework is bullshit. You work on the speech therapy words with the little one, because you are paying a small fortune for improvement.

It’s Tuesday night so you and the girls take the bus to the local restaurant for pints and pies. The sun sets on your second IPA, illuminating the sky in a blanket of violent and pink. You and the girls are talking about music based on the post you wrote yesterday. They seem to understand your point, even though the older one argues for the sake of arguing. You wonder when she will calm down and let you love her. You imagine a time- the two of you, a trail, a campfire, a conversation that doesn’t end in an argument. You hope you are doing this right. The parenting The teaching, The being a man. How can you be?

It’s hard loving two hundred kids at work, but the two at home need your attention too.

You come home and play Sufjan Stevens, slightly buzzed as the kids get ready to sleep, wondering if this is what you dreamt peace meant when you were living in the Tenderloin.

At least you have the freedom of these words, the ability to scream your insecurity into the world and await a few likes to valiant your voice. It’s a bit sad that you need it, but what do the people who do not write to release their tension do, in the solitude of their own solitude and darkness.

At least these posts make it feel like someone might hear your angst and make you feel less alone.

Later you’ll watch some TV show, this week one about spiritual awakening and a cult in Oregon, wondering if what you have gathered in life is what you need. You think back to the Rainbow Gathering and the sign that said, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings have a human experience.” It feels so lame and cliche now at 43, but on that random Tuesday evening in Taos, New Mexico, it felt like a door way, a promise into something different. Something bigger.

You wonder if there is anything bigger or different in your immediate future.

Tomorrow, you will work on mundane trivial administrative tasks, the equivalent of teaching kids how to jump through hoops, because that is what the system demands of them at this time. Weren’t you supposed to be showing them how to break the system down?

You’ve been sitting in the younger one’s room for a while now, because she’s sacred of her dreams. You wish you could crawl into them with her and show her the wonder beyond the fear, but there doesn’t seem to be any room for you in there. Who knows if you would even know the way.

Not for anything, but you are grateful every night that you are healthy and sleeping in a warm safe bed. You are aware enough to know that most people cannot say the same thing. You remind yourself to get over yourself and your navel gazing petty bourgeois ennui.

You’re not sure how you ended up here, but now that you are here, you will complete the final sentence and get ready for whatever comes next.

Before December

December. Apparently it is supposed to mean something to me. It is part of my life after all, 31 days of it. Maybe something meaningful is going to happen but most likely not. Then why does it have to mean so much? November, this month, happens to be my internal exam. I need to see where I am academically and then use this December to do the work. To prepare for IGCSE. That is what is in most student's mind right now. Use this month to rigorously build the mental power, fill the memory palaces, and most of all not missing important details. 

However, this is where it gets interesting. We are so self-centered. This December crisis from all over the world that had been dragging on for years is still continuing. The Boko Haram cases and the girls that we all forgot about. The ISIS recruitments that is still happening all over the world. I do not want to talk about politics so I will not mention the impact of Donald Trump's success in the U.S.A election. Moreover, the on-going denial and refusal to fight global warming as some people still thinks it is a hoax. The deforestations and poisoning of our environments.

There are so many problems, yet no answers or even if there is, corporations would do their finest to undermine anything that does not profit them. For example, the 3 million tons of oil spills in the Niger Delta had devastated local people, destroyed their well-being, blundered the children's education, no livelihood in the area. Where was the government in all this? Apparently, they are too filled with Shell's informants to pass anything forward to save the people. They even harassed local people that have tried to use their free speech with their own military units.

Our world seems to be getting worse everyday. It is hard to find a glimmer of light these days. We hope for the best but we do not prepare for the worst. After looking at all these problems and cannot find a solution, I feel rather obsolete. These problems are all around us but we pretend to be ignorant as ignorant is bliss. While writing this I attempt to really find something to restore my hope in humanities and I found the glimmer of lights. But do you know what happened to those glimmers? Overcame by shadows. The complete and absolute control that people with power has over us is unimaginably huge. When you look at all those glimmers, you can even say that the free will is an illusion. All those people with ideas but no power. August had shown me that those glimmers are hopeless. However, I also notice something. Something that is rather obvious but worth mentioning all the same. Those glimmers are all separated. The dispersion of light all over the shadow, the shine brightly for a few second then was extinguished. They are like sparks rather. Those over powering shadow will put out any material that the spark is trying to light before it becomes a problem for them. I know this personally since I am Cambodian. Cambodia had been under one single powerful political party for a long time and now there is finally a competitor. In August, a Cambodian political analyst: Kem Ley who is trying to speak out had been assassinated. In gas station where there was security camera all over the place but somehow the public never gets to review it to its fullest extent. The murderer's name just happened to be Choub Somlab which mean "meet and kill" in Khmer. These all just seem too fishy and while both sides had motives to carry out to assassination it is really hard to determine which one did it. However, finding out who did it is not a problem but the main problem is to get every citizens of to unite and fight against oppression. To get everyone to march the street and fight for the people. We need to make Kem Ley's death meaningful. This is a turning point. We need a clean government.

This December has to be a December of actions. Either you fight your way for free speech or modifying your lifestyle to release less carbon dioxide, it does not matter how you do it but it needs to be done. For the future of next generations we need to do something. We can not just stand still and be ignorant while everything else is going to hell. My life alone maybe obsolete but a group of people's lives matter. We need to stand strong and fight for our world.

By Sewen Thy

P.S. Get better soon Mr. Raisdana!!

Position Paper Bend II

3 Tampines Street 73

Singapore 528705

(+65) 810 44 029

Mr. Declan MacFadden

Chair of The UWCSEA Foundation




Dear Mr. Declan MacFadden,


           My name is Sewen Thy, I am one of the many Cambodian scholars that started at United World College of South-East Asia(UWCSEA) as a profound result of The Foundation effort. As of now, the Grade 8 students at UWCSEA are discussing child soldiers and as you may be aware almost 19 million children around the world are ex-soldiers. Some are receiving the rehabilitation they deserve but some are not. UWCSEA is a really wonderful, and loving school that can become a really effective and powerful rehabilitation centre that will transform a fierce soldier into a loving educated child. Thus I propose to the Foundation to take in scholars that were child soldiers and rehabilitate them here as they deserve the rehabilitation.

           I think you should know that these children do not know what they are doing. Each time a war is started, they don’t even have a choice whether to join or not. They are being forcefully recruited. If you’ve read Ishmael Beah’s “A Long Way Gone” you wouldn’t miss his description of how the rebels are recruiting him. They have patrols all over the area and when they find children, they would pick some of them to recruit and initiate them by killing those who weren’t chosen as their reason would be “We are going to initiate all of you by killing these people in front of you. We have to do this to show you blood and make you strong. You’ll never see any of these people again, unless you believe in life after death.” (excerpt from page 34). This clearly suggests that they have to go through a traumatic experience already before they are even recruited. Since they’ve already have a taste of killing and believe the rebels persuasion that there are no consequences of doing so but there will be consequences if they don’t do it; they will make a forceful and uneducated choice to join the force.

           It’s easy to think that every child soldier knows what they are doing, opposing to my first argument, as there are examples such as Omar Khadr, who is “the Al-Qaeda child soldier” and Ishmael was also promoted to a squad leader or “junior lieutenant” that suggest that they start innocently but then later become more knowledgeable but still continue in what they were doing and becoming a higher rank officer. Nevertheless, we shouldn’t miss the point that Ishmael stated in his book, implicitly, after being rehabilitated that he regretted it and when the war hit Freetown city, “Mohamed[his friend] and I[Ishmael] looked at each other: “Not again.” (excerpt from page 202) which clearly indicates that he never wants to go to war again. Khadr has never been rehabilitated either so how can we know if he won’t become like Ishmael? To be fair, according to rescue.org, “Since 1999, the IRC's Child Protection Program in Sierra Leone has helped facilitate disarmament and demobilization of some 2,000 child combatants, and provided them with emergency aid in our Interim Care Centers.To date, we have successfully traced and reunified 1,157 of these children and adolescents with their families and helped them with the difficult process of adjusting to life in their communities.” This also clearly suggest that at least half of the child soldiers are rehabilitated and being sent back to civilization with their family. It’s just a matter of giving them the opportunity and time to be rehabilitated.

           Subsequently, most people argue that not all of the child soldiers are being forcefully recruited or just don’t have a choice. While it might be true that many child soldiers have other reasons to join the army. To be fair even the UNICEF factsheet reveals that some children join the military in order to, “seek revenge for violence enacted against them or their families.” There is a point to be made that there are a lot of other factors involving the children choosing process, as the UNICEF factsheet also explained that “others are driven to join by poverty, abuse and discrimination.” This evidence suggest that not only they are living in dangerous situation just because of gunshots but they are in poverty so if they don’t join the force they’ll starve to death, and not just the rebels are involved in recruiting children, governments are too, thus if the rebels discriminated against them, or hurt their family, who wouldn’t want to join the government to stop the rebels? They think they are doing it for a good cause and you can’t blame a child brian to pick that choice as according to my first argument.

           On top of that, when it is peaceful, we all talk a lot about the abuse of children, child abuser or child labour recruiters, etc... are to face trial; even here in UWCSEA no teachers will ever hurt a student either physically or mentally, but why are we not considering that fact when it is wartime, children are being forced to serve the military, force to kill their own family, drugged them... these are forms of abuses,physically and mentally, and labour of children during wartime and yet we are only focusing on the part where they are killing because they have to for their own survival. On the contrary, people often argue that we should not look at it that way, they are killers, whether they are forced or not, imagine if you are the victim and that child just killed your whole family and burn down your house, everything you’ve ever worked for gone at the hand of a child, wouldn’t you want justice for yourself, would you just let that person go just because it’s a child? While this maybe true, but when you look at this who is the victim here? Just the your family or is it both your family and the child? Who is the perpetrator here? The child or the commander? Would the child face death if he/she didn’t kill your family? They never had a choice.

           After seeing all of my reasoning, I hope that you will understand that child soldiers can be and should be rehabilitated, their conscience is hard to change but it can be changed by meeting the right person and that right person is us. Therefore, I ask you to give them a chance to change back from a fierce soldier to loving child of a society that accept them and doesn’t discriminate against them.


Thank you,

Sincerely,
Sewen Thy

"Boy21" and "Wolf Brother": Comparative Essay

Whenever someone loses a family or a loved one, they are often found by someone who becomes their companion. Both books share this idea but with different events and experiences. For example, in “Boy21”, Matthew Quick shows the idea with his own twist. He shows that when Russ loses his family, he goes into depression but Finley finds him and becomes his companion. Similarly, in the book, “Wolf Brother”, Michelle Paver shows that Torak loses his father who was his only family and then he becomes determined and thirst for vengeance. So in both books, we learn that life always creates someone for us but it is up to us to take that positively or negatively.

A common theme both books share is that accepting life’s ways and trusting it but still making your choices. In “Boy 21”, Russ sinks into depression and sadness after his parent’s death due to loneliness. However Finley comes and saves him by bringing him back to the world and gets Russ to do things he loves which makes him more connected to the world again. In “Wolf Brother”, Torak becomes motivated for vengeance but then meets wolf who gets Torak to realize that forgiveness is better than revenge which calms Torak’s thirst for revenge and he realizes the reality of life and to accept the fate.

Although both texts are sharing the same idea, there are differences in the course and events which lead to the realization. In “Boy 21” Quick shows the negatively and the negative impacts on the person. The person going through the event sinks into depression and isolates himself/herself from the world. In contrast, in “Wolf Brother”, Paver shows the positiveness and the determination in the outcomes of these tragedies. This book shows that can also get positively impacted by these negative tragedies, it isn’t always negative. Quick’s book explains the usual situations and how people deal with the pain and loss whereas Paver explains the unusual and uncommon scenarios of dealing with the pain and loss.

There were different ways and craft Matthew Quick and Michelle Paver used in their books “Boy 21” and “Wolf Brother”, respectively. Both authors used Inner Thinking to show the ways the protagonist was trying to deal with the pain and loss but in different styles. Quick used it to show Russ’s thoughts and the way he used Space as a distraction from his current situation. The difference was that he used this in the perspective of the main protagonist so styled his writing to compare Russ’s feelings and the protagonist’s views. Paver however used a different style. She used it to show the impact Wolf’s presence and actions had on Torak’s situation. She personified Wolf as a guidance to show his impact more efficiently. The difference was that she showed the impact and actions through the perspectives of both Torak and Wolf.

In both books, “Boy 21” and “Wolf Brother”, the authors Matthew Quick and Michelle Paver, respectively, show that whenever someone loses a family or a loved one, they are often found by someone who becomes their companion They also show that people do not always get impacted negatively as that is what is assumed by most people. People also get positively impacted. Then they show the impact the different individuals can have on the protagonist’s life, positively or negatively. 

By Luvish

Violent Video Games and Their Impact on Teenagers

These days, many kids are playing violent video games, and most often, against their disapproving parents. While many think that video games have negative impacts, they are only dangerous when taken past a certain extent. However, when played in consideration, video games can relieve stress, improve teamwork, creative thinking and intellectual strength. Violent video games are often thought of as harmful, but in reality, they are extremely beneficial to young adults.

Exams, homework and parental expectations can cause immense stress for teenagers. This stress could be relieved through multiple dangerous mediums such as drugs or alcohol, but a safer way to reduce this stress is by playing video games. According to an article written by Dr. Christopher J. Ferguson, a professor at Texas A&M International University, young adults who play violent video games handle stress better that non-playing adults. “The results suggest that violent video games reduce depression and hostile feelings in players,” Dr. Ferguson explains. The amount of concentration needed to play these games mean that the kids aren’t able to focus on their work, which gives them a break and some time for their minds to recharge. By giving themselves some rest, they are able to relax, removing some of their stress, which can result in teenagers being happier and stress-free.

Additionally, playing violent video games can improve a player’s ability to work in a team. In many games, the player is required to communicate with others, which provides an opportunity to learn social skills by focusing on cooperation. “Research has shown that playing violent video games in groups reduces feelings of hostility better than playing such games alone,” explains Dr. Vitelli, the author of a published article on Psychology Today. “There seems to be a strong potential value of cooperative play in developing social behaviour and curbing anti-social thoughts and behaviours,” implying that video games improve the ability to collaborate with others, a valuable life skill.

These video games are generally very competitive, and to increase chances of winning, kids are forced to think outside the box. A study by professors at Queen Mary University and UCL suggest that action video and strategic games can promote the ability to think quickly. “Our paper shows that cognitive thinking [...] can be trained and improved by fun tools like gaming” states Professor Brad Lowe. Creative problem solving and outside-the-box thinking requires cognitive flexibility, which is vastly increased by playing graphic video games. This will, no doubt, be a very valuable skill for the young players in the future.

One might argue that video games have negative impacts. A common argument is that playing video games results in physical aggression. Many have stated that there is a link between playing violent video games and violent behaviour, however, according to an article published on Forbes, there has not been any study that has shown that violent video games result directly in actual violence. And while many mass murderers have been described as being extremely addicted to video games, in the USA, as violent video games have become more popular, violent crime rates have fallen. In the article, “when it comes to video games, the loudest voices are rarely gamers [...] this creates a hollow sort of analysis,” and enforces the claim that graphic video games are not harmful.

Furthermore, playing violent video games can possibly strengthen a player intellectually, especially if they are young. A study by the American Psychological association reveals that playing video games can actually strengthen a range of cognitive skills, such as memory and perception, amongst others, which is particularly true for the players of more violent games. While most opinions are are that video games have many negative impacts, “This has critical implications for education and career development,” states Isabela Granic, a professor in developmental psychology (and a contributor to a highly regarded review in the journal American Psychologist). Other studies have also shown that the skills improved by playing violent video games, such as spatial navigation, enables achievements in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Overall, it is shown that amongst a wide range of benefits that playing video games allows, it also improves mental health, and in the future, could even be used as a form of therapy for aggressive behaviour in adolescents.

Violent video games and the impact of playing them on kids is the subject of much controversy, with many arguing for both the positive and the negative sides of the subject. These video games have benefits for their players, but only to a certain extent. Past that point, when the player becomes obsessive, the violence and dangerous examples can be threatening to their mental health and perilous for those around them. Given all these points, however, when played with caution, violent video games provide many benefits and will improve an adolescent’s future positively.

By Kelly

Position Paper: Video Games

There are vast canvases of opportunities for us to distress our minds. But some people would rather resort to their tiny screens where they can crash kill get into ridiculous gunfights, die, and then start over. Violent role playing games would activate the nervous system’s underlying addiction and reward, resulting in the attraction to more violent activity. Evidently, entertainment in the 21st century has been altered, and no doubt will come with consequences.

Some say that role playing games helps teens improve their problem solving skills, relieve stress and provide motivation by providing quick reward for winning. This in only the case if video games are played in moderation. According to an article written by Forbes Studies have shown that video games increase aggression, while others show the opposite. If one is constantly engaged in violent activity, the traitorous games can lead to teens living lives with disrupted routines which eventually impacts their health, makes it harder for them to concentrate and might engrave negative values into their minds.

A source from Vanderbilt University calculated that “an average 13-18 year old games for about 14 hours or more per week.” Playing these violent role playing games frequently would make a teen constantly think of ways to advance within the game, or in other words be addicted to it. This addiction might often lead to stress because of the inability to balance their priorities.

With a disrupted routine comes health consequences. “Students who have played a violent video game had a higher heart rates, reported more dizziness and nausea, and exhibited more aggressive thoughts as to those who played a nonviolent game.” states an article from Vanderbilt university. These gamers would get so engrossed into their game that they would forget the lives that lie outside their screens. Making them neglect their health, and forget their responsibilities.

Most may argue that gamers are allowed to communicate within the game, enabling them to work on their collaboration skills, and to become friends with people. Gamers pick up foul language as well as rough behaviour within the walls of this game. Like the saying when in Rome, you do as the Romans do. Additionally, most gamers lack social skills because their interactions with people face to face are limited to a minimum or to zero.

The distinction between fiction and reality are often challenging to separate for some who spend majority of their daily routine glued to screens. Violent role playing games have detrimental effects on their users. as they engrave fake morals into their minds. Causing destruction and killing are glorified and rewarded. Forbes rightly said “You are what you eat is an adage that applies equally well to the images and experiences we code into our brains”

Many game content might also not be age appropriate and given the lack of control around them are readily available for being download by anyone. In multiple games, women are portrayed as weaker characters or that they are helpless, while some professionals spend all their time talking about gender equality.

However there are games, which while played in moderation can have a positive effect on teens. Scientists have claimed that certain games can help the brain in numerous ways some like boosting intelligence and improving memory. In some games the player manages to learn to manage resources and work on decision making skills. It also trains the players brains to think of creative ways to solve puzzles and other problems.

Therefore, I am not taking a stance on saying that any role playing games are bad or should be avoided. It is pretty much unavoidable because of the presence of technology in this modern environment. The point that I am trying to enforce is that certain violent role playing games promote killing, stabbing and shooting to resolve a conflict. The instant gratification of progress through the game as the gamer kills more enemies encourages kids to become more violent. This cannot be a good thing. Additionally, playing many of these games would make teens addicted to the game causing them to lead a disrupted lifestyle. We should stop our society from imploding and educating teens and making them aware of some of the consequences from gaming for too long, too often.


By Manini 

The Perilious Impact of Video Games

“I withdraw my consent from reality. I deny it my assistance. I dedicate myself to the temptations of escapism, and throw myself wholeheartedly into the endlessness of unreality.” This quote from the book, Erebos, expresses how video games manipulate children into thinking real life is parallel to what’s shown on the screen in front of them. Do we want our children to grow up only to confuse reality and fiction? A survey polled by ABC news concluded that 2/3 of the children living in America play video games. As a society, we accept it and think that it is normal, when in reality it shouldn’t be. It’s like telling your children that running around with guns and walking into strip clubs is alright. Though all video games aren’t bad, most children play violent video games and do it often, making it part of their daily lives. Violent video games increase aggression in people and reduce social interactions. Parents, I would hope that after reading this, you might reconsider your position and understand what I am trying to convey.

One of the main concerns when playing violent video games around the world pertains to the increased aggression in players and the affect it has on children from a young age. According to a scientific study held by ‘Anderson and Bushman,’ those who play violent video games are more likely to “have increased aggression in thoughts, feeling or/ and behaviours.” Children are awarded for being violent in most games, and are more likely to do the same in the real world, like the Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who were both known to be active members in the community of the violent video game called Doom. A question many ask is whether playing video games would result to their child becoming a mass murderer. If this was the case, then neighbours, friends, etc would all be killers. While this may be true, we cannot deny that playing violent video games are a harmless form of entertainment.

Another significant problems is that violent video games also contain very stereotypical and biased characters. It seems to me that the message they are trying to give us is controversial to the one we are trying to resolve. In most video games, women are very sexualised, and have very minor roles to portray them as weak characters. As a world, do we want to progress or regress? As of today, we are still unable to achieve a balance between the two genders everywhere around the world. And as a community, we need supporters, not opposers.

A Stanford psychologist Albert Bandura concluded that “social scripts presented on screen will guide children's behaviour in real life.” As a society, I think that we are losing the ability to empathise and communicate. Before this era of gaming on laptops and on mobile phones, humans would spend their free time reading, understanding and taking values from books. This is significant because young people these days prefer directing their energy and time online playing video games, learning and being awarded for violent behaviour, vengeance etc.  rather than have face-to-face conversations  or do something more productive, like reading.

Parents, I have experienced this myself. 4 years ago, I went to a friends house, where we all stayed up playing board games and interacting with each other. A week ago I went to another friends house, where everyone was either on their device playing a game or watching Call of Duty being played on the T.V screen by the host. This is how quickly we have evolved as human species. How do we know if we are going the right way?

I understand that when we play video games we do not fully comprehend its effect. Absent minded teenagers play for some form of entertainment, allowing their minds to be influenced by the screen in front of them, causing them to become more aggressive and have less social interactions. Therefore, I think violent video games should be banned, and as parents, you should engage your child in face-to-face conversations than one with an anonymous user.

By Ananya

"Ocean At The End Of The Lane" and "The Garbage King:" Comparitive essay

"Everybody wants to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down” Oprah Winfrey once said. In the books “The Garbage King” by Elizabeth Laird and “The Ocean At The End Of The Lane” by Neil Gaiman, a similar universal truth is explored, relating to the quote above. One of the themes both books explore is pertaining to the effect of money on relationships. That it is not the money that affects you negatively or positively, but rather how you let yourself get affected by money.

In “The Ocean At The End Of The Lane,” we spectate a fight between a husband and a wife over money. The husband accuses the wife of doing illegal things when he sees her purse stashed with money. “She says she doesn’t know where they [the shrilling notes] came from, and he doesn’t believe her. He doesn’t know what to believe.” This particular scene shows how money can affect your relationships negatively and shatter existing trust. Here, the money was the catalyst for their fight, but the couple could have taken it forward another way instead of fighting, even though some may think otherwise.

In “The garbage King,” by Elizabeth Laird, we notice how the two main characters, Dani and Mamo, bond over time because of the lack of money. “He was completely dependent on Mamo, for food and water and everything. If Mamo deserted him, he’d either have to go back outside and get picked up by the police or stay, a prisoner, right here in this cemetery until he starved to death.” In this particular example from the garbage King, we understand how reliant Dani is. After living a life filled with money and material, he realizes the true meaning behind friendship because of Mamo, which just becomes stronger everyday because the lack of money.

Even though these two scenarios are very different, we can find similarities between them. In both the books, it is up to the characters whether they will use the stick or not after the author gives them the carrot. For instance, in the garbage King, Mamo and Dani’s relationship could have ended [the stick] the moment Dani gave Mamo money [the carrot] to buy some food for both of them. Inspire of finally being able to hold a 10 birr note, Mamo was true to his word and came back to help Dani. After this, both boys trusted each other with their lives, instead of letting the money ruin their relationship.

Some may counter this by saying that it is not the people who chose to be affected by money. They may say that instead of the money being the one affecting you, it is the situation you deal with. While both of these might be valid, many situations in life are challenging. The authors chose to show money as a greater threat, even standing on it’s own, instead of just being a mere factor in a situation where someone's relationship is affected.

In conclusion, both “The Ocean At The End Of The Lane” and “The Garbage King” explore the theme of money and it’s important in our lives. Without money, we wouldn’t be able to do much. Readers might conclude that ultimately, it is up to us to chose how we are affected by money. Like in everything in life, there is a reaction. It is up to us whether we chose for that reaction to become a positive or a negative factor in our lives.

By Ananya

The Good, Bad and Beautiful of Violent Video Games

Violent RPG’s have a diverting impact on players as both good and bad come out playing them. Killer (...) a controlled game, creates a disparate dimension for isolated kids, as they become the Julius Caesar’s of their own world. They constitute the rules and are compelled to think out of the box in order to breakout from their boring school life. Hunting targets into public places like airports and then administering traps for the unsuspecting victims is how these kids discover their environment in their Lilliputian virtual bubble. They conduct themselves well enough in order to conceive a set of rules that (...) dictate the flowing of procedures in a manner that keeps everything from crumbling into chaos......

In many instances, these contentious games can (...) manipulate vulnerable teens into being socially awkward. Games like these can curtail self-control one has over themselves as they play such synthetic games with simulated violence. along with lesser self-control, they act with more aggression and incline towards audacious conduct (...) They can be provoked with considerable ease into violent acts. Also, (...) devious games like Grand Theft Auto advocate violence and this leads up to insecure teens taking it upon themselves, to solve petty issues using violence and social abuse. Furthermore, sandbox games like GTA are (...) never ending. They manage to draw the player in until he/she is addicted to it. According to the New York Times, violent games (...) can make players rude few minutes after playing. This can deter both inflicter and victim.

Besides (...) games like Killer can get people conversing about it. Even if it is online, the passionate players engage in robust discussions and debates of their opinions on the game. Conducive multiplayer games have also validated that keen players, vastly improve their teamwork and team building skills. Squads work smoothly together in order to win the esteemed game and achieve the prestige that comes along with victory. Teamwork is a significant skill that you use throughout your life, whether it be in offices or marriages. It also compels the players to leave their homes into the real world for better or for worse.

Although these shrewd games provide numerous opportunities for players to reinforce valuable skills, they can also inculcate reprehensible (...) or unethical values. Quite a few video games these days characterize women, as creatures, who are coerced to do anything you wish. They also have a hefty impression on what the troubled players think of the act of killing and what it really means. In the games, they get a simulated involvement of homicide and death which can taint the player's brain. Along with that, as the player kills, the weightage of killing slowly decreases. Killing an enemy player suddenly doesn't seem as remarkable as it was a few weeks ago.

Given that, RPG’s teach kids imperative lessons and skills like perseverance. In Killer, one has to stand firm in order to shatter through the target's defense and defeat the victim. When one endeavour fails, they remain motivated (...) and consider other methods. The plights that they face while contending buoys brain activity and matures them into problem solvers as well as critical thinkers. They make brisk and decisive decisions so that they can stay alive. Players also learn to manage and be conscious of themselves and their surroundings. In a study, researchers discovered that a player’s reflexes are broadly upgraded while playing such games. These are all skills that can be utilised in future life and playing sophisticated games is exactly what will galvanise this thinking.

RPG’s bring forth many great skills and advantages and are overall good for the players. In order for there to be control, there needs to be a balance that keeps players from being whitewashed and pulling off a Columbine. In the end, it’s not what content the game has, but the attitude that influences players.

“Play it with sorrow and you will feel hate. Play it with anger and you will feel vengeful. Play it with paranoia and you will feel confusion. Play it with empathy and you will feel compassion. play it with love and you will feel flattery. play it with hope and you will feel positive. play it with humor and you will feel joy. play it with God and you will feel the truth. play it without bias and you will feel peace. Don't play it at all and you will not feel a thing.” Inspired by Shannon Alder

By Kunal Daga

The Dangerous, Dark Side of Video Games

Think about it. On a Wednesday night you come home from a long day’s work and you find your 13 year old son, sitting on the couch with a controller in his hands and using vulgar language to people online. This is what violent video games can possibly do to you if you do not control your video-game-playing-world. Americans spend around 23.5 billion dollars on video games annually, and most of that money comes from violent video games such as the Call of Duty series, the GTA series, so on and so forth. All games have a sticker on them which says the age rating and most violent games are 16+. However, there are young kids from the age of four years old who play these games on a day to day basis. These kids develop a mindset that is very violence centered. Role playing games with simulated violence can be perilous to kids because it can corrupt their mind into doing things they normally wouldn’t do.

A primary reason why these games can be perilous to kids is because they put kids in places they normally wouldn’t be in. Guy Martin, an author for the New Yorker states that these upperclassmen “[...] staked outside of Cohen’s house in a blue minivan.” Not one teenager would actually wait outside someone’s house if it weren’t for the game. Adding on to that, they weren’t even sleeping in their own houses for the past few nights but in fact sleeping on futons borrowed from their parents in one of the parents minivans, just to ambush the young ninth grader when he was not expecting it. Furthermore, these upperclassmen were planning on doing the exact same stakeout on three other kids. This is just a game and the upperclassmen might be taking it a bit too seriously.

These games can push kids into doing illegal things. In an article “High-Jinks: Shoot-Out”, the upperclassmen changed their caller id’s to the id of one of Cohen’s teammates so they could track Cohen down. Understandably, some may say that this shows great problem solving and critical thinking skills but, changing a caller id is illegal and this is just for a game. Furthermore, the upperclassmen went on and stalked one of the ninth graders through New York, New Jersey and as far as Connecticut. Arguably, these ninth graders did sign up for this in the first place, but in some people’s perspective, the upperclassmen may have taken this slightly overboard. According to Erik Kain, a contributor to the Forbes Magazine states in his article, ‘Do games like GTA V cause real world violence?’ reveals that these games make teenagers act and behave differently when they are hooked onto such games.

Another reason to why role playing games like Killer and Mafia are perilous to kids is that these games can influence and change the mindsets of teenagers to a mindset of a criminal. In the article, “High Jinks: Shoot Out” the older upperclassmen sneak and smuggle water guns into an airport. In a more serious, criminal situation, the criminal would actually be sneaking real guns into an airport but either way, the actions are similar, just that water guns are low key. Once again, these games are pushing kids into doing the extreme.

People may argue that all these acts are just developing the mindsets of kids and teens into being more problem solving, critical thinking, resilience and creativity. All these factors are fair because the kids are trying to come up with creative ways to eliminate the opponent. While this may be true, there is a boundary to these games and as the article ‘High-Jinks: Shoot Out’ has showed us, these teenagers have really taken this game to an extreme and really crossed the boundaries.

In conclusion, RPG are arguably perilous for kids. They can make kids behave and act in dangerous ways and clearly that is not what we want. They can also make us end up in places that we really do not want to be in. Think about it, if you were a parent, you would definitely not want your kid to do such extreme things like camping outside of someone’s house, stalking a younger kid through three different states and also acting like a criminal, right? I believe that such games should be allowed for kids and teens but they must play the games in moderation, not too much, but a little bit.

By Arjun

Parents these days commonly frown upon children sitting in a dark room, eyes locked on their screen, backs hunched and thumbs consistently slamming against a clicker playing video games as they believe that it is a waste of time. A sight that would make any parent worried especially when the games promotes cruel behaviour. There are also cases where parents absolutely isolate their children from any sort of violence as they feel like it is a bad influence on their kids, but does the violence in games contribute to youths violence? Although lots of parents disagree with video games, there is always two sides to a story.

As has been mentioned, playing video games do come with a price. Studies have shown that too much gaming can be linked to addiction, depression and more acts of violent behaviour. The players learn to associate violence with pleasure like in the “High-Jinks: Shoot-Out”, winning by shooting people. This undermines moral sensitivity. These games also influence players to behave like a criminal and to intentionally hurt others, as the players practise these violent behaviour hundreds and thousands a time.

Similarly to anything, their are also pros. Yes, video games do have a light at the end of a tunnel. Video games aren’t all that bad for adolescents in fact, it is shown that games can be brain-training tools which can improve skills of critical thinking, problem solving, quick thinking, multi-tasking, collaboration, task switching, accuracy and memory. An example of collaboration and creative thinking is in the “High-Jinks: Shoot-out” by Guy Martin, a group of innovative seniors, with “Walgreens-Issue water pistols”, waited outside of their opponents house, with the help of teamwork, used a cell phone to pretend to be one of his teammates. This was a way for them trick him in coming out of the house so they can shoot him in order to win the game. Unintentionally, when playing games, it is often a frustrating learning experience that requires you to repeatedly problem solve learn new strategies in games. James Paul Gee, an author who wrote about the impact of video games, suggests that you even learn “the scientific method” through the necessary trail and error of figuring out how to meet goals in the game. Believe it or not, even the kind of controller, whether being Wii remote, X-box remote, keyboard or mouse, it helps with multi-tasking and hand-eye coordination. The use of having to keep eyes on the screen while using the remote to control the game with accuracy, helps children learn how to use both hands and eyes cooperatively. It is also said that surgeons were faster and more efficient at an operation- like surgery tests after playing video games. On top of that, studies have shown that video games help improve reflexes and quick thinking as players are repeatedly on a lookout for something attacking them.

Contrary to popular belief violent video games are not the cause of the increase in violence in the world. As a matter of fact, from 1990 to 2008 studies have shown that while violent video games sales increased, violence around the world has decreased. Violent video games make up about 11.7 of the world’s economy, if people were to ban video games, it would put about 32,000 people out of jobs.

Playing games with a friend, may be better then playing alone. The positive from teamwork, is that multiplayer games is likely to counterbalance some of the negative effects of virtual violence. To avoid negative effects cause by gaming from happening, it is advised for children to have a balanced life with real-life face to face interaction with people in a good environment. The violence in games doesn’t have to influence kids, as long as children have a balance of game time and having real life interaction being able to use the positive skills they learn from video games. We don’t want kids to develop a “game brain” where all they associate life with are games. 

Due to the popularity of video games, completely eliminating them from your child’s life might be difficult. However, you can decrease the negative impact that they could have on your child, like knowing the rating of the game, not installing video game equipment in his or hers bedroom and supervising the amount of game time a child spends. 

Banning violent video games as a way to “protect”kids, would not make a difference. Violent videos have actually decreased crime rates and are teaching kids skills such as problem solving. Banning violent video games would put thousands out of work. It may seems like a good idea, but it wouldn’t shield children from violence. Many parents blame the video game manufacturers for violence, but it’s actually the parents responsibility to monitor.

By Elizabeth

Harit's Position Paper on Video Games

It’s 11 pm, on a school night, but Thomas doesn’t care, why would he? He is moments away from slaughtering the beast that is Elvarg, the demonic boss in the MMORPG Runescape. He can barely hear his mum, screeching at him to go to bed, but as Richard climbs down the volcano, into the dragon’s lair, he’s in a world of his own, and nothing can stop him, not even the unfinished math homework, lying beside his bed, forgotten. You might be facing a similar predicament, your child is stuck to their computer, playing the latest virtual role playing game or first-person shooter but no matter how hard you try, it’s like there is industrial grade super glue between your child and their console. But today, I’m going to shed light on how video games are perilous for kids and how you can melt that super glue between your youngster and their electronic device.

As stated earlier, it is clearly obvious that video games can be hazardous towards kids, whether it’s distracting them from remaining focussed on certain tasks or making them more aggressive, one such negative aspect of playing violent games extensively is that your child can be subjected to sexual harassment or insult other’s sexually themselves. And this harassment can greatly affect teens who play games. A 2013 study from Ohio University showed that when a female player in Halo 3 greeted other players with an innocuous phrase like “Hi Everyone”, she faced insults like “Shut up you whore!” Consequently, a rallying cry of “alright team let’s do this” earned her the response, “Shut up you slut.” Furthermore, this type of harassment not only exists in Halo 3; there are countless other games where I myself have seen teens torment fellow gamers with extremely vulgar language. For example, Call of Duty games allow teammates to communicate with each other so that they have a better chance to win the game. Some may say that this actually helps adolescents to collaborate and convey their thoughts to others which is a really important skill for any human being to learn, but in actuality, group chats like these are in the end mostly used to tyrannise other teammates. Take Jenny Haniver for instance, who is an avid Call of Duty player. She uses her free time after college classes to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. But how can someone enjoy a game when they’re repeatedly faced with negative comments such as "Get back in the kitchen and take your goddamn hands off a video game controller." Another especially revolting memory of Jenny’s was when an enemy player backed out of the middle of the match just to send Jenny a voice message about how he hoped she would be raped and she and her family killed. Amazingly, situations like these aren’t uncommon at all. Fatuglyorslutty.com is a website that depicts hundreds of similar horrendous messages from video gamers online. You can go check out the website yourself and you too will be revolted by the posts you witness. But all in all, it is obvious that sexual harassment in video games is an enormous crisis that needs to be fixed.

Another imminent problem due to addictive gaming is the low level of school achievement that correlates to it. According to one study done on 1500 American adolescents, aged 10 to 19, teens who played video games compared to teens who didn’t, spent 32% less time doing homework and other education related activities (Cummings & Vandewater 2007). From this study, it is indisputable that there is a strong correlation between addictive gaming and neglect of school responsibilities. This result is most probably due to students getting used to the fast pace of violent games and consequently, when they try and focus on slow paced activities like reading and homework, they are unable to concentrate on them due to their addiction. Another explanation for the correlation could simply because of a student’s addiction’s. Once they put down the game, reality literally slaps them in the face and they don't feel like doing anything but delving into more games, I’m sure many of your son’s or daughter’s have experienced. On the contrary, it could be reasonably contended that video games are in fact helpful to students as they can be a major stress reliever. However, even if video games are a major stress reliever for them, students who play them can lose track of their sense of time easily due to their addiction as video games are like a sponge except instead of water, they suck up time, time that could’ve been used for more useful and urgent things.

The final problem I want to address to you parents today is that video games can cause your teenagers to make unreasonable choices just to feed their addiction. For instance, take a look at Guy Martin’s article, “High-Jinks: Shoot Out”. It elucidates the game ,“Killer”, which is the “last-man-standing game of water-pistol ambush(Martin, 1)”, has become an important end-of-year ritual in multiple New York City high schools. At St. Ann’s, a private school in Brooklyn Heights, the game is taken tremendously seriously. So seriously, that some competitors bribe cab drivers and stalk other people and camp outside their house just because they wanted a better chance to receive the winner’s jackpot. Furthermore, even though Killer isn’t a video game, the same moral can be taken from it and applied to popular first person shooters or role playing games. I’m sure that many of your children have made imbecilic choices just to feed their addiction of video games, heck, I actually know people in 8JRa that have lied to their parents about money and thrown it away on video games solely for getting an “achievement” or a legendary champion skin. And if you realise how grave this situation is, I’m talking about one of your sons or daughters who’s in this room right now! And don’t give me any rubbish on how spending on video games help adolescents boost their cognitive skills because there’s no benefit in playing video games to increase analysing and reaction skills if the teens who play them are stealing from their parents, lying about money and in all, making stupid choices!

Now, how can you fix this? I’m sure you all agree that there’s no point in me informing you of these problem’s if I’m not telling you how you can fix them. For a start, You can try to find alternative activities that compliment your child’s personality and his interests. In addition you can set a limit on how much time your child can spend on electronics per day. Many health care professionals and development specialists recommend that the time children spend in front of a television or computer screen be no more than 2 hours per day so take this into account when setting a time for them. In addition, I propose to you that you set up your child’s video game system in a family room where your child is always supervised when playing their video game so that you can make sure that your teenager doesn’t exceed their time limit. Finally, I suggest you all to familiarise yourself with the warning signs of video game addiction in children, these include noticing your child sneaking in extra playing time after the time limit or that he is lying to you about playing when he is not supposed to as therefore, you can tell if your child is getting addicted and contact a health care professional if you notice any troublesome symptoms as we can all agree, excessive video gaming is harmful for kids.

Thank you for your time.

By Harit

Literary Essay: Aristotle and Dante, Speak

For most people, conversations about rape and homosexuality are ones that are commonly avoided. Most kids are not educated about these topics and this might lead to them struggling to seek for help. This could be because of a community's belief of it being sinful. This would leave people feeling isolated or like an outcast. This message came clear in the books “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson and “Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe” by Benjamin Alire Saenz. Both authors use inner thinking as a tool to effectively show emotions and to prove that people we frequently interact with would shape a part of who we become.

In “Speak” an outcast called Melinda was introduced. She starts 9th grade alone with no companions by her side. During the summer of the previous year, she was sexually assaulted during a party. This act sealed her lips and turned her into an outcast. Melinda belongs to a busy family. Her family rarely talk, they “communicate with the notes on the kitchen counter. I write when I need school supplies or a ride to the mall. They write what time they’ll be home from work and if I should thaw anything. What else is there to say?” Melinda rarely talks to her parents so she doesn't know how to go up to them and talk about what happened last summer. “I don’t have time for this Melinda” was the response that Melinda got the night after she harmed herself. She was left speechless after this. If her family doesn't care about her, who will? Melinda’s family is a part of the reason that she couldn’t open up to anyone about the event that occured last summer. Melinda’s parents seem to overreact over the smallest things: grades, room decorations, seasons. This could be another reason why she didn’t tell them about what happened because of the fear that they might take drastic measures to ensure their daughter is alright.

The story “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” revolves around the friendship of two boys, Aristotle and Dante. Dante frequently interacted with were his parents and Aristotle. His relationship with his parents is like one with friends. He is aware of the fact that his parents trust and respect him. Even when he is treated this way, he is still afraid to talk to them about his feelings towards Aristotle. He did this because he was afraid of disappointing his parents because of who he was becoming, as he was an only child. Also, the act of kissing another of the same gender in a public space got him into a hospital ICU. This proves that people and rules that are set shape parts of who we become.

Aristotle’s relationship with his parents is one that shapes a big part of who he has become. His relationship with his dad is a shallow one. This changes after the car accident where he jumped in front of a car to protect Dante. Eventually, they found some things in common (Bad dreams, books, driving lessons and his brother). He doesn't talk as openly with his father as he does with his mother. Aristotle wasn’t one who had many companions but, his relationship with his mother was one like close friends. They knew each other pretty well. Even if this is, he is really hesitant to talk about his feelings for Dante and to ask questions about his brother, “Thats what I did with everything. Keep it inside”. Aristotle got into a fist fight once and his parents got very worried because his brother got into prison because he had killed someone with his bare fists. “I’m not my brother” Aristotle said and then promised himself that he wouldn’t turn into his brother. Past events, parental pressure and expectations shape who you become.

Even though people say that everyone is different and it is important to be your own original person, but in most cases, our families and the people we frequently interact with make some sort of mark on us. As Anne Frank said once said, ““Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.” As people, we should be committed to care and listen to anyone who might require assistance of any kind. Even the smallest actions can make large impacts.

By Manini 

The Hidden Side of Violent Games

Games have affected our lives in one way or another, ranging from the game of tag that you played when you were young, to the friendly game of billiards you had with Joe. As the games developed, the favorite amongst all ages, particularly teen is ‘Role Playing games’ (more commonly referred to as RPGs). RPGs can range from the classics of ‘Mario’ and ‘Galaga’ all the way to the modern day favorites such as the Call of duty franchise. Role playing games with simulated violence have however become a substantial topic of controversy. While many hold an animosity against the games like Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed and GTA, many fail to see the benefits from these games. Many parents have found these games to be so detrimental to their child’s health, that they have banned the genre all together. This policy invites the question, should role playing games with simulated violence be banned?

In this essay I will argue that games in this genre provide benefits for a child which are highly beneficial, and unique to these games. The essay will attempt to state and defend two claims: first, banning these games can harm your child, as these games develop their cognitive skills; and second, violent role playing games teach children independence.

With the difficulty of acquiring a job rapidly increasing, every skill and technique will help a child to acquire a job. Role playing games with simulated violence, provide a benefit which is unique to them. These games improves the cognitive skills of children. Recent studies by the American Psychology Association (APA) state that games with simulated violence, improve the spatial navigation, reasoning, memory and perception of a child.

These qualities, which can be applied anywhere, have been found to be particularly helpful in the S.T.E.M field (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). Adam Zartin, an IB student at the International School of Manila, states that “As an avid gamer, I have had first hand experience with the benefits of gaming. I’ve seen how my friends skills in areas such as problem solving has increased, after introducing them to my favorite games; CS GO and Dota” For those unaware CS GO is an acronym for the game Counter-Strike Global Offensive which is a leading competitor in the First Person Shooter market. DOTA, or Defense of The Ancients, is the second most played Massive Online Battle Arena type game. These are both games which simulate violence, and as shown they have both improved students results in their school life. Adam also talk about the possibility of becoming a professional gamer, and his aspiration to join this multi-billion dollar industry.

While I grant that many may argue, that these skills can be acquired through other means, if not games without violence may provide the sames skills. This while a good argument is incorrect. Meta-analysis done by the APA, shows that not only is the cognitive growth unique to games with violence, the growth is much greater than formal courses which are designed to enhance the same quality. Given these statistics, parents should reconsider prohibiting the play of games in this genre, as doing so will only cause more harm to their child’s future, than the potential harm which they are trying to prevent.

To sum up, I affirm that prohibiting role playing games with simulated violence, is unjust to the child, as doing so will put them at a level below the children who do play these games.

A common argument for banning games in this genre, is that these games teach children the wrong morals, and gives the wrong mentality on violence, which leads them to have no emotional response on crime, and see crime as an acceptable action. However prohibiting access to these games, will only bring more harm to the children. These games teach them a skill which is not easily taught by other sources. RPG’s with simulated violence teach them about independence. As show on Guy Martin’s article on NY times ‘High Jinks: Shootout’, students at times had to take their life in their own hands, and make important decisions by themselves. One student portrayed this, by his action of planning ahead, and making sure that he was given the go with his plan, to eliminate his target. This game also builds the students independence, by teaching students, to be wise when choosing who they trust, and be cunning when making their plans.

Additionally, I will also grant a statistically proven premise. While it does seem that the Norwegian shootout is related to game Call of duty, Recent studies by the APA, show that the crime rate in adolescents has decreased, as the sales of video games with violence increase. To sum up, I affirm that prohibiting role playing games with simulated violence, harms the child by withholding useful benefits which help them with every action they perform.

In the modern world, violent games are seen as a threat to society...as something which need to be exterminated from society. However taking this mentality will be detrimental to your child’s growth. Many have argued that these games should be banned and kept away from children. In this speech, I have tried to defend the tolerance of this genre of games. I have argued that these games arm the child with improved cognitive skills, and teach them about the valuable skill of independence. A natural objection is that these games lead to more crimes, but I have offered reasons why this may be untrue. Role play games with simulated violence should not be banned, as they provide many benefits for a child. Parents, act now, bring back these games from your locker, think twice before saying no when your child asks for a game.

By Roshan

Ocean At The End Of The Lane: Thematic Essay

Neil Gaiman’s book, “Ocean At The End Of The Lane,” is a dystopian novel narrating the childhood of a man [the narrator]. The seven year old version of the man recalls his past, where crazy magical things happened. In the book, Neil Gaiman explores how money holds the power to alter interactions with friends and family, change it’s own value and peoples personalities.

A particular scene in “Ocean At The End Of The Lane” teaches that the greed and paranoia money causes can lead to conflict between people. One example of this is when an argument breaks out between a couple. The husband accuses his wife of doing illegal things when he sees her purse stashed with money, but the wife claims she doesn’t know where it all came from.This causes tension and paranoia between the two, and the trust in his wife is diminished.

In reality, all this money had been put in her purse without her knowledge or consent by Ursula Monkton, who the Hemstocks call “a flea”, the antagonist of the story. “Something’s [the ‘flea’] causing trouble. It’s giving people money. In their dreams and in real life.” Ursula Monkton believed that the principal reason everyone was unhappy because of money problems. Now, some may argue “everyone wants money ,” and it is what gives them happiness. But as evidenced above, this is not always the case.

Ursula Monkton’s decision to give money to the people, assuming it would resolve all their problems, wasn’t very realistic. Despite her seemingly good intentions, the real problem was the fact that she gave them the money and more so, anonymously. This is significant because the characters and their relationships with each other begin to fall apart with this unknown source of wealth, creating further problems.

The book also has evidence pertaining to how we base our dreams in anticipation of wealth and how these dreams fall like dominoes when things don’t work out as expected. One such example of this is when the main character is told that he’d won the premium bonds, a competition all babies are entered in when they’re born. He becomes greedy and ambitious; “I already knew what I was going to do with it. I would buy a place I could go be alone, like a bat cave with a hidden entrance.” When he is informed that he’d won only 25 pounds, he is disappointed and alters his dreams accordingly.

Money, especially the lack of it, can overpower you with negative emotions like sadness and jealousy. Taken as a whole, the smallest issues can occasionally turn into the biggest arguments relating to money, as is evidenced in conflict in relationships. Being in control of money can make you take drastic measures to keep it in your possession; “A lady in that house has gone mad. [...] She has money in the mattress. Now she won’t get out of bed, in case someone takes it from her.” This shows how money changes it’s own value depending on who possesses it. The lady in that house obviously didn’t have much money before the “anonymous” source gave it to her. That money meant so much to her. If compared to someone very rich, these measures wouldn’t have been taken to keep it in possession.

Some may argue that while this may be true, money can also make people happy, if you let it. Depending on how it is used, money can make powerful changes in the world. Instead of letting money get in the way with people and things, it can be used for a better purpose. It gives people the ability and power to make a difference in lives and give back to society by creating a livelihood through job opportunities.

In conclusion, having money allows us to function more easily in the world, provide comfort in our lives and in the lives of others. However, because attachment to money is based on fear, it always creates insecurity. The desire to have more money, and thereby feel more secure, never ends. Security can never come from money alone. Some of the people who have the most money are also the most insecure. Therefore, it is all about creating the optimal balance.

By Ananya

Authors Craft Essay: 'Speak' by Laurie Halse Anderson

Most people go through a phase where they feel like they’re voice is unheard. That phase where the words that roll out of their tongue simply vanish into the thin air. Similarly in the story “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson, a girl found herself silenced because of a rape incidence earlier in her life. Over time, she finds her voice and the courage to speak her mind. The girl, Melinda, enters high school at the start of the book, she starts alone. She is nervous and retreats into a shell whenever she has to interact with people. Author Laurie Halse Anderson used techniques like symbolism and flashbacks to keep readers predicting, so that they could make an effort to understand why Melinda is so introverted and how her character will evolve through the book.

From the start of the book Melinda was introduced as a shy and introverted 9th grader. With every new page, a bit more was revealed about her. This helped build the readers curiosity and made the reader want to keep reading further to understand more about the character. The author would talk about melinda now and then and then occasionally flip back to the summer and to what happened back then. The author probably did this to build up suspense and gradually develop the cause and effect aspect of Melinda’s present character. The author also revealed more information about Melinda and her friends at a slow pace and probably deliberately to keep the reader anxious to find out more.

The dominant symbol throughout the story are trees. Laurie found an easy way to do this, she engraved her symbol into something that Melinda does at school. Art. At the start of the year, Melinda got to pick a chit of paper with her art assignment on it. Trees. In my opinion, the trees mentioned represent growth of this character. At times, Melinda would not be able to draw trees, this probably symbolized struggle. “I can’t bring it to life” she would say and then give up on drawing fauna. Her trees would be ‘lifeless’ perhaps symbolizing her own inability to speak and interact socially with life around her. The act of giving up could symbolize losing hope after trying to do something over and over again and rarely succeeding. Time spent in the art room is described as tedious and challenging. Maybe this meant that change is a slow and a tiresome process. Finally, at the end of the year Melinda was able to draw trees successfully. This shows relief and strength. The symbol allowed the reader to track Melinda’s character grow as the story progresses?

People might have missed this but, another symbol that has been mentioned repeatedly were Melinda’s lips. Melinda often criticized her lips of being cracked and dry. This could possibly symbolize not taking sufficient care of herself or to symbolize something rarely used. She once said that she didn’t recognize her lips, as though she was talking about not recognizing who she was turning into. It might also show confusion or being unsure of how to manage a situation. Melinda really struggled with speaking up, and she often questions if people would care about what she has to say “would they listen?” or “would they believe me?”. Her lips were the perfect symbol that would help us understand that she hasn’t spoken for a while and wasn’t going to speak up any time soon, which is why it was dry and uncared for. This got me predicting about the end, would she finally speak up? would someone help her to find her voice?

Speaking up isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and we should respect that. Some people just don’t know how to or are not comfortable to express themselves verbally and they might end up using alternatives, just like how Laurie was able to use trees, Melindas lips and flashbacks as tools to speak for Melinda’s feelings. The effects of events in the past have large impacts on our present selves, this has come out well throughout the story. I, myself, am going to commit to listening up, genuinely care, and try and help someone in a similar situation. I am hoping, but who knows, if there are more Melindas amongst us in real life?

By Manini 

The Beneficial Impacts of Video Games

Good Afternoon Grade Eight Parents!

Games have been a part of all of our lives from kindergarten till to today, from duck-duck goose in grade one, to the game of poker you played last night in Marina Bay Sands. It seems hard to imagine life without these pleasurable pastimes, especially as technology begins to pervade our daily life, and virtual games of all sorts are at our fingertips.

However, the digitization of reality through video games has had its fair share of controversy. Specifically, concerning violent Role Playing Games (or RPGs), which have gained phenomenal success among teenagers. RPGs involve players taking on a character persona in a semi-predetermined storyline. Stimulated violence, as seen through major brands such as “Assassin's Creed”, “Call of Duty”, and “Halo” has however had submerged this form of entertainment in criticism, as the graphic imagery and violence is deemed detrimental to a player's mental wellbeing. However, most fail to acknowledge RPGs as unparalleled facets to improve performance in cognitive tasks , develop their emotional resilience, and attain independence.

In the modern day and age, there are a range of skills and qualities that promise a good future, in what ever field of work you practice. Parents, all the times you tell your children they will not get anywhere in life because they are always playing video games. Nevertheless, it is because of their video games they are learning skills to get them somewhere in life. Science has shown that children who play leisure games with simulated action have sharper vision, better hand eye-coordination skills and can envision shapes and objects more efficiently from different angles. All these qualities, though can be applied anywhere, particularly within STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). A former student of UWCSEA, Minsoo Kim, once mentioned, “Geometry has become a lot easier for me because in video games like, ‘Call of Duty’ I can rotate my view around a lot and I see objects from different angles, this makes envisioning shapes on a paper much easier.” Minsoo attained great marks in his Mathematics course. Moreover, Minsoo mentions that in the 21st century being a videogamer already provides jobs itself. One of the most successful team of professional video gamers (Team Newbee, from China) have earned approximately, USD $1,005,661 (one million, five thousand, six hundred, sixty one dollars) each from playing Dota 2. To conclude, it is not a prosperous industry, but a platform for personal development of players.

Emotional Resilience, an immensely valuable quality in people, it is the ability think and adapt to situations under pressure or during crises. For example League of Legends, a online-battle game which is popular within our UWC community, requires quick decision making skills and reaction times to attack and defend your persona. According to Russell Koh, an avid player, “Though Leauge of Legends is only an online game, I have improved my real-life reaction time, and also, I interpret information better to make informed choices, because in the game you have to also keep in mind what character the other player is using and how you can beat them.” Moreover, LoL requires many skills such as: collaboration, with your team of five you must all play specific roles and support each other to ensure success; (PAUSE) critical thinking, to create strategies and last minute battle plans to win matches; and creativity, to set up game plays that will surprise the opposition. Games with fighting often improve team-work skills, but they also teach players how to be independent and persevering individuals.

Independence is something that is not easily taught, but somehow is easily learned. Socrates, a famous philosopher said, “To find yourself, think for yourself.” Often violent role playing games require independence, self-awareness, and self-reliance. For example, in numerous New York State high schools, a water balloon war takes place before the school year ends. In the game, players are given targets to catch in order to get a new target, so on and so forth, and finally after defeating all other from different teams, win the game. These catches often require strategic thinking and to be performed alone. In a particular case, one student traveled all the way to Newark Airport to catch his target before he boarded on a plane. This shows the passion the game builds, and the freedom of control you have on your choices of attack, defense, and extent of will in the game. Coming back to the quote I previously mentioned, games that require one’s own ideas and thinking will later help your children discover their talents and strengths. They may develop into great leaders, strategizers and creative minds.

Some may argue that games with simulated violence are more detrimental than beneficial to a player’s mental health because with so much exposure to blood and gore they will begin to be unaffected by many of the problems in the real world, and that the inconsequentiality assigned to death and crimes in games players will forget about the ramifications one could face if they reenact anything from their games in real life. This is a valid assertion, but a recent study has shown the opposite, it explains that ‘video games can make children more morally aware’. Researchers believe that when the player is involved with the game they can choose to be a bad character and experience the results being bad has, or play as the good character, and see what the villain has to face in the end, both subconsciously teaching the player to make better choices. This will apply especially from a young age to players.

Video games provide stress-relieving and fun leisure activities for players, but they also help to prepare children to be the best they can be in many aspects, from their hand-eye coordination to their team-work skills. Some of you still may not believe this, but I hope I have swayed some of your opinions, but if I did not that is also okay, you are free to have your own judgment, but at least believe that games with violence do have many beneficial and valuable lessons for your children to learn, and just think, would you have a problem if all the violence was in a book?

By Mehak

Are Games Good Or Bad?

Role playing games (RPG) with simulated violence both online and offline are perilous for kids. The games can cause a kid to lose focus in their school work which will lead to a decrease in academic grades, which also leads to the person not getting a qualification, in worse case scenario this may even affect their career. Not only that but there maybe a slim chance that the kid will become a killer.

In an article related to symptoms of playing Games “Do Video Games Lower Academic Performance?” written by publishers at “Education.com” have stated that video games can decrease the grade, but it also doesn’t. The negative impact of gaming on kids is that it can cause a decrease in time spent on studying and an increase in time spent on playing games, as a result of a medical condition called an addiction. An addicted person may spend as short as one hour to as long as a day playing games. Games are designed to keep things interesting that will hold the gamers interests and attention. The time that should be spent on studying would have gone to waste. Too much gaming will also leave a person with no time to go for his/her other activities. There are some fast-pace games e.g.call of duty whereby it can cause a person to have a short attention span and have no patience and it will eventually lead to difficulties in reading a long dense book, engaging in group social actitives and playing a game of monopoly.

The impact of gaming will not just stop at childhood. When a child grows up and becomes an adult, gaming can also have an adverse impact on their life and career. In the related article “Two Years Later, Sleep Researchers Now Say Gaming Before Bed Is Bad” written by Owen Good, researchers have shown that gaming before bed is bad because it will shortened Rapid Eye Movements (REMs) state. The REMs State is a time for the brain to process what it has learnt that day, so it is ready to learn new things the following day. By decreasing the REMs state time, the brain has less time to process all this information, causing the brain to work two times as hard. For adult with game addiction, time will be spent on gaming rather than sleeping. As a result, these adults will be more prone to make mistakes and will be less productive.

Another adverse impact of gaming is that it can influence a person into thinking that bloodshed is the right thing to do when they played too much of violent game. In the article “High-Jinx: Shoot-Out” written by Guy Martin, the students were constantly thinking about killing their prey, which were the opposition with their water pistols. When the kids have continuous exposure to such games, their minds will be influenced to accept violence as their normal life. Similarly, there are some online games that prey on the same concept of violence. Research like “Do Games Like ‘Grand Theft Auto V’ Cause Real World Violence” Written by Erik Kain, has shown that over 40 people per capita that spend money on violent video games in the US, has led to over 300,000 people in the US committing gun related murder. This may eventually lead to them to go onto a gun rampage. Another piece of evidence to support my point is that on “Shooting In The Dark” written by Benedict Carey, states that after playing a lot of video games, two people went on a gun rampage to kill innocent people at Columbine High School and a cinema in Aurora, Colorado. These massacres were the cause of two video gamers, which was most likely influenced by the games.

Gaming may not be all bad as there are pros too. Some benefits are that it increases a person's awareness, hand-eye coordination, strategy, reflexes and helps relieving stress. The important point to note is that having self-control, practicing moderation and keeping a clear line between reality and virtual will lead to benefits of gaming. Once too many people cross the over the line of reality and the virtual world there will only be two types of people in this world the Predator and the Prey.

By Dylan

Why Violent Games are Perilous for Many Young Teens

Curtains are closed, doors are shut. Not a single light is shining but the screen, flashing with blood marks all over the place. You aren’t aware of the time but you know that your drowsiness is kicking in. You’ve got to finish the last wave of zombies before your mom comes breaking open your locked door and maniacally screaming in your ears. The sweat from your palms that drip down the controller. Your brain is dominated by the tension and stress of this game. Forget all the homework your teacher assigned. Your brain rotting every second you play that game. It’s already 1 a.m. and you’ve gone miles off your bed time limits. Let me ask you, are you facing those times when you just can’t turn off your gaming device? Is your mind full of the disturbing thoughts from your violent game? Well unfortunately, those thoughts will slowly start to sneakily crawl up your brain without you even realizing what they are capable of doing. Addiction to violent video games are able to lead you to many harmful consequences either it’s physical or mental.

Furthermore, violent simulation video games have also been dominating many children’s lives. It is able to make many young kids be more aggressive physically and change the behaviours of them. Most parents agree that violent games can reveal the more aggressive side of their children which leads them to disallow their kids to play violent video games. According to the The Guardian (Peter Etchell and Chris Chambers), through research between many different groups (parents, media psychologists, communication scientists, paediatricians) they have realized that many agree that violent games help the kid’s aggression to kick in more often than usual. “Averaging across all four groups of people, 66% agree with the statement whereas 19% don’t and 15% are on the fence…” Personally, I’m not a fan of many shooter games and my parents aren’t as well. They believe that shooter games are able to make kids think very dark and also very violent. This clearly portrays that many people, especially parents think that violent games are possibly the reason behind the production of aggression in many kids.

Relating to what was stated before, a game called “Killer” has become very popular around the New York High schools as stated in the New Yorker article, “High-Jinks: Shoot-Out” by Guy Martin. The game “Killer” is an annual event that happens every end of the year. Students are made to assassinate specific targets to conquer for victory. This game has a lot of potential of exerting influence of violence. “I’m looking for some good massacres early,”.... Just imagine how violent and gory this sounds. People, especially kids, shouldn’t be looking forward to massacres. There were many people who lost their loved ones as one decided that spraying bullets at innocent people was a good idea. This also illustrates that the kids are very amused by the killing part of the game and not really the teamwork, communication, etc… This could possibly influence kids to become murderers and criminals due to poor decision making, later on in the future. Although, others might believe that most students that are able to play video games like this would be educated as they would assume that they are able to go to school. In my opinion, even though kids are educated about these things, their brains are still in the state of developing, which means that their decision makings aren’t the best currently. Not only have I read many articles online about the violence of video games; as a gamer myself, I’ve also realized how violent some of the games might be. For example, I was playing Call of Duty: Ghosts about an year ago and the story mode was incredibly disturbing and to aid the prevention of addiction and influence of violence, I’ve stopped playing those kinds of games and moved on to other games which are more, I guess, “safer” to play.

Adding on to what was said before, these kinds of violent games are able to promote the use of dangerous weaponry such as guns and knives. This is a possible segway to murdering and many other sinful crimes. Violent video games will be nothing without the use of malignant weapons. The main reason behind the violence in the game is always weapons such as guns, swords, bows, etc… It has been revealed that one of the leading game making company have had a promotional deal with a gun selling company, McMillan Group and Magpul, to promote the sales of their guns in a game called Medal of Honor. Around thousands of people are currently playing this game. Although it might not sound as logical for videogames to make people buy guns but, it is still a chance that many younger fans of the game who still have a blurry vision of where the line between real life and virtual life is at can be very fascinated about the topic of guns and weapons. Not only has Medal of Honor promote the use of guns, other FPS games such as Call of Duty has also boosted the use of weaponry. In 2010, a Norwegian person, Anders Breivik has gone on a rampage after he claimed to have “trained” himself by playing Call of Duty. This

Many ponder on the idea of how violent games can impact the behaviours and thoughts of many teens and kids. As we get more fixated onto the fantasies of many violent games, we are able to grow on the fact that violence is amusing which will later on lead to many detrimental punishments. People who favour violent games over many other hobbies should learn to balance out their lives and also control the amount of time they spend on sheer entertainment. As others might not be affected as much by playing violent games, it’s still a possibility for many others and should keep in mind that violent games can actually affect your behaviours and thoughts.

By Youngchan

The Perilous Impact of Violent Role Playing Games: Position Paper

Violence is everywhere. In movies, TV shows, books. The abundance of gruesome content surrounding the moldable youth of today, removes the intended impact any form of a gun should have when seen out in public. When this is added on top of the allowed “killings" and “massacres” of their fellow classmates, one can’t help but wonder if these students are not participating in a game, but are actually being trained to kill. Role-playing games with simulated violence are perilous for the society, as it desensitizes them to everyday cruelty, and makes kids prone to be the cause of it.

As more and more of these simulated role playing games take place, the absence of any sort of violent recreational activities in a child’s life becomes unusual. Take a “killing” simulation game for example.“[...] on a Wednesday, three of the four seniors [attended a New York high school], armed with [...] water pistols, staked out at [a fellow student] Cohen’s house.” Although, Cohen and his family were probably aware that they were in no genuine danger, the other residents of that community were probably scared and confused. Games like this can confuse citizens on whether or not someone with any sort of weapon is dangerous, or just playing a game. Eventually, society may start to assume that any child with a weapon, is “just playing around”, and does not have cruel intentions. Sadly, this is not always the case. Imagine if a real gunmen, who wanted to hurt and maim townsmen was spotted, but the large number of the children who were “just playing around” has removed society’s caution around weapons, as they no longer know when the weapon is meant to kill. This could lead to real death and gore, that could otherwise be prevented.

Children in high schools across America, and parts of the world, are sometimes forced to interact with one another in these aggressive and deceitful ways. The students, instead of learning about who their classmates are as people, get together to discuss how they can trick, capture and eventually “murder” each other. On top of this, when actually following through with their schemes, these affected students learn to plan how exactly they can sneak in “weapons” and how to remain under the radar. Both of these things allowing them to successfully follow through with a crime, simulated or not. “[...] as he paced Pierrepont Street, three water guns shoved inside the pocket of a hoodie.” While playing a simulated water gun “killing” game, that young boy was able to sneak in three weapons, without being caught. Do we really want children learning to hide guns in their clothing? Learning to stake out someone’s house in order to attack them without them knowing? Children learning these skills is not normal and should not be encouraged.

Many may argue that simulated violence in no way relates to real violent tendencies, using the commonality of games that simulate violence (such as video games) to prove that the few who act on those violent urges are a rarity, acting as though the triggered violent thoughts, and possible actions, have to be as extreme as a school shooting. Craig A. Anderson, the director of psychology at “the University of Iowa” agrees that video games do have some impact on violent urges. “there are many factors, including feeling socially isolated, being bullied, and so on, [when it comes to the cause of someone young wanting to hurt others]”. States the professor. He then goes on to add that “[he] thinks it’s clear that violent media is one factor. It’s not the largest factor, but it’s also not the smallest.” Considering that violent simulation games have any sort of impact on the actions of the youth, why are they still made as violent as they are? Even if not playing these crude games only reduces the rate of violence by 0.1%, do we really want to take that chance?

I hope that it is evident that in continuing the play of these games, these students are not being looked out for and that what is best for the student body is not being adhered to. Easily impressionable minds should not be constantly exposed to dangerous situations, simulated or not, as it makes them believe these situations are ordinary. Participating in these games is even worse, as they almost act as a training ground for real assassins, teaching them to plan and follow through with a “kill”. We could have students playing much more well thought out simulation games, ones that do not promote violent behaviours. These students are worth more than that.

By Akanksha