Something scandalous is happening and it needs to stop immediately or else...
So many materials being made out of plastic are being produced daily but so few are going to dumps or recycling centres. So then where are the little styrofoam balls, plastic bags, general litter and also exfoliants in your shower scrubs. There could be many answers to that, but the most common and simplest answer would be: the oceans.
There are about 5 gyres on this planet: the North and South Pacific, the North and South Atlantic Gyres and the Indian Gyre. They are basically ocean currents formed by global wind patterns and Earth’s rotation. These are so immense and powerful that they drive the ‘ocean conveyor belt’ which is basically how the oceans move around the continents. These used to be massive areas of swirling water where the water would get sucked into the bottom. But now, they are swirling garbage patches.
In 1998, Capt. Charles Moore discovered that the North Pacific Gyres had acquired around 18 million tons of plastic. The weight of plastic on the oceans surface was about 6 times as much as the weight of plankton. He deducted that the only reasons landfills weren’t getting filled up to the brim was that most of the plastic waste managed to get sucked into these even vaster gyres. According to Plastic Oceans, we have produced and trashed more plastic into the seas in the last decade then we have produced over the whole of last century. From his travels in the North Pacific, he found out that a fish, only 2.5 inches long, had 84 pieces of plastic.
You might be misunderstanding plastic’s recyclability. Plastics are biodegradable but just not in a practical time frame. Plastics are compounds made of Carbon and Hydrogen. These compounds are extremely hard to break through. Naturally, only UV rays can break these apart. But since so much of the World’s plastic is in water, the plastic will be shielded by the water’s damp and cold conditions. Even after millions of years to come, some plastics may not have decomposed. Those who have, well; they’ll become small granules of plastic pellets that will be just the right size for some innocent sea creature.
According to Mr. Raisdana, he finds the fact that we have trashed more plastic in the last decade then we have produced in the decade before. “Even with all these environmentalist groups, we are still making a ton of plastic. The interesting thing is, even though we have come so far and are always told about how plastic is, we have not really done much about it.” When asked about how he has contributed to it, he says, “I have always taken bags to grocery stores instead of taking the plastic bags and while collecting vegetables. I also try and educate my kids about how the plastic toys that they buy eventually become into waste that goes into the ocean. But, I think everyone has a hand in this.” When asked about what would happen to the plastic if we stopped producing it, he stated “We’re going to need to find a way to collect all the plastic and do something with it. We can’t just pretend there’s no plastic if we can’t see it.” This reveals that even adults struggle to bring about change. Even though we understand about this problem, are we doing much?
Out of 22 students and 1 teacher, only 5 of them knew about gyres, let alone the plastic in them. This raises a serious problem that connects with that Mr. Raisdana talks about. Things that happen beyond our vision and hearing are ignored or often not even cared about. There is still hope, as Mr. Anthony Andrady, a senior research scientist, has pointed out that microbes might be able to evolve and mutate into species that could break down or even better, consume plastics. Till then, all we can do is hope.
A fellow writer, Roshan, also writing about plastics commented on this. “Gyres are natural water systems caused by tectonic plates moving. They can be very dangerous at times. They mostly end up sucking in plastics.” When asked about what the problem here is he stated, “The plastics are killing the ecosystems. The very fish that we eat are eating plastics before being caught in fisher nets. We’re slowly but surely going to run out of clean water at this rate.”
Do we really want this to become of our only planet? Can we contain the throwaway society, or has it become to widespread for anyone to stop? Can we afford this scandal to happen? Are we that willing to lay waste to our home planet? As people have said: “There is no Planet B.”
“All the King’s horses and all the King’s men, will never gather up all the plastic and put the ocean back together again.” by Charles Moore
By Kunal
Showing posts with label Feature Article. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Feature Article. Show all posts
November 3, 2014
Plastic: made to last forever, designed to throw away.
BANG! BANG! BANG!. My friends and I woke up still extremely fatigue from staying up late last night. We look at the clock and see thats its 4:30 am. Still 4 more hours till we were supposed to wake up. I head into the bathroom splash my face with water and change my clothes. We head outside and our teachers signaled us to be quiet and made us follow them down to the beach. There we saw many of the resort staff gathered in a circle looking at something.
When I saw what it was, my digestive system started to churn inside my body. A small baby turtle was stuck inside a plastic bag. The staff didn't waste any time. Even before we came they were already cutting through the plastic bag. Within minutes the turtle was free. They nursed him for a few weeks and let him back into the ocean.
Plastic: made to last forever, designed to throw away.
Plastic is used by all, but it’s thrown away within the same hour. Yet we have taken the convenience of this product too far. According to oceancrusaders.org, 6.4 million pounds of plastic is dumped into the ocean every year. The problem is that petroleum plastic, the type of plastic that is most commonly used in our everyday products, doesn’t biodegrade, and it takes forever to decompose.
Unfortunately thats not our biggest problem. Scientists are now starting to worry that toxics would enter the marine food chain through plastics. According to National Geographic, new studies show that plastic are biodegrading
You might wonder what actually happens to the plastic in the oceans. There are 5 gyres in the ocean. A gyre is a large system of rotating ocean currents and involve large wind movements. Gyres are caused by the Coriolis effect. Gyres act like whirlpools and pull in all the plastic from nearby places and cause them to stay there, creating massive garbage patches, such as the great pacific garbage patch
In 1998, Capt. Charles Moore discovered that the North Pacific Gyres had acquired around 18 million tons of plastic. The weight of plastic on the oceans surface was about 6 times as much as the weight of plankton. He deducted that the only reasons landfills weren’t getting filled up to the brim was that most of the plastic waste managed to get sucked into these even vaster gyres. According to 5gyres.org, 44% of all seabird species, 22% of…Cetaceans, all sea turtle species, and a growing list of fish species have been documented with plastic in or around their bodies. The plastic has caused many marine animals to suffer, due to internal blockages, dehydration, starvation and death.
Unfortunately thats not our biggest problem. Scientists are now starting to worry that toxics would enter the marine food chain through plastics. According to National Geographic, new studies show that plastic are biodegrading that plastics are now degrading faster in water. This sounds like a good thing doesn’t it? Unfortunately as they degrade in the ocean they leach potentially toxic chemicals such as bisphenol A possibly threatening the ocean animals and us. The scientist also figured out that plastic doesn’t degrade faster in hotter temperature but rather in colder temperature, meaning the deeper the plastic is in the sea the faster it will degrade. Since humans tend to consume more of the animals that live deeper in the sea, that means the toxins can now easily get into our bodies.
Yet still most people are not aware about how serious this problem is. Data shows that only 1 in every 5 people know about the gyres across the world and about the toxins in the water. When they mindlessly toss their plastic in the sea, they never realise how much damage they're actually doing to the environment.
Yet might be sitting there wondering what you can do to help end this tragedy. You should start with reducing, reusing, recycling, repurposing, refusing etc. Still if we do that many scientists fear that we there is so much plastic in the gyres already that the damage that is already done might just be too much.
According to Anthony Andrady, a senior researcher scientist there is still hope that microbes could evolve and mutate into species which can break down plastics. Unfortunately there has been no signs of that this maybe happening so until then we will have to keep hoping.
Kunal a fellow writer, also writing about plastics commented on this. “Gyres are natural water systems caused by tectonic plates moving. They can be very dangerous at times. They mostly end up sucking in plastics.” When asked about what the problem here is he stated, “The plastics are killing the ecosystems. The very fish that we eat are eating plastics before being caught in fisher nets. We’re slowly but surely going to run out of clean water at this rate.”
Can we maintain this throwaway culture. At the rate that the plastics are building up, scientists believe that in the next century we will run out of clean water. Unless we start acting, our precious planet will go into an uninhabitable state for most living beings. So act now, and start saving the planet by reusing your plastic bags, and only using plastic which biodegrades.
By Roshan
November 1, 2014
Lacking Water in the Future
While three little kids are brushing their teeth, one kid starts to fight another one in order to get into the first tap to get the water first, but after one fight one, the other try to fight back and then run away leaving the tap open, leaving the water to run all over the floor.
Is this a kind of wasting water? Of course, water is the most important source for us to survive, without water, there would be no other living creatures on the world. So have you ever imagine of a time when people will fight each other for only a glass of water? This is the question to ask when the scientists have claimed that water will be lacked in the near future. But what reasons that inspire scientists to claim like that?
According to CIA source, it reveals that on Earth, the freshwater only makes up just three percent of the water supply. And it becomes more clear that less than one percent is freely available; the rest is tied up in ice, as in icebergs, glaciers, and snowcaps. This means that all of the rivers, streams, lakes, aquifers and groundwater expected to sustain 6,602,224,175 people on Earth.
What caused the water lacking? It will happen because of two important factors:
Is this a kind of wasting water? Of course, water is the most important source for us to survive, without water, there would be no other living creatures on the world. So have you ever imagine of a time when people will fight each other for only a glass of water? This is the question to ask when the scientists have claimed that water will be lacked in the near future. But what reasons that inspire scientists to claim like that?
According to CIA source, it reveals that on Earth, the freshwater only makes up just three percent of the water supply. And it becomes more clear that less than one percent is freely available; the rest is tied up in ice, as in icebergs, glaciers, and snowcaps. This means that all of the rivers, streams, lakes, aquifers and groundwater expected to sustain 6,602,224,175 people on Earth.
What caused the water lacking? It will happen because of two important factors:
Global Warming: It is the most serious environmental issue that the world always concerns about. If the world become hotter and hotter, the water on the surface will dry up quickly. Furthermore, the ice at the Arctic Circles starts to melt.Therefore, in the future, we have only salt water that we can not use. As you have known the first point, the second point also links with the point above.
Deforestation: Based on WWF Survey, it illustrates that about 60 hectares of the world’s rainforest are being destroyed to clear land for cattle, oil rig, and mine. The more trees are destroyed, the less chance the rain will fall. At that time, drought will happen everywhere. And it will have a really bad effect on humans, animals and plants in the world.
Things that is even worse and unbelievable, in 2070:
The people who are 50 years old will look as old as the people who are 85 years old, in addition, they’ll have many serious illnesses because of lacking water in their bodies. All of the people will look as ugly as the zombies. Bodies are full of viruses from the sunlight ( ultra violet), because there is no ozone layer. Life expectancy will be only 35 years.
People will use towel with mineral oil to clean their skin instead of water.
All of the people must shave their hair off, accordingly, they don’t need to wash them by using water.
Everywhere all around us will have no more people like the desert. Employees will work for water instead of money.
Usually people drink at least 8 glasses of water, but at that time, only half a glass of water will be given to each person.
In some countries, where there are still some green zones crossed by rivers, they will be guarded with heavy armed soldiers. Then, water will become a very coveted treasure, even more precious than gold or a 100-carat diamond.
In spite of that, some places like Africa and some parts of some developing countries are facing this unfortunate event. However, why were most of the people enjoying themselves by pouring litres and litres of water on their bodies uselessly at the same time that Africans are lacking clean water? So it indicates that the events described above is likely to happen if we continue this things to happen. Well, not many people ever think about this issue since they live in a place that have plenty of water. But just because they are not involved in this event, and they don’t care about it. However, this idea is totally wrong. Like Bill Gates, CEO of Microsoft and a philanthropist, said that, “ Do we really not care because it doesn’t affect us…? I refuse to sit there and say, Okay, next problems, this one doesn’t bother me. But It does bother me very much! ”. That’s why we cannot just sit and ignore it because it does not bother us. We MUST take actions on it.
So can we do anything to help? Of course, we can!!!!
The people who are 50 years old will look as old as the people who are 85 years old, in addition, they’ll have many serious illnesses because of lacking water in their bodies. All of the people will look as ugly as the zombies. Bodies are full of viruses from the sunlight ( ultra violet), because there is no ozone layer. Life expectancy will be only 35 years.
People will use towel with mineral oil to clean their skin instead of water.
All of the people must shave their hair off, accordingly, they don’t need to wash them by using water.
Everywhere all around us will have no more people like the desert. Employees will work for water instead of money.
Usually people drink at least 8 glasses of water, but at that time, only half a glass of water will be given to each person.
In some countries, where there are still some green zones crossed by rivers, they will be guarded with heavy armed soldiers. Then, water will become a very coveted treasure, even more precious than gold or a 100-carat diamond.
In spite of that, some places like Africa and some parts of some developing countries are facing this unfortunate event. However, why were most of the people enjoying themselves by pouring litres and litres of water on their bodies uselessly at the same time that Africans are lacking clean water? So it indicates that the events described above is likely to happen if we continue this things to happen. Well, not many people ever think about this issue since they live in a place that have plenty of water. But just because they are not involved in this event, and they don’t care about it. However, this idea is totally wrong. Like Bill Gates, CEO of Microsoft and a philanthropist, said that, “ Do we really not care because it doesn’t affect us…? I refuse to sit there and say, Okay, next problems, this one doesn’t bother me. But It does bother me very much! ”. That’s why we cannot just sit and ignore it because it does not bother us. We MUST take actions on it.
So can we do anything to help? Of course, we can!!!!
Stop cutting and start growing more trees, stop polluting the environment, start using public transportation or riding bicycles and try to save water!!!!
By these 5 easy things, if you can do it and continue to do it consistently, you will become one of the hero in this world. You are helping yourself, your family, your friends, your world and everybody!!! So, go and get started!!!
Written by Khantey
By these 5 easy things, if you can do it and continue to do it consistently, you will become one of the hero in this world. You are helping yourself, your family, your friends, your world and everybody!!! So, go and get started!!!
Written by Khantey
October 30, 2014
Are There Any Downsides to Learning an Instrument?
On the 12th of December, around 9pm, the mother of a chinese middle schooler received a call saying her daughter had been accepted to the conservatorium high school of Sydney. The entry auditions for the music school had been very competitive and her daughter was thrilled to have gotten in.The conservatorium high school of Sydney is an australian selective school and like most selective schools, tests are required to be accepted. One being the audition and the other being the WISC IQ test. This reporter was startled to find the well known music school was also in 15th place for the HSC (high school certificate) results the previous year, a surprisingly good achievement for a school not very academically focussed.
Does this show the learning an instrument develops the brain as well? A better questions is, if learning an instrument is only beneficial for the brain why doesn’t everyone do it?
Research shows that in a study in 1993, college students got better results on a spatial reasoning test after listening to mozart, although the reason unknown. Nowadays, this result doesn’t really stand up to scientific scrutiny. Nevertheless more and more schools both private and public schools are including music programs in their schools. New research shows that learning a music instrument from a young age improves reading skills, logical and mathematical reasoning, spatial reasoning, self motivation etc. According to a father to the middle schooler “Learning to play an instrument for a long time and well takes diligence and loads of self motivation. After a certain point most people quit, but those who continue are likelier to succeed later on because of self motivation and being hard working in general.”
According the the stereotype, Asians are smart and exceptional at academics and music. Even though this is a stereotype, it is somewhat true but not because asians are asians.
The actual reason comes embedded into their culture. As written Amy Chua’s article “Why chinese mothers are superior”, ‘In one study of 50 Western American mothers and 48 Chinese immigrant mothers, almost 70% of the Western mothers said either that "stressing academic success is not good for children" or that "parents need to foster the idea that learning is fun." By contrast, roughly 0% of the Chinese mothers felt the same way. Instead, the vast majority of the Chinese mothers said that they believe their children can be "the best" students, that "academic achievement reflects successful parenting," and that if children did not excel at school then there was "a problem" and parents "were not doing their job.".
According to her book “The hymn of the Tiger Mother”, her two daughters were not allowed to have a sleepover, have a playdate, be in a school play, play anything other the violin or piano, not play the violin or piano, get anything less than an A etc. Most of these typical “rules” make it quite hard for her daughters to interact with people socially as studying and playing an instrument to a high level requires a lot of time. Having rules like not being able to have a playdate or a sleepover prevents getting to know fellow students well. Another thing is many of the suicides in China, Hong kong, Singapore and other Asian countries have been caused by academic pressure. The University of Nottingham study of “The mental health support needs of international students (with particular reference to Chinese and Malaysian students)” shows that Chinese and Malaysian students make up the majority of the depressed students and in Yale university, 45% of Asian students had depression symptoms and another 27% suffered from anxiety.
This data proves being extremely competitive and high performing in academics does have problems. Likewise, if one were in a community where everyone participated and competed in high performance music, around the same amount of social pressure would be applied.
All in all, Music is still beneficial for the brain as is learning instruments, but excessive practice can lead to empty social lives, anxiety and possible depression. Next time parents, check if your child is simply whining about not wanting to practice, or expressing hate. It may be expressed in similar words, but the difference can mean a happy child or a miserable one.
Written by Jasmine
Do Digital Devices Cause Bad Grades?
Digital devices has taken a big role in our daily lives from taking a photo to browsing the web. Some of us use our digital devices too much. Since we have digital devices, people spend a lot of their time indoors. Digital devices have influenced us in many ways sometimes it has controlled us. Digital devices could be stopping us from doing homework as other distractions on our laptops could distract us such as games and social media. It seems that many people start to go off task like going to social media when they do homework. Ms Michetti a teacher at UWCSEA said “They are definitely influencing people's lives. I think they amplify what is already there -- if poor habits were already there, they make them worse. If good habits were already there, they make them even better. However, they can also provide opportunities for people to improve their lives if they approach them with the right kind of self-management habits. I don't necessarily think the devices influence people's lives as much as I think they prompt people to influence their own lives.”
It all started when the most used social media was released. These were Facebook and Twitter too begin with. Facebook was released on February 4th 2004 and Twitter was released on 21st March 2006. After all this was created, many people were hooked up to these social media and it made a big impact to us. Then one day smart phones were introduced to these social media. These apps were made mobile so people could see what others were up too even when they weren’t at home. The phone is a really useful tool but now that social media has kicked in, more and more people have been addicted to their phones. 19% of all adult internet users use twitter in January 2014, and 71% of online adults use facebook in September 2013, all this data was conducted by pew research center. Although a teacher that I interviewed disagreed and said that the use of technology for a long period of time doesn’t cause bad grades. Ms Michetti said “I don't actually think it's the devices themselves that lead to poor studies. But if there are poor study habits to begin with, then access to the device can make it worse. So it's very important, IMO, to learn good study habits independent of digital devices. We need to learn to work with them because let's face it, they're not going away. And they can make our lives easier if we know how to manage them. Digital devices can actually improve study habits, but you first have to get the habit in practice before adding / using the device. It's really about using your mind and thinking skills and not expecting a device to do that for you, because it can't.”
In a class of 20 that was surveyed the results of these students were that 7 out of 20 people used 2-3 hrs of digital devices per day and over 3 hours of digital devices per day. Researchers from the Miriam Hospital’s Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine have conducted research and have proven that over use of social media could result to poor grades in school. As many you can see from the survey conducted in the class of 20, more students use 2-3 hrs and over 3 hrs of digital devices daily. These people could have a potential of getting poor marks if they don’t use the time spent on digital devices effectively.
There are many fun activities that you can do that don’t require digital devices such as socializing with friends, or playing sports / doing outdoor activities and many more. Doing these activities and finding ways to study without using digital devices not only could make you healthier and smarter but it could also increase your grades in school. You can even socialise without using digital devices like you could go to the park and meet your friends.
Do you think that digital devices could cause your low grades? If most of your time is spent on social media or video games when you need to study. Then yes maybe you could cause your bad grades. If you use this time to study, it could increase your grades as you get the most out of this time. It is ok to play video games and go on social media but it has to be at the right times like on a weekend or a friday.
If digital devices weren’t introduced imagine what the world would be like today, we wouldn’t be able to code games as we need digital devices to do so. The modern discoveries wouldn’t even be known and it would take forever to make produce a product like bread. There would be no machinery to help factory workers jobs easier. Digital devices shouldn’t be used in the wrong way, be responsible with how you use digital devices. Many people can’t control how long and what they do on digital devices. Ms Michetti said “Lots of people. Most of them are teenagers. But I know a few adults too, who struggle to set boundaries for themselves.” As you can see even adults struggle to set boundaries as Ms Michetti said.
Digital devices helps us in many ways, use it responsibly and it could be a useful tool but use it in a bad way, and would turn from your friend into your enemy.
Written by Dylan
Say No to Pressure
Picture a student that’s sitting or standing but look at their facial expression. It’s full of tiresome, stress and their shoulders are tired of carrying the weight of expectation set by others, parents and themselves. On the other hand think about that one person who is excited to go to school after the long summer break. Who would you rather be? Which do you think is the better way to face school?
“Most parents say the grade doesn’t matter, it’ s all about the effort but it’s not true because when you get a bad grade they never ask about the effort.” said Kiana a student from 8JRa. Most would probably agree with her as some have experienced it and know the agitation of those hypocritical words.
In a society where people are constantly consumed by jobs and work and the measure of your success is the key to any further success, grades seem to matter a great deal to students. However in Middle School do the grades really matter or is it the added pressure of something else? Perhaps maybe the whirlwinds of other people’s success, A’s and 7’s, or is it the competition? Maybe the future you is telling you that the things you do now are going to majorly affect your future. Have you experience any of these things?
Mr. Raisdana, and English teacher in UWCSEA and a parent, stated that pressure should be low for students. “My daughter says that if someone is doing something good, she has to do it the same or better. I don’t know where the pressure is coming from...” and who really does? Is pressure this invisible object that is held and dragged through life with a string that can only loosen or tighten but never be cut?
Even though Mr. Raisdana says that he doesn’t think that pressure is a good way to get his child and students working, as a teacher it’s his job to set deadlines to students and sometimes it is necessary to pressure them because things need to be done so that the student and the rest of the class can continue going forward.
Starting from a young age it is inevitable that you will compete, whether it’s the game of tag or who’s the teacher’s favorite, but there is competition the minute you step out into the world and you figure out that there are other people around you. In most schools grades and report cards are given out in the first grade. Aditi, a grade 8 Student of 8JRa says “There is pressure from the first report card. Your parents see it and you automatically think you have to keep it up or do better in the future.” so is it not such a good idea that report cards are given out to students and their hopeful parents at such an early age?
Needless to say that there is a very large amount of students that feel a lot of pressure coming from their parents but it is definitely not the only source of pressure. A lot of pressure also comes from ourselves. In such a crazy world where you already have pressure that is out of your control, why would you add more to yourself?
Mrs.Weima, a councillor in UWCSEA East, says “A certain amount of pressure could be helpful as students are still developing and their parents are there to guide them. Sometimes parents put pressure because they want to help them get to where they need to go. A lot of the times we don’t feel like doing something like homework but a lot of the times Grade 12 students will come back and be thankful for the pressure their parents gave them.” So the pressure that many students find stressful coming from their family is coming from a good place but sometimes it can get overwhelming. Your parents expect lots from you. You don’t want to let them down but you have other priorities. There comes a time when you don’t want to go to school and learning is a pain in the butt but this is a guide for you and it will help you in the future.
A survey was done that asked 21 students of 8th grade what they thought of when the word pressure was said. Answers included stress, forcing them to do things they don’t want to do, homework and expectations. These words don’t necessarily have a good name to them. The result is a reflection on what this word means to students and how it affects them. Parents and teachers, maybe this is something you might want to think about?
According to Northern Illinois University’s Department of Education, children are more likely to suffer from self-esteem issues and confidence problems if they feel that the parental pressure is too strong. Also if the child experiences too much pressure they might not get adequate sleep affecting their mood and the way they learn. With such expectations and pressure from parents, it could lead to the students cheating or going to caffeinated drink to keep them awake and alert which is not healthy. Adding on Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth says that you should stay away from pushing them too hard on a test but rather encourage them to learn from their test, whether a bad or good grade, so that it becomes a learning experience for both parties.
A lot of parental pressure can be solved if the parents would maybe sit down and talk to their child. Ask them questions like ‘Are you feeling stressed? Pressured? Overworked?’ and you might find yourself getting closer to your child at the same time being a supportive parent that knows how to balance fun with academics. Peer pressure is an inevitable kind of pressure that is mainly out of your control. A lot of the times it will be small things without such a large consequence but make sure to train your brain to know that ‘Yes, I am being peer pressured now. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?’ and make your decision as an independent teen and you can learn from these experiences too. There’s one thing you can control and it’s the pressure you are putting on yourself. When you live in a world where there is so much pressure on you already, why would you put more on yourself? Take a deep breath and pause and realize that sometimes what you are pressuring yourself to do is useless and not the best way to go about things.
“Most parents say the grade doesn’t matter, it’ s all about the effort but it’s not true because when you get a bad grade they never ask about the effort.” said Kiana a student from 8JRa. Most would probably agree with her as some have experienced it and know the agitation of those hypocritical words.
In a society where people are constantly consumed by jobs and work and the measure of your success is the key to any further success, grades seem to matter a great deal to students. However in Middle School do the grades really matter or is it the added pressure of something else? Perhaps maybe the whirlwinds of other people’s success, A’s and 7’s, or is it the competition? Maybe the future you is telling you that the things you do now are going to majorly affect your future. Have you experience any of these things?
Mr. Raisdana, and English teacher in UWCSEA and a parent, stated that pressure should be low for students. “My daughter says that if someone is doing something good, she has to do it the same or better. I don’t know where the pressure is coming from...” and who really does? Is pressure this invisible object that is held and dragged through life with a string that can only loosen or tighten but never be cut?
Even though Mr. Raisdana says that he doesn’t think that pressure is a good way to get his child and students working, as a teacher it’s his job to set deadlines to students and sometimes it is necessary to pressure them because things need to be done so that the student and the rest of the class can continue going forward.
Starting from a young age it is inevitable that you will compete, whether it’s the game of tag or who’s the teacher’s favorite, but there is competition the minute you step out into the world and you figure out that there are other people around you. In most schools grades and report cards are given out in the first grade. Aditi, a grade 8 Student of 8JRa says “There is pressure from the first report card. Your parents see it and you automatically think you have to keep it up or do better in the future.” so is it not such a good idea that report cards are given out to students and their hopeful parents at such an early age?
Needless to say that there is a very large amount of students that feel a lot of pressure coming from their parents but it is definitely not the only source of pressure. A lot of pressure also comes from ourselves. In such a crazy world where you already have pressure that is out of your control, why would you add more to yourself?
Mrs.Weima, a councillor in UWCSEA East, says “A certain amount of pressure could be helpful as students are still developing and their parents are there to guide them. Sometimes parents put pressure because they want to help them get to where they need to go. A lot of the times we don’t feel like doing something like homework but a lot of the times Grade 12 students will come back and be thankful for the pressure their parents gave them.” So the pressure that many students find stressful coming from their family is coming from a good place but sometimes it can get overwhelming. Your parents expect lots from you. You don’t want to let them down but you have other priorities. There comes a time when you don’t want to go to school and learning is a pain in the butt but this is a guide for you and it will help you in the future.
A survey was done that asked 21 students of 8th grade what they thought of when the word pressure was said. Answers included stress, forcing them to do things they don’t want to do, homework and expectations. These words don’t necessarily have a good name to them. The result is a reflection on what this word means to students and how it affects them. Parents and teachers, maybe this is something you might want to think about?
According to Northern Illinois University’s Department of Education, children are more likely to suffer from self-esteem issues and confidence problems if they feel that the parental pressure is too strong. Also if the child experiences too much pressure they might not get adequate sleep affecting their mood and the way they learn. With such expectations and pressure from parents, it could lead to the students cheating or going to caffeinated drink to keep them awake and alert which is not healthy. Adding on Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth says that you should stay away from pushing them too hard on a test but rather encourage them to learn from their test, whether a bad or good grade, so that it becomes a learning experience for both parties.
A lot of parental pressure can be solved if the parents would maybe sit down and talk to their child. Ask them questions like ‘Are you feeling stressed? Pressured? Overworked?’ and you might find yourself getting closer to your child at the same time being a supportive parent that knows how to balance fun with academics. Peer pressure is an inevitable kind of pressure that is mainly out of your control. A lot of the times it will be small things without such a large consequence but make sure to train your brain to know that ‘Yes, I am being peer pressured now. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?’ and make your decision as an independent teen and you can learn from these experiences too. There’s one thing you can control and it’s the pressure you are putting on yourself. When you live in a world where there is so much pressure on you already, why would you put more on yourself? Take a deep breath and pause and realize that sometimes what you are pressuring yourself to do is useless and not the best way to go about things.
Written by Seika
The Builders of Singapore
Living each day risking their lives, with a small budget that we can’t even imagine. Living like ghosts, not getting recognized for how much they give. Their inner rage they can’t express because of how “worthless” they are. These “worthless” people are the builders of singapore, these are the people who work to give Singapore a “good name”. These people are Singapore’s migrant workers.
“People here are nice, but sometimes they would try to intimidate me for no reason…” Anthony Sega a migrant worker from India. Over social media, insults of migrant workers flood throughout the web. Messages such as, “Those Banglas on the street smell so bad…” were found throughout Facebook all over the place. Through these messages, it reveals that we’ve completely lost respect for our migrant workers who builds Singapore for us.
The total amount of migrant workers currently in Singapore is around a million people people. All these people help build our shops, homes, schools, etc… Earning about 450-650 SGD monthly. Most migrant workers send their salary back to their families, which leaves a small amount for themselves to fulfill their needs. “It would be enough for their families to live, but since Singapore isn’t such a cheap place to live in, it would be hard for themselves to get what they need...” Dylan Tsao, UWCSEA G8 student.
Do migrant workers harm us? Do they do something to annoy us? The answer to that is no. They basically work to build our homes, the malls we go to shop and the school we learn at. Let’s try putting ourselves in the place of being a migrant worker for a day. ‘Clink, clank!’ is all we would hear, metal’s colliding, workers shouting and screaming here and there, if we look down its a stairway to hell, and looking at the bright sun that tells us there’s still hours left of work. It’s finally over, it’s time for dinner. We look at our wallet and all we see is a ragged little coin and a 2 dollar note. Enough for a luxurious buffet dinner? Perhaps just a few hundred short.
Try to imagine this. If migrant workers were dressed properly, were clean and were “white” would we respect them? If yes, why? It’s probably because they wouldn’t smell bad, they won’t look bad and they just look like a “normal” person. That means we’re judging them by how they look. Just because of how they look doesn’t make them a alien. They are still human.
It’s a good thing to have migrant workers come over to Singapore to help build the community. Both parties can benefit from each other, just that some aren’t treated the way they should be with the things they are doing. It’s true that they look different from most of us, different skin tone, their way of living, their culture, etc. People in public are disgusted by them because of how they smell and look. It seems that just because they’re different from us, we’re forgetting about how we should be thankful for them. We have to start respecting them for what they do and not hate because of how they look. Just like the saying, “Never judge a book by its cover…”
Written by Youngchan
“People here are nice, but sometimes they would try to intimidate me for no reason…” Anthony Sega a migrant worker from India. Over social media, insults of migrant workers flood throughout the web. Messages such as, “Those Banglas on the street smell so bad…” were found throughout Facebook all over the place. Through these messages, it reveals that we’ve completely lost respect for our migrant workers who builds Singapore for us.
The total amount of migrant workers currently in Singapore is around a million people people. All these people help build our shops, homes, schools, etc… Earning about 450-650 SGD monthly. Most migrant workers send their salary back to their families, which leaves a small amount for themselves to fulfill their needs. “It would be enough for their families to live, but since Singapore isn’t such a cheap place to live in, it would be hard for themselves to get what they need...” Dylan Tsao, UWCSEA G8 student.
Do migrant workers harm us? Do they do something to annoy us? The answer to that is no. They basically work to build our homes, the malls we go to shop and the school we learn at. Let’s try putting ourselves in the place of being a migrant worker for a day. ‘Clink, clank!’ is all we would hear, metal’s colliding, workers shouting and screaming here and there, if we look down its a stairway to hell, and looking at the bright sun that tells us there’s still hours left of work. It’s finally over, it’s time for dinner. We look at our wallet and all we see is a ragged little coin and a 2 dollar note. Enough for a luxurious buffet dinner? Perhaps just a few hundred short.
Try to imagine this. If migrant workers were dressed properly, were clean and were “white” would we respect them? If yes, why? It’s probably because they wouldn’t smell bad, they won’t look bad and they just look like a “normal” person. That means we’re judging them by how they look. Just because of how they look doesn’t make them a alien. They are still human.
It’s a good thing to have migrant workers come over to Singapore to help build the community. Both parties can benefit from each other, just that some aren’t treated the way they should be with the things they are doing. It’s true that they look different from most of us, different skin tone, their way of living, their culture, etc. People in public are disgusted by them because of how they smell and look. It seems that just because they’re different from us, we’re forgetting about how we should be thankful for them. We have to start respecting them for what they do and not hate because of how they look. Just like the saying, “Never judge a book by its cover…”
Written by Youngchan
October 29, 2014
Invasion of Privacy: Entertaining or Despicable?
Paparazzi are notorious for invading privacy. These days, the world is so desperate for some sort of entertainment, that magazines and celebrity gossip sites pay people to invade celebrities’ privacy and document their private lives for the world to see. The question, though, is why nothing has happened to change this. Why don’t celebrities get to have their privacy? It’s a human right, and just because they’re famous and known world wide, doesn’t mean that their privacy should be sacrificed.
People look to magazines to entertain themselves, because why else would they enjoy looking at pictures of bewildered celebrities, trying to hide themselves from the cameras which would document whatever embarrassing deed they were doing? This is a sick form of entertainment, as you are basically amusing yourself by laughing at someone else’s mess.
Kate Middleton, wife to Prince William, Duchess of Cambridge, was a victim of the invading cameras while sunbathing topless in a family holiday home in France. She was on private property when the picture was taken, from the nearby highway with a long lens camera. The Royal couple were forced to take legal action against the French magazine which had the photos.
By not supporting gossip/rumour sites, you can send out a message to all the paparazzi: stop. When you see an image plastered on the front of multiple magazines and tabloids, put yourself in the subject’s place - what if that was you, your name in the headlines, caught in an embarrassing moment, shielding your face from the world? Encourage others to not purchase magazines that display images of celebrities trying to hide themselves, because that means that the picture was taken without the person’s consent, and by buying it, you would be telling the paparazzi to continue. So, in an effort to end this, say no to the websites and tabloids publishing embarrassing photos, and find another way to entertain yourself, instead of looking at humiliating pictures of other people.
Stephen Price, a lawyer from New Zealand, writes on his website about the invasion of privacy of celebrities. He states, “Public figures have lower expectations of privacy, especially if they are exercising public power.” Because of this, the public figures’ families and known associates also need to lower their expectations, “But this cannot be taken too far.” Price explains how stating a celebrity as a ‘role model’ does not mean that their confidentiality should be compromised, unless they have done something truly serious or deceptive.
Elizabeth Knight-Hassell, an 8th grade student, says, “People are so needy for gossip and knowing about other people’s lives and it’s not right, because on the other side, what do the other people feel?” Her opinion on this matter indicates that while it can be entertaining to see celebrities living their lives, invading their privacy is taking it too far.
Elizabeth Knight-Hassell, an 8th grade student, says, “People are so needy for gossip and knowing about other people’s lives and it’s not right, because on the other side, what do the other people feel?” Her opinion on this matter indicates that while it can be entertaining to see celebrities living their lives, invading their privacy is taking it too far.
People look to magazines to entertain themselves, because why else would they enjoy looking at pictures of bewildered celebrities, trying to hide themselves from the cameras which would document whatever embarrassing deed they were doing? This is a sick form of entertainment, as you are basically amusing yourself by laughing at someone else’s mess.
Kate Middleton, wife to Prince William, Duchess of Cambridge, was a victim of the invading cameras while sunbathing topless in a family holiday home in France. She was on private property when the picture was taken, from the nearby highway with a long lens camera. The Royal couple were forced to take legal action against the French magazine which had the photos.
By not supporting gossip/rumour sites, you can send out a message to all the paparazzi: stop. When you see an image plastered on the front of multiple magazines and tabloids, put yourself in the subject’s place - what if that was you, your name in the headlines, caught in an embarrassing moment, shielding your face from the world? Encourage others to not purchase magazines that display images of celebrities trying to hide themselves, because that means that the picture was taken without the person’s consent, and by buying it, you would be telling the paparazzi to continue. So, in an effort to end this, say no to the websites and tabloids publishing embarrassing photos, and find another way to entertain yourself, instead of looking at humiliating pictures of other people.
By Kelly
Behind the Beat
She’s not allowed to take off her sunglasses.
Rape, abuse and drugs. These are some of the last things that come to mind when thinking of KPOP. However, as harsh as reality is, behind the dyed hair and dynamic music videos is a world of disturbing scandals. Not only are these young idols pushed by their seniors in the company to gain fame, they are also pushed into things which are morally wrong such as, stripping, drinking, drugs, and sex at a young age.
Another famous case of mistreatment in the Hallyu industry is that of two ex-members of one of KPOP's biggest names, a Korean-Chinese boy band, EXO. Lu Han and Wu Yi Fan were in the Mandarin subgroup of EXO, EXO-M. Luhan and Kris, both Chinese members from EXO sued their entertainment agency to the same reasons, "unfair treatment, forced schedules, financial problems". Lu Han also added on his case, “the discrimination between the Chinese and Korean members.” Luhan and Kris both suffered from medical issues, and were still forced to continue working their strict schedules as well as being treated prejudicedly.
The typical schedule of a KPOP idol starts with school in the morning (if applicable), then the daily practice regimen, which can last up to 16 hours daily. This consists of dance practice, vocal lessons and language lessons every day of the week. If the group is shooting a music video, the shooting usually takes a endless 24 hour day. A star said, “If I were lucky, I’d get 2-4 hours of sleep.” The singers only a small percentage of their earnings from their music, the rest all going to the company.
On the 18th of September 2014, E News released a story focusing about lawsuit from a young trainee whose company’s CEO had constantly sexually abused him throughout his years in the company (name of the company concealed for the trainee’s safety). The trainee had mentioned that, "They [the company workers] rented a room to drink for one of the staff members birthday and had a male trainee perform strip shows while girls poured drinks on him and touched him inappropriately." The trainee later mentioned that the reason he did not quit was because of his will to become an idol, ”I have to do what I’m told by my company, and if I don’t they will release me. So [I] had no choice but to do it,”
In a recent survey conducted by a popular children’s internet portal in Korea, the results showed that 41.6% of the 10,487 children (or 4,364 children) wanted to be singers. This data shows that many adults and children have fallen for the illusion of Korean pop music. “It makes me feel sad that people are being treated this way just so that they can "entertain" people,” Russell Koh, an avid KPOP fan says, “I do feel guilty in a way, I feel guilty and sad because i know these artists are being treated badly but i still listen to their music.” Another KPOP fan, Sunyoung Cho, takes a strong stand as well, knowing how these trainees are treated, “it makes me feel like not listening to KPOP sings and just shutting myself from KPOP because it’s embarrassing that my country is just treating their young people like dirt.”
It’s not possible to get the whole world to stop listening to KPOP, but there is something we can do to help. Share this article and help people become more aware of what is under the surface of KPOP. Promote the awareness of a cause that is morally wrong. We can sign this petition to help promote a better living condition for Korean idols. Tell the world you’re not happy with they way these stars are treated. After all, they are human too.
Singer Natasha Low tells the interviewer from a local newspaper. She’s not allowed to take off her sunglasses because of the chance of someone clicking an unflattering picture of her. This is not an uncommon rule in this booming industry. Celebrities in this business are clearly told what they can and cannot do, what is right and what is wrong, and who and what they are. Once these hopeful stars sign their contracts, they find themselves as nothing more than pawns in a game of fame and fortune, it’s the survival of the fittest, it’s a game we call KPOP.
Bright lights, catchy beats, and extraordinary dance moves, those are the first things that come to mind when the topic of Korean pop music, commonly referred as KPOP or Hallyu (한류). In this rapidly growing industry, worth US$30 million, there is a side that most people are unaware of; a side many fans choose to overlook: the dark side of South Korean Pop music.
Rape, abuse and drugs. These are some of the last things that come to mind when thinking of KPOP. However, as harsh as reality is, behind the dyed hair and dynamic music videos is a world of disturbing scandals. Not only are these young idols pushed by their seniors in the company to gain fame, they are also pushed into things which are morally wrong such as, stripping, drinking, drugs, and sex at a young age.
Another famous case of mistreatment in the Hallyu industry is that of two ex-members of one of KPOP's biggest names, a Korean-Chinese boy band, EXO. Lu Han and Wu Yi Fan were in the Mandarin subgroup of EXO, EXO-M. Luhan and Kris, both Chinese members from EXO sued their entertainment agency to the same reasons, "unfair treatment, forced schedules, financial problems". Lu Han also added on his case, “the discrimination between the Chinese and Korean members.” Luhan and Kris both suffered from medical issues, and were still forced to continue working their strict schedules as well as being treated prejudicedly.
The typical schedule of a KPOP idol starts with school in the morning (if applicable), then the daily practice regimen, which can last up to 16 hours daily. This consists of dance practice, vocal lessons and language lessons every day of the week. If the group is shooting a music video, the shooting usually takes a endless 24 hour day. A star said, “If I were lucky, I’d get 2-4 hours of sleep.” The singers only a small percentage of their earnings from their music, the rest all going to the company.
On the 18th of September 2014, E News released a story focusing about lawsuit from a young trainee whose company’s CEO had constantly sexually abused him throughout his years in the company (name of the company concealed for the trainee’s safety). The trainee had mentioned that, "They [the company workers] rented a room to drink for one of the staff members birthday and had a male trainee perform strip shows while girls poured drinks on him and touched him inappropriately." The trainee later mentioned that the reason he did not quit was because of his will to become an idol, ”I have to do what I’m told by my company, and if I don’t they will release me. So [I] had no choice but to do it,”
In a recent survey conducted by a popular children’s internet portal in Korea, the results showed that 41.6% of the 10,487 children (or 4,364 children) wanted to be singers. This data shows that many adults and children have fallen for the illusion of Korean pop music. “It makes me feel sad that people are being treated this way just so that they can "entertain" people,” Russell Koh, an avid KPOP fan says, “I do feel guilty in a way, I feel guilty and sad because i know these artists are being treated badly but i still listen to their music.” Another KPOP fan, Sunyoung Cho, takes a strong stand as well, knowing how these trainees are treated, “it makes me feel like not listening to KPOP sings and just shutting myself from KPOP because it’s embarrassing that my country is just treating their young people like dirt.”
It’s not possible to get the whole world to stop listening to KPOP, but there is something we can do to help. Share this article and help people become more aware of what is under the surface of KPOP. Promote the awareness of a cause that is morally wrong. We can sign this petition to help promote a better living condition for Korean idols. Tell the world you’re not happy with they way these stars are treated. After all, they are human too.
By Mehak
October 28, 2014
Barbie: Your Implicit Worst Nightmare
The 5 year old girls stared at the moving screen with wonder. Mouths open and eyes glued as Ashley Tisdale strutted up and down the stage singing ‘Bop to the top’ from High School Musical. “She’s so pretty,” one of the girls managed to say, her heart beating fast, as the excitement grew within her. “When I grow up, I want to be just like her!” another one exclaimed. The girls were packed tightly together sitting on a black futon in the living room. They had closed the curtains to make it seem more like a movie theatre and were fidgeting in their seats, like any other 5 years olds would. “Don’t forget, shes so popular too,” said the third little girl. And just like that, Sharpay Evans became these girl’s role model, not because of her acting skills or the fact that she could sing well, but purely for the fact that she was popular and pretty.
It turns out this was not an isolated incident. These days media tends to corrupt young girls minds and snatch away their childhood by shaping them to believe that the only way to be happy, is to be perfect. Sadly they are not just being told this by TV shows and movies but also by their best friends, their dolls. To girls, dolls are everything. Girls have to take care them, yet the doll is still their role model. Girls spend countless hours playing with their dolls and it is known that the more time you spend with something the more influence it has on you. But what happens when that influence the dolls give are negative?
Bratz dolls come with high fashion clothes and accessories, that include, high heels, purses, makeup and even fashion magazines. The slogans that come with the dolls are definitely worse. They say things like “passion for fashion”, “above all else be beautiful” and even their sportz bratz says “It’s not about how you play the game, its about how good you look when you win”. There is even a Bratz boyz line of dolls which are supposedly the Bratz boyfriends. And even the Baby Bratz comes with studded earrings, manicured nails and designer diapers. Do we really want young girls wearing thick makeup, high heels and having boyfriends? I don’t think so.
Now lets not forget the worlds favourite doll, barbie. You're probably remembering all those times that barbie helped you get through those rough primary school years, but did you know all the harmful effects barbie was leaving on you? The average girls, aged 3-11 owns around 10 barbies and as mentioned before the more time you spend with something the more impact it leaves on you. Barbie has had a countless number of jobs in the past years including, teachers, doctors and even a army officer but yet what is her most famous and advertised look? A skinny teenage fashion designer. In 1965 Mattel came out with a ‘slumber party barbie’. This barbie came with a weighing scale set to 110 lbs as well as a book on how to lose weight, which said things like ‘Don’t eat’.
In the US there are approximately 5 million females under the age of 20 who have eating disorders. Out of that most people said they became conscious about their weight between the ages 4 and 6 and that their dolls had some impact on them. Little girls spend hours putting on makeup, ruining their hair with dyes and curling irons and even pleading their parents to buy them the trendiest clothes. In a survey of 9 - 10 year olds, 40% said that they had tried to lose weight. Of course this doesn’t just end there.
It is known that kids minds are more open and can be easily molded into acting or thinking a certain way. It is also known that the things you learn when you are younger stick to you forever, especially when you see them throughout your life. This is exactly what is happening to young girls now. It just moves from the perfect barbie dolls to the to the perfect models on posters and magazines.
Blayke Roberts a model for the ‘healthy is the new skinny’ campaign said, “People kept saying, ‘oh you won’t fit into that, i’ll just find someone else’ and hearing that everyday and seeing all these other perfect models every day really gets to you. I used to think maybe I am too ugly and fat for this. I went to extreme measures, like eating 700 calories a day, running over three miles a day and I eventually became so sick.” This is just one out of many examples of girls who have been harshly affected by the media around her. And all of this implicitly began with those perfect little dolls and perfect girls on TV.
Another woman in the UK, named Sarah Burge spent over 1 million dollars to achieve the barbie look and currently spends over 10,000 thousands dollars a year to maintain that look. As you can tell this all started by her playing with her little barbie dolls.
Adding to that, another negative impact caused by the media is the expectations. According to Akanksha Shukla, a grade 8 student, “In a lot of shows, the actors choose to play younger roles than they actually are. So even now when I’m older, when I look at TV shows and someone’s playing a 14 year old, they are not going to look 14, they look 16. And then I look at myself and say, I’m 14 but compared to them I look about 4. I don’t dress the way they do but I feel, should I be dressing they way they are? The idea that they paint is that you have to pretty, popular and somehow manage to stay smart and when I was younger I felt like I had to have that one best friend and I had to have a boyfriend and I had to have all these things and if I didn’t I wasn't a real teenager. It’s not always true, just the media makes it seem like that.”
Akanksha’s comments reminds us on how many mind games the media can play on a young girl's mind. It can make you doubt yourself, want to change yourself and creates expectations that are beyond reachable for the average person. Do we really want this to be what is going on in little girls heads?
Do you remember at the start of this article there were three little girls watching high school musical and wishing they were Sharpay. Well one of those girls was this reporter. Young girls don’t realize what is happening to them while it is happening to them. That is why we need to make everyone aware of the negative impacts media is leaving on little girls. I was lucky enough to have heard a talk from Dannielle Miller who inspired me to take a stand. Dannielle Miller is feminist, counselor and presenter of self esteem workshops for girls. According to her, here are some solutions to this horrifying problem.
The first thing you should do is deconstruct the media. This means that you should look at it from a critical angle and start a conversation with your friends or family about what it really means. Another thing you can do is reassure young girls. Go out and let them know what the media is actually doing and make them aware. If we can stop this problem right at the source, it could actually save many girls from disaster. The third thing you could do is connect with other like- minded girls. I’m pretty sure you would be able to find a couple girls that care about this issue and then don’t forget to speak up. Your voice is a powerful tool and if everyone was aware about what was going on, I could assure you that there would be change, and there needs to be.
Written by Aditi
It turns out this was not an isolated incident. These days media tends to corrupt young girls minds and snatch away their childhood by shaping them to believe that the only way to be happy, is to be perfect. Sadly they are not just being told this by TV shows and movies but also by their best friends, their dolls. To girls, dolls are everything. Girls have to take care them, yet the doll is still their role model. Girls spend countless hours playing with their dolls and it is known that the more time you spend with something the more influence it has on you. But what happens when that influence the dolls give are negative?
Bratz dolls come with high fashion clothes and accessories, that include, high heels, purses, makeup and even fashion magazines. The slogans that come with the dolls are definitely worse. They say things like “passion for fashion”, “above all else be beautiful” and even their sportz bratz says “It’s not about how you play the game, its about how good you look when you win”. There is even a Bratz boyz line of dolls which are supposedly the Bratz boyfriends. And even the Baby Bratz comes with studded earrings, manicured nails and designer diapers. Do we really want young girls wearing thick makeup, high heels and having boyfriends? I don’t think so.
Now lets not forget the worlds favourite doll, barbie. You're probably remembering all those times that barbie helped you get through those rough primary school years, but did you know all the harmful effects barbie was leaving on you? The average girls, aged 3-11 owns around 10 barbies and as mentioned before the more time you spend with something the more impact it leaves on you. Barbie has had a countless number of jobs in the past years including, teachers, doctors and even a army officer but yet what is her most famous and advertised look? A skinny teenage fashion designer. In 1965 Mattel came out with a ‘slumber party barbie’. This barbie came with a weighing scale set to 110 lbs as well as a book on how to lose weight, which said things like ‘Don’t eat’.
In the US there are approximately 5 million females under the age of 20 who have eating disorders. Out of that most people said they became conscious about their weight between the ages 4 and 6 and that their dolls had some impact on them. Little girls spend hours putting on makeup, ruining their hair with dyes and curling irons and even pleading their parents to buy them the trendiest clothes. In a survey of 9 - 10 year olds, 40% said that they had tried to lose weight. Of course this doesn’t just end there.
It is known that kids minds are more open and can be easily molded into acting or thinking a certain way. It is also known that the things you learn when you are younger stick to you forever, especially when you see them throughout your life. This is exactly what is happening to young girls now. It just moves from the perfect barbie dolls to the to the perfect models on posters and magazines.
Blayke Roberts a model for the ‘healthy is the new skinny’ campaign said, “People kept saying, ‘oh you won’t fit into that, i’ll just find someone else’ and hearing that everyday and seeing all these other perfect models every day really gets to you. I used to think maybe I am too ugly and fat for this. I went to extreme measures, like eating 700 calories a day, running over three miles a day and I eventually became so sick.” This is just one out of many examples of girls who have been harshly affected by the media around her. And all of this implicitly began with those perfect little dolls and perfect girls on TV.
Another woman in the UK, named Sarah Burge spent over 1 million dollars to achieve the barbie look and currently spends over 10,000 thousands dollars a year to maintain that look. As you can tell this all started by her playing with her little barbie dolls.
Adding to that, another negative impact caused by the media is the expectations. According to Akanksha Shukla, a grade 8 student, “In a lot of shows, the actors choose to play younger roles than they actually are. So even now when I’m older, when I look at TV shows and someone’s playing a 14 year old, they are not going to look 14, they look 16. And then I look at myself and say, I’m 14 but compared to them I look about 4. I don’t dress the way they do but I feel, should I be dressing they way they are? The idea that they paint is that you have to pretty, popular and somehow manage to stay smart and when I was younger I felt like I had to have that one best friend and I had to have a boyfriend and I had to have all these things and if I didn’t I wasn't a real teenager. It’s not always true, just the media makes it seem like that.”
Akanksha’s comments reminds us on how many mind games the media can play on a young girl's mind. It can make you doubt yourself, want to change yourself and creates expectations that are beyond reachable for the average person. Do we really want this to be what is going on in little girls heads?
Do you remember at the start of this article there were three little girls watching high school musical and wishing they were Sharpay. Well one of those girls was this reporter. Young girls don’t realize what is happening to them while it is happening to them. That is why we need to make everyone aware of the negative impacts media is leaving on little girls. I was lucky enough to have heard a talk from Dannielle Miller who inspired me to take a stand. Dannielle Miller is feminist, counselor and presenter of self esteem workshops for girls. According to her, here are some solutions to this horrifying problem.
The first thing you should do is deconstruct the media. This means that you should look at it from a critical angle and start a conversation with your friends or family about what it really means. Another thing you can do is reassure young girls. Go out and let them know what the media is actually doing and make them aware. If we can stop this problem right at the source, it could actually save many girls from disaster. The third thing you could do is connect with other like- minded girls. I’m pretty sure you would be able to find a couple girls that care about this issue and then don’t forget to speak up. Your voice is a powerful tool and if everyone was aware about what was going on, I could assure you that there would be change, and there needs to be.
Written by Aditi
The Computer; Good or Bad?
You walk up the stairs from the bus bay. Go straight. It seems to be that every morning you hear the endless chatter of Middle School students sitting on the benches near the Nurses office gossiping about the latest gadget. Even on a gloomy Monday morning, you hear the tip tap sounds of the keyboard, students talking about who won the latest cricket match while watching highlights on their computers.
Technology impacts all of us. There is no denial about that. We use it for work, school and for leisure at home. The computer is for sure one of the most used gadgets ever. Since the time that the computer was invented, no ones life has stayed the same. Take Apple for instance, they sell their products for ridiculous prices but we still have the ‘need’ to buy the latest thing. That ‘need’ is what drastically changed us all.
UWCSEA has its own views of technology. For homework, students use purely their laptops, as that is a way to advance into a 100% tech school. However, there is a downside. Students get highly distracted with their laptops in front of them. It seems to be that there is no real way to get rid of the distraction.
Roshan Arun Kumar, a grade 8 student was interviewed by this reporter about distractions and ‘gaming’ on the laptops in the Middle School. Roshan claims that he spends the same amount of time gaming as he spends on a social media website. He said, ‘ Every week, I spend about 2-3 hours on social media, same with the amount of time I game a week. I obviously spend more time doing work on my laptop than gaming and social media combined as we use our laptops on a daily basis. A computer seems to be such a big part of all of our lives, I probably couldn’t last too long without one.’
Research has shown us that technology has both a positive and a negative effect on our lives. On the positive side, it is easier to access things and you can do so much more than what you could do on pen and paper. On the negative side, it opens up a world of distractions which is easily accessible with just a few taps of the keyboard. Also, by 2010, 97% of all schools in America had access to Internet Connectivity. This means that the 97% of schools in America believed that technology is the way to go.
All in all, technology has by far helped our lives in ways that were not imaginable before the invention of the first computer. The matter of addiction to our laptops isn’t manageable by others, in the end, it comes down to you. It’s all about self-control.
Technology impacts all of us. There is no denial about that. We use it for work, school and for leisure at home. The computer is for sure one of the most used gadgets ever. Since the time that the computer was invented, no ones life has stayed the same. Take Apple for instance, they sell their products for ridiculous prices but we still have the ‘need’ to buy the latest thing. That ‘need’ is what drastically changed us all.
UWCSEA has its own views of technology. For homework, students use purely their laptops, as that is a way to advance into a 100% tech school. However, there is a downside. Students get highly distracted with their laptops in front of them. It seems to be that there is no real way to get rid of the distraction.
Roshan Arun Kumar, a grade 8 student was interviewed by this reporter about distractions and ‘gaming’ on the laptops in the Middle School. Roshan claims that he spends the same amount of time gaming as he spends on a social media website. He said, ‘ Every week, I spend about 2-3 hours on social media, same with the amount of time I game a week. I obviously spend more time doing work on my laptop than gaming and social media combined as we use our laptops on a daily basis. A computer seems to be such a big part of all of our lives, I probably couldn’t last too long without one.’
Research has shown us that technology has both a positive and a negative effect on our lives. On the positive side, it is easier to access things and you can do so much more than what you could do on pen and paper. On the negative side, it opens up a world of distractions which is easily accessible with just a few taps of the keyboard. Also, by 2010, 97% of all schools in America had access to Internet Connectivity. This means that the 97% of schools in America believed that technology is the way to go.
All in all, technology has by far helped our lives in ways that were not imaginable before the invention of the first computer. The matter of addiction to our laptops isn’t manageable by others, in the end, it comes down to you. It’s all about self-control.
Written by Arjun
Life Saving Devices Not Being Worn
Students sprinting to the bus, after hearing the deafening buzz of the school bell in the hope of getting the desirable back seats. Once the students are all sat, the bus aunty comes through the aisle and suddenly, some students rush to put on their seatbelts while others need a reminder. But when there is no bus aunty spying on them, the seat belts become unbuckled and unclicked.
“There are many reasons why many people don’t wear seatbelts while riding,” says Rodney Mesriani, founder of the Mesriani Law Group which specializes in personal injury, employment and labor, social security and disability law. “First of all, drivers and passengers think that wearing a seatbelt is not that important, especially when driving in short distances or when the traffic is visibly light. Also, they tend to forget to wear them, especially when they are on the rush. Another reason why people don’t wear seatbelts is because wearing a seatbelt for them is very uncomfortable as it is too tight and wrinkles their clothes. But the reason why most teens don’t wear their seatbelt is because they say it’s not a “cool” thing to do.”
A recent survey of UWCSEA school bus, A31 shows that 9 out of 10 middle and high school students do not wear their seatbelts while on the bus. “I didn’t wear my seatbelt because I feel there is already the handrest protecting me from falling onto the floor and I’m not going to bang my head on the seat in front of me as I’m leaning back.” says Adhvay Krishnan, a 7th grade busrider. “Also, it makes my neck feel uncomfortable and I’ve heard that buses are designed so that seatbelts are unnecessary.” But when explained to him that even though buses were designed so that seatbelts aren’t needed, many students seriously injure themselves because of not wearing seatbelts. Responding to this, Adhvay says, “You know what another problem is? Half of these seatbelts don’t even work, see?” showing his broken seat belt.
Perhaps the people who are responsible for students not wearing seat belts may not necessarily be the students themselves but the transport department of UWCSEA allowing school buses with broken seat belts to transport students. For the immediate future, UWCSEA can start to check the school buses that are used currently for broken seat belts. Furthermore, students themselves should start to learn the dangers of not wearing their seat belt and make wearing their seat belts a habit. Sahil Parokkaran, a grade 8 students at UWCSEA Dover always wears his seatbelt when in a taxi and a bus says, “I always wear my seatbelt when using the taxi or the school bus as I’ve learnt the hard way. About a year ago, I was riding a cab when it crashed and I hit my head against the seat in front of me as I wasn’t wearing my seatbelt. I could have been seriously injured if the driver was going a little faster.”
If you don’t want to learn to wear your seatbelt the hard way, the next time you travel, make sure your seatbelt is clicked. Simple.
“There are many reasons why many people don’t wear seatbelts while riding,” says Rodney Mesriani, founder of the Mesriani Law Group which specializes in personal injury, employment and labor, social security and disability law. “First of all, drivers and passengers think that wearing a seatbelt is not that important, especially when driving in short distances or when the traffic is visibly light. Also, they tend to forget to wear them, especially when they are on the rush. Another reason why people don’t wear seatbelts is because wearing a seatbelt for them is very uncomfortable as it is too tight and wrinkles their clothes. But the reason why most teens don’t wear their seatbelt is because they say it’s not a “cool” thing to do.”
A recent survey of UWCSEA school bus, A31 shows that 9 out of 10 middle and high school students do not wear their seatbelts while on the bus. “I didn’t wear my seatbelt because I feel there is already the handrest protecting me from falling onto the floor and I’m not going to bang my head on the seat in front of me as I’m leaning back.” says Adhvay Krishnan, a 7th grade busrider. “Also, it makes my neck feel uncomfortable and I’ve heard that buses are designed so that seatbelts are unnecessary.” But when explained to him that even though buses were designed so that seatbelts aren’t needed, many students seriously injure themselves because of not wearing seatbelts. Responding to this, Adhvay says, “You know what another problem is? Half of these seatbelts don’t even work, see?” showing his broken seat belt.
Perhaps the people who are responsible for students not wearing seat belts may not necessarily be the students themselves but the transport department of UWCSEA allowing school buses with broken seat belts to transport students. For the immediate future, UWCSEA can start to check the school buses that are used currently for broken seat belts. Furthermore, students themselves should start to learn the dangers of not wearing their seat belt and make wearing their seat belts a habit. Sahil Parokkaran, a grade 8 students at UWCSEA Dover always wears his seatbelt when in a taxi and a bus says, “I always wear my seatbelt when using the taxi or the school bus as I’ve learnt the hard way. About a year ago, I was riding a cab when it crashed and I hit my head against the seat in front of me as I wasn’t wearing my seatbelt. I could have been seriously injured if the driver was going a little faster.”
If you don’t want to learn to wear your seatbelt the hard way, the next time you travel, make sure your seatbelt is clicked. Simple.
Written by Harit
Behind the facade of KPOP
It's not as it seems to be. Smiles and all, from cute to emotional and serious dancing skills. Because when one goes deeper into the world of Kpop, one will see more.
On December 21st, 2009. Han Geng, a member of Super Junior filed a lawsuit against SM Entertainment, the record label he worked for. “The most important thing to me was making money so my parents could live comfortably, and that was also the greatest motive.” However, after he debuted, he came across a number of difficult situations.
“I was not able to stand on stage even after debuting. I was the first foreign celebrity to debut in Korea so the law was not perfect. I could not film commercials and could not participate in certain portions of the schedule. I felt like I had lost all hope. I cried performing 'Twins' with the Super Junior members. I received a payment of 4000 yuan ($650 USD) my first year. I gathered money like it was life or death because seeing my mother suffer made my heart ache.”
Han Geng’s first difficulty was already a burden to him. SM was unfair to him, not giving him any lines and not allowing him to shoot commercials. In Super Junior’s first top single, Sorry Sorry; Han Geng does not even receive a one line solo. It’s either singing with everyone or one line he shares with Kangin and Kyuhyun.
When Super Junior were going to go on the red carpet when Han Geng fell ill. He had to be treated with saline solution. It is known to be dangerous to have a large dose of saline solution but time was running out and Super Junior’s CEO said to give a larger dose to Han Geng. When the time of the red carpet was a few minutes away, the CEO of Super Junior just yanked out the needle and forced Han Geng to walk the red carpet, almost causing him to faint. Han Geng then decided that this was too much and quit Super Junior.
But this wasn't the end.
Kris, a member of the boy group EXO which was also under SM Entertainment, filed a lawsuit against SM, saying he was treated unfairly, being overworked an racism China and Korea. Kris left just when their new single Overdoes came out and fans worried that it would affect the sales. According to www.hellokpop.com, SM later reported that Exo was to have their first world tour, the lost planet. However, they had lost contact with Kris and they were unsure if he was to perform in the tour. Kris never showed up.
Exo members started complaining saying that Kris was betraying Exo. Exo member Tao left a weibo message to Exo fans apologizing and asking fans not to give up on Exo. “We won’t give up because one person left us, we will work harder and become stronger than before. I feel really grateful in this moment. That’s why I want to work and practice twice as hard. I believe nothing can bring us down.” Tao also spoke up when he was asked by online media “(Kris) should not have done such a thing without telling anyone in advance, especially when the world tour that we have all been dreaming about is just around the corner.”
Exo member Suho also released a statement “I cannot understand Kris’s actions. All the members are very shocked right now. Kris did not think of the members and acted very irresponsibly. Our members and our company have no issues. What Kris needs to do now is cancel the lawsuit and apologise to the members.” Perhaps in a response to Kris leaving EXO, members of the group have already un-followed the singer on their Instagram profiles. Lay, Tao, Chanyeol and Luhan have unfollowed Kris on Instagram.
But right after Kris left, Luhan also sued SM for the same reason, his father also voiced his support. "I'm supporting my son. There is no decision made yet, but I put my son's opinions first. I supported him when he said he would become a celebrity, and I will keep supporting him.” Fans are deeply saddened and shocked by the events happening
Just when fans couldn’t take it anymore, there was another break out news.
Tuesday the 4th of September 2014, Jessica Jung from Girl’s Generation updated her Weibo claiming that SM had kicked her out of her group for she had recently created her own fashion line, BLANC. At the beginning, SM and Girl’s Generation’s members were happy for Jessica and congratulated her. However, after a few months, the members had a group meeting and decided that Jessica wasn’t taking Girl’s Generation that seriously and came to a conclusion that Jessica would only be a drag to the group, they took action and convinced SM to kick out Jessica, as reported by Jessica’s Weibo and www.alkpop.com, Jessica was very disappointed to leave Girl’s Generation, “I’m no longer a member. I’m devastated.” and “For no justifiable reason, I am being forced out.”
Jessica also mentions that she had always prioritized Girl’s Generation and was greatly upset by the fact that she has just been kicked out. Fans expressed their anger and disbelief through comments and have reached an agreement that it was probably a hacker. SM the next day officially announced that what Jessica said was true and that she is now not a part of Girl’s Generation. SM however claims that she is still under SM and that SM would take care of Jessica. Fans are still in awe of what had just happened, and are signing petitions to bring back Jessica into Girl’s Generation.
These stars are people too and they do not deserve so much pain and pressure. The things that happen are outrageous. You can make a change today to help these stars, you can sign petitions to give artists more respect and civil right at http://www.change.org/p/sm-entertainment-give-their-artists-more-respect-and-civil-rights.
On December 21st, 2009. Han Geng, a member of Super Junior filed a lawsuit against SM Entertainment, the record label he worked for. “The most important thing to me was making money so my parents could live comfortably, and that was also the greatest motive.” However, after he debuted, he came across a number of difficult situations.
“I was not able to stand on stage even after debuting. I was the first foreign celebrity to debut in Korea so the law was not perfect. I could not film commercials and could not participate in certain portions of the schedule. I felt like I had lost all hope. I cried performing 'Twins' with the Super Junior members. I received a payment of 4000 yuan ($650 USD) my first year. I gathered money like it was life or death because seeing my mother suffer made my heart ache.”
Han Geng’s first difficulty was already a burden to him. SM was unfair to him, not giving him any lines and not allowing him to shoot commercials. In Super Junior’s first top single, Sorry Sorry; Han Geng does not even receive a one line solo. It’s either singing with everyone or one line he shares with Kangin and Kyuhyun.
When Super Junior were going to go on the red carpet when Han Geng fell ill. He had to be treated with saline solution. It is known to be dangerous to have a large dose of saline solution but time was running out and Super Junior’s CEO said to give a larger dose to Han Geng. When the time of the red carpet was a few minutes away, the CEO of Super Junior just yanked out the needle and forced Han Geng to walk the red carpet, almost causing him to faint. Han Geng then decided that this was too much and quit Super Junior.
But this wasn't the end.
Kris, a member of the boy group EXO which was also under SM Entertainment, filed a lawsuit against SM, saying he was treated unfairly, being overworked an racism China and Korea. Kris left just when their new single Overdoes came out and fans worried that it would affect the sales. According to www.hellokpop.com, SM later reported that Exo was to have their first world tour, the lost planet. However, they had lost contact with Kris and they were unsure if he was to perform in the tour. Kris never showed up.
Exo members started complaining saying that Kris was betraying Exo. Exo member Tao left a weibo message to Exo fans apologizing and asking fans not to give up on Exo. “We won’t give up because one person left us, we will work harder and become stronger than before. I feel really grateful in this moment. That’s why I want to work and practice twice as hard. I believe nothing can bring us down.” Tao also spoke up when he was asked by online media “(Kris) should not have done such a thing without telling anyone in advance, especially when the world tour that we have all been dreaming about is just around the corner.”
Exo member Suho also released a statement “I cannot understand Kris’s actions. All the members are very shocked right now. Kris did not think of the members and acted very irresponsibly. Our members and our company have no issues. What Kris needs to do now is cancel the lawsuit and apologise to the members.” Perhaps in a response to Kris leaving EXO, members of the group have already un-followed the singer on their Instagram profiles. Lay, Tao, Chanyeol and Luhan have unfollowed Kris on Instagram.
But right after Kris left, Luhan also sued SM for the same reason, his father also voiced his support. "I'm supporting my son. There is no decision made yet, but I put my son's opinions first. I supported him when he said he would become a celebrity, and I will keep supporting him.” Fans are deeply saddened and shocked by the events happening
Just when fans couldn’t take it anymore, there was another break out news.
Tuesday the 4th of September 2014, Jessica Jung from Girl’s Generation updated her Weibo claiming that SM had kicked her out of her group for she had recently created her own fashion line, BLANC. At the beginning, SM and Girl’s Generation’s members were happy for Jessica and congratulated her. However, after a few months, the members had a group meeting and decided that Jessica wasn’t taking Girl’s Generation that seriously and came to a conclusion that Jessica would only be a drag to the group, they took action and convinced SM to kick out Jessica, as reported by Jessica’s Weibo and www.alkpop.com, Jessica was very disappointed to leave Girl’s Generation, “I’m no longer a member. I’m devastated.” and “For no justifiable reason, I am being forced out.”
Jessica also mentions that she had always prioritized Girl’s Generation and was greatly upset by the fact that she has just been kicked out. Fans expressed their anger and disbelief through comments and have reached an agreement that it was probably a hacker. SM the next day officially announced that what Jessica said was true and that she is now not a part of Girl’s Generation. SM however claims that she is still under SM and that SM would take care of Jessica. Fans are still in awe of what had just happened, and are signing petitions to bring back Jessica into Girl’s Generation.
These stars are people too and they do not deserve so much pain and pressure. The things that happen are outrageous. You can make a change today to help these stars, you can sign petitions to give artists more respect and civil right at http://www.change.org/p/sm-entertainment-give-their-artists-more-respect-and-civil-rights.
Written by Karen
Racism? Over? Yeah right.
The Plaza was full of chatty, pre-pubescent teenagers who were either eating their lunch, or just talking. Li Xien was sitting with her friends, nibbling away at her wrap while laughing at her friends jokes. Everyone liked her, but she never really had a close best friend, she was always on the outskirts of her friendship groups. But she didn’t mind.
She sat there listening while her friends talked about some recent test. “It was so difficult!” exclaimed Amelia - the only person who was part of this friend group who Li Xien didn’t know the last name to. “I know right?! I didn’t get any challenge, and I am pretty sure just from overhearing Akhil that I got question 12 and 13 wrong.” sighed Jennifer. “Hey, what did you get Li Xien? You got your test back right?” asked James. “Yeah! I um got a...um ...a 4”. She mumbled. “What?! Your Asian, how did you get a 4?” gasped James sarcastically. Li Xien nervously laughed, trying to get off the topic. “Hey look! When you laugh you can’t see you eyes! Its like you close them! Can you still see?” Laughed Amelia. “Yeah, I can still see...Thats a little bit racist you know...” uttered Li Xien. “Oh calm down! She is just joking! God, it’s not like we are having a world wide controversial issue here!” giggled Jennifer. “God, Li Xien - to stunned by the fact that her so called “friends” didn’t realise how racist they were being.
You may think that we are in the ‘golden age’ and that segregation is over, but racism is still a big part of modern day society. “‘Today we remember Rosa Parks’ bold stand and her role in fighting to end racism.’
This advances the idea that racism is a relic of the past. It isn’t. And over the last few days, there have been several stories that reaffirm the extent to which racial bias—and anti-black racism in particular—are real things that happen to real people.” - The daily beast.The daily beast (who is commenting on the twitter user “@FeministaJones” tweet) is absolutely right. Although there is not specific seatings for darker skin coloured human beings on busses, and isn’t different water fountains for them, doesn’t mean that racism and segregation is a ‘relic of the past’. In Fact, there has been recent incidents such as the Michael Brown shooting and only a few weeks ago during the AFL (Australian Football League) grand finals, snide remarks such as “Black dog” was directed to a specific -darker skin coloured- man named Adam Goodes.
You may wonder if other people have experienced this. They have.
Over 80% of people who were asked if they have personally experienced racism (even if it was supposed to be a joke) said yes. Some people have even experienced backhanded compliments! “For an indian girl, you are pretty!” is one of the comments that Akanksha, a grade 8 student from UWCSEA has experienced. “You’re Asian, why aren’t you smart?!” is another common remark that is stated.
“Its not over, its just not. I think that people pretend its over so that they don’t have to deal with the pressure of having to fix the issue.” Explains Lizzie, a girl who has also personally experienced racism, and racist comments.
In the end, people need to realise that not all acts of racism are big, controversial issues. So many people can fall victim to it from their peers/friends, who probably think they are only having a laugh. People need to stop and think about their actions before they do them, or in this case, say them. People need to know that racism isn’t just a bad memory from the past, it is here, it is now. What are you going to do about that?
She sat there listening while her friends talked about some recent test. “It was so difficult!” exclaimed Amelia - the only person who was part of this friend group who Li Xien didn’t know the last name to. “I know right?! I didn’t get any challenge, and I am pretty sure just from overhearing Akhil that I got question 12 and 13 wrong.” sighed Jennifer. “Hey, what did you get Li Xien? You got your test back right?” asked James. “Yeah! I um got a...um ...a 4”. She mumbled. “What?! Your Asian, how did you get a 4?” gasped James sarcastically. Li Xien nervously laughed, trying to get off the topic. “Hey look! When you laugh you can’t see you eyes! Its like you close them! Can you still see?” Laughed Amelia. “Yeah, I can still see...Thats a little bit racist you know...” uttered Li Xien. “Oh calm down! She is just joking! God, it’s not like we are having a world wide controversial issue here!” giggled Jennifer. “God, Li Xien - to stunned by the fact that her so called “friends” didn’t realise how racist they were being.
You may think that we are in the ‘golden age’ and that segregation is over, but racism is still a big part of modern day society. “‘Today we remember Rosa Parks’ bold stand and her role in fighting to end racism.’
This advances the idea that racism is a relic of the past. It isn’t. And over the last few days, there have been several stories that reaffirm the extent to which racial bias—and anti-black racism in particular—are real things that happen to real people.” - The daily beast.The daily beast (who is commenting on the twitter user “@FeministaJones” tweet) is absolutely right. Although there is not specific seatings for darker skin coloured human beings on busses, and isn’t different water fountains for them, doesn’t mean that racism and segregation is a ‘relic of the past’. In Fact, there has been recent incidents such as the Michael Brown shooting and only a few weeks ago during the AFL (Australian Football League) grand finals, snide remarks such as “Black dog” was directed to a specific -darker skin coloured- man named Adam Goodes.
You may wonder if other people have experienced this. They have.
Over 80% of people who were asked if they have personally experienced racism (even if it was supposed to be a joke) said yes. Some people have even experienced backhanded compliments! “For an indian girl, you are pretty!” is one of the comments that Akanksha, a grade 8 student from UWCSEA has experienced. “You’re Asian, why aren’t you smart?!” is another common remark that is stated.
“Its not over, its just not. I think that people pretend its over so that they don’t have to deal with the pressure of having to fix the issue.” Explains Lizzie, a girl who has also personally experienced racism, and racist comments.
In the end, people need to realise that not all acts of racism are big, controversial issues. So many people can fall victim to it from their peers/friends, who probably think they are only having a laugh. People need to stop and think about their actions before they do them, or in this case, say them. People need to know that racism isn’t just a bad memory from the past, it is here, it is now. What are you going to do about that?
Written by: Patrick
Animal Abuse
The street was dusty with trash floating along the roads. The rope tied tightly around its neck almost choking the poor animal. Trying to break free from the rope the dog yelps in pain as the rope tightens as he tries to jump back. He twists his head struggling to break free, he turns his head and chops down hard on the rope. The rope snaps, his neck is free. Out of breath, in pain the dog lays down on the hard pavement. An old, short woman burges out of the little house yelling. The dog attempts to avoid the punishment that is to come, but it is too late. A hard kick comes tumbling down to his side. Being flung at least a foot in the air that dog lands on his side. Winded, hurt and tired the dog stays put, scared to move. The woman walks back into the house not even checking if the dog was ok.
This is one of the many stories people around the world have probably witnessed animal abuse. In the U.S alone it is estimated that nearly 1 million animals a year are abused or killed due to domestic violence to their pets. This violence can be held within a person and taken out on their animals for no reason. Many of the people who abuse their animals don’t know that what they are doing is abusive and cruel to their pets. For example, people tend to leave their dogs alone outside in the yard with an open dog house and sometimes the dog house can get flooded with rain, or they put their dogs on really short chains that cut deep into their skin. Other way this kind of abuse can happen is if they don’t pay any attention to their pets. For example, they might forget to water their cat or leave them in the car on a hot day with the windows rolled up. These are one of the many kinds of ways this abuse can happen.
Some experts say that 70% of animal abusers also have records of other crimes, mainly violent. For example some serial killers have been know to abuse animals as young teens and kids, Albert DeSalvo also known as the Boston Strangler. He killed thirteen women, caged cats and dogs and shot arrows at them through a box. Jeffrey Dahmer stuck frogs, cats, and dogs heads on sticks. Dennis Rader, known as the BTK killer terrorized the people of Kansas, wrote about his childhood that he had hung a dog and a cat. They do this because they are psychopaths, which means they suffer from a chronic mental disorder with violent social behavior. That means that they don’t feel empathy like most humans and they act violently in most situations, so as a young kid they might not believe that it would hurt the animal or they liked to watch the animal in pain. These are very rare cases but they do pop up every now and then.
What some readers don’t realize is that these crimes happen all around the world. Most can even escalate to death. Some of the ways to prevent this abuse is if you are witnessing this happen in your neighborhood you can say something to the abusers if they don’t realize or you can call 911 and report the abuser. One of the most effective ways to help these animals is to arm yourself with as much knowledge about animal abuse as possible. You can find information to help with this in the Types Of Animal Cruelty on the Aid Animals website.
This is one of the many stories people around the world have probably witnessed animal abuse. In the U.S alone it is estimated that nearly 1 million animals a year are abused or killed due to domestic violence to their pets. This violence can be held within a person and taken out on their animals for no reason. Many of the people who abuse their animals don’t know that what they are doing is abusive and cruel to their pets. For example, people tend to leave their dogs alone outside in the yard with an open dog house and sometimes the dog house can get flooded with rain, or they put their dogs on really short chains that cut deep into their skin. Other way this kind of abuse can happen is if they don’t pay any attention to their pets. For example, they might forget to water their cat or leave them in the car on a hot day with the windows rolled up. These are one of the many kinds of ways this abuse can happen.
Some experts say that 70% of animal abusers also have records of other crimes, mainly violent. For example some serial killers have been know to abuse animals as young teens and kids, Albert DeSalvo also known as the Boston Strangler. He killed thirteen women, caged cats and dogs and shot arrows at them through a box. Jeffrey Dahmer stuck frogs, cats, and dogs heads on sticks. Dennis Rader, known as the BTK killer terrorized the people of Kansas, wrote about his childhood that he had hung a dog and a cat. They do this because they are psychopaths, which means they suffer from a chronic mental disorder with violent social behavior. That means that they don’t feel empathy like most humans and they act violently in most situations, so as a young kid they might not believe that it would hurt the animal or they liked to watch the animal in pain. These are very rare cases but they do pop up every now and then.
What some readers don’t realize is that these crimes happen all around the world. Most can even escalate to death. Some of the ways to prevent this abuse is if you are witnessing this happen in your neighborhood you can say something to the abusers if they don’t realize or you can call 911 and report the abuser. One of the most effective ways to help these animals is to arm yourself with as much knowledge about animal abuse as possible. You can find information to help with this in the Types Of Animal Cruelty on the Aid Animals website.
Written by: Kiana
Online Scam
Imagine, as you browsing around the world looking to buy the new iPhone 6 that had just been released and there’s a pop-up saying “New iPhone 6 for sale! 50% DISCOUNT!!! CLICK HERE TO BUY ONE NOW!!!” Then you click on it and it ask for your credit card info and said that it will be delivered to you by tomorrow. However you waited for a few days but nothing arrive. After that a few days later you found out that someone had been using your identity to buy things online and now your account balance is going down from S$10000 to S$0.
Yup: you are a victim of online scam.
A lot of people is vulnerable to this kind of crime. When this kind of scam happen in a small community, people lost trust. Likewise, a friend of Akanksha Shukla had once been a near victim of a scam. The girl was trying to buy a dog and a stranger email her online and told her that he has a dog to sell. After a conversation online with the man, they agree to meet up at an unconfirmed location at midnight and he demanded around $1000 and their credit card detail. Akanksha’s friend ask her parents and then her parents asked the guy to go to a coffee shop in at noon instead but got no reply. After asking a few people, they figured it was a scam. From the moment they are scam, they would never buy anything online again.
To find out more, the reporter interviewed Adrienne Michetti, Digital Literacy Coach at United World College of South East Asia. “People have different understanding of what that means. There’s marketing which is really clever or unethical like there’s unethical marketing but is that a scam?” she said. “I think there’s some fuzzy line between what is a scam and what is legal marketing that’s just unethical.”. “For example, a scam is where, you know, someone taken your personal private information and use it to take money from your bank account or something like that, whereas legal but unethical marketing might be when you’ve been asked to ‘click here for a free iPad but in order to get the free iPad, you have to send these five other email to your friends’ kind of thing.” she said.
Online scam is one of the biggest security issue, according to Ms. Michetti, everyone is online even the most undeveloped country, people still have mobile technology to get online. According to Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), in 2013, the IC3 receive 262,813 complains from internet users which resulted in the lost of $781,841,611, which is a 48.8% increase in reported losses since 2012 ($581,441,110).
A lot of people had been a victim of online scam, some even died tracking the scammer, according to consumer.ftc.gov. In this 21st century, we can’t afford to lose any money on this kind of scam, we need to take action. The first step to prevent it from happening is to become more knowledgeable yourself, according to Ms. Michetti. You need to know who you’re dealing with. For example, what’s their physical address is? What’s their phone number? If you are contacting a company make sure you know someone in the company that you can contact and know exactly where the company is. You also need to keep track of every purchases that have been made with your credit card, see if someone had been using the credit card to buy anything and if there is a delivery report to somewhere you can easily track the scammer. We also need to identify the circumstances that allow that crime to happen, is it because the security flaw in a software? Is there someone sitting too close to you that they can see your PIN? and find a solution for it. The government should also take action on this issue, according to Ms. Michetti. The government should consider promoting education about the use of technology lower the rate of the crime.
However, if you think you are a victim of online scam,report it to the police immediately so they can track the scammer in time. Found IP. Hacker Jailed.
Written by Sewen
Plastics: The Crisis
Putting my cap on, I started picking up some trash. I was really close to the water at one point and saw something swimming in the water. It looked like something a brown and slimy. It had to be an otter! It just lingered around this one spot near the beach for the longest time and eventually started climbing onto my nerves. When no one was looking, I went closer to the murky water. I saw the otter quickly swimming away, freeing itself from a mangled brown plastic bag now suspended by the water. I waded into the cool water and picked it up, absolutely disgusted by what was just seen. This is a story from Beach Clean Up volunteer Khantey Lim.
This is a service called “The Beach Cleanup” that goes out to Changi beach to pick up tossed trash. They spend an hour there and find heaps of plastic on the beach. This service helps to fish out most trash and their chance to get washed into the ocean, clearly making a difference to the marine environment.
Gandhi once said “There is enough in the world for everyone's need, there is not enough in the world for everyone’s greed”. The crisis of overconsumption is that people are blindly using resources for pleasure without awareness of its impact on the Environment.
Plastics cover up most landfilling spaces in numerous places around the world. The problem with plastic is that it is made out of polymers. Polymers are a bunch of long noodle like strands that are woven together and held tightly by chemical bonds. The problem with polymers is that they don’t biodegrade naturally as they are too large for microorganisms to break down. Plastics are also quite expensive to recycle, and they release harmful gasses into the air when they are. This means that plastic is a material created by humans that has been designed to throw away. All plastics that have been created still exists in some shape or form cluttering up our planet and destroying lots of nature. The more we dispose it, the more it harms our home.
Researchers say that 50% of used plastic is landfilled, 30% of it is made into durable goods and the remainder is disregarded. These disregarded plastics eventually find themselves floating into oceans, which causes lots of inconvenience to marine life. Some animals choke to death trying to eat these plastics thinking that they are food while others have consumed so much plastic that they are not able to eat any real food- hence making them starve to death, and even some animals get entangled in it- and they cannot survive the long lasting durability.
Plastics live a very long life. Almost too long, while the plastic is floating in the ocean, the sun can break them down into tinier pieces through a process called photodegradation. These microscopic plastics are found in oceans, beaches, and stranded on land. Micro plastics attract toxic chemicals. These micro plastics are then eaten by marine animals, then these micro plastics are then transferred throughout the rest food chain. Scientists are still trying to find out the effect of this on humans.
UWCSEA is making an effort to reduce plastic consumption. This school has changed our takeaway cutlery and glasses to Cornware. Its a healthier material for the environment. Also, every 2 in 3 students in the Jra classroom say that they are willing to bring in their own lunch box to get food from the canteen. If bringing a lunchbox to school becomes a routine, there will be less plastic and food waste disposal at the school, creating a greener environment. The school shop has also started giving out paper and cloth bags instead of plastic ones.
If we consume less plastic, less plastic would have to be manufactured. Over time, there will be less plastic that would be washed into the ocean and cause inconvenience to marine life. Also, less trees and wildlife habitats would be destroyed to create plastic landfill sites. The best part is that the air we breathe would be a lot less polluted because less plastic would need to be created and incinerated. The wildlife population in the world has almost halved since our existence on earth so these measures should be taken as quickly as possible. Visit this site to find out more about how you could start living a plastic free life.
In conclusion, we should be aware of the plastic problem. We can see through our own eyes that this is a large issue, that will only get worse if the problem is not taken seriously. Whenever you see a piece of plastic loitering around on its own, find a trash can where it could be safely disposed off. Ask if you could get recycling cans and ensure that plastics are recycled or disposed away from wildlife habitats. And always remember that you can reduce, reuse, re-fuse, recycle, and re-design. Get creative with these R’s, up-cycle trash into treasures to raise awareness about the plastic problem. Find alternative solutions to your plastic consumption. Every action counts, make your change now!
This is a service called “The Beach Cleanup” that goes out to Changi beach to pick up tossed trash. They spend an hour there and find heaps of plastic on the beach. This service helps to fish out most trash and their chance to get washed into the ocean, clearly making a difference to the marine environment.
Gandhi once said “There is enough in the world for everyone's need, there is not enough in the world for everyone’s greed”. The crisis of overconsumption is that people are blindly using resources for pleasure without awareness of its impact on the Environment.
Plastics cover up most landfilling spaces in numerous places around the world. The problem with plastic is that it is made out of polymers. Polymers are a bunch of long noodle like strands that are woven together and held tightly by chemical bonds. The problem with polymers is that they don’t biodegrade naturally as they are too large for microorganisms to break down. Plastics are also quite expensive to recycle, and they release harmful gasses into the air when they are. This means that plastic is a material created by humans that has been designed to throw away. All plastics that have been created still exists in some shape or form cluttering up our planet and destroying lots of nature. The more we dispose it, the more it harms our home.
Researchers say that 50% of used plastic is landfilled, 30% of it is made into durable goods and the remainder is disregarded. These disregarded plastics eventually find themselves floating into oceans, which causes lots of inconvenience to marine life. Some animals choke to death trying to eat these plastics thinking that they are food while others have consumed so much plastic that they are not able to eat any real food- hence making them starve to death, and even some animals get entangled in it- and they cannot survive the long lasting durability.
Plastics live a very long life. Almost too long, while the plastic is floating in the ocean, the sun can break them down into tinier pieces through a process called photodegradation. These microscopic plastics are found in oceans, beaches, and stranded on land. Micro plastics attract toxic chemicals. These micro plastics are then eaten by marine animals, then these micro plastics are then transferred throughout the rest food chain. Scientists are still trying to find out the effect of this on humans.
UWCSEA is making an effort to reduce plastic consumption. This school has changed our takeaway cutlery and glasses to Cornware. Its a healthier material for the environment. Also, every 2 in 3 students in the Jra classroom say that they are willing to bring in their own lunch box to get food from the canteen. If bringing a lunchbox to school becomes a routine, there will be less plastic and food waste disposal at the school, creating a greener environment. The school shop has also started giving out paper and cloth bags instead of plastic ones.
If we consume less plastic, less plastic would have to be manufactured. Over time, there will be less plastic that would be washed into the ocean and cause inconvenience to marine life. Also, less trees and wildlife habitats would be destroyed to create plastic landfill sites. The best part is that the air we breathe would be a lot less polluted because less plastic would need to be created and incinerated. The wildlife population in the world has almost halved since our existence on earth so these measures should be taken as quickly as possible. Visit this site to find out more about how you could start living a plastic free life.
In conclusion, we should be aware of the plastic problem. We can see through our own eyes that this is a large issue, that will only get worse if the problem is not taken seriously. Whenever you see a piece of plastic loitering around on its own, find a trash can where it could be safely disposed off. Ask if you could get recycling cans and ensure that plastics are recycled or disposed away from wildlife habitats. And always remember that you can reduce, reuse, re-fuse, recycle, and re-design. Get creative with these R’s, up-cycle trash into treasures to raise awareness about the plastic problem. Find alternative solutions to your plastic consumption. Every action counts, make your change now!
Dealing With Poverty
Most kids wake up to a delicious breakfast and a nice shower, but this never happens in the dumpsite. The kids here wake up in the morning, already hungry from not having a proper dinner the previous night, knowing that they’re gonna have to continue starving because the there is no food in the house. Yet they still go outside into the mountains of trash and work, because thats the only way to for them to live.
According to http://www.poverty.com, approximately 21000 people die of hunger everyday. Yet for these people hunger isn’t their only problem. They have to deal with infections and diseases like AIDS, Pneumonia, Diarrhea, Tuberculosis, Malaria etc., which they can’t afford to cure. Yet the saddest part is that only few are given an education, so the vicious cycle known as poverty will continue.
When I was 10 years old, I got the chance to go to visit one of the schools for the kids who live and the dumpsite known as “Smoky Mountain”. Looking back outside of the bus I saw two children, who were at the top of one of the mountains of trash which was as tall as a real mountain, sorting through the trash. At that moment I didn’t real understand what exactly they were doing. A few minute after I reached the school. When the bus door opened, I was greeted by the horrendous smell of trash. Think of the worse smell you have ever smelt. This was 100 times worse than that. It was liking smelling a rotten fruit basket which was covered in rotten egg. The school was just old shipping containers put together.
I was led into a classroom by my teacher, and I was greeted by a class full of smiling children. All of the children looked like walking skeletons. They looked like they hadn’t eaten a morsel for days. Then I realized something.
At least 5 of them hadn’t had breakfast in the morning.
No food in the house.
2 or 3 of them were orphan
At least 9 of them had lost a parent
And 99% of them would have to go back the bloody dumpsite.
Even though all the kids knew this, there wasn't one kid who wasn’t happy. No matter how many struggles they face, they were still happier than most kids who live in the city. These kids are given a chance to break the cycle through education. They could have a future in which this dump didn’t exist.
Yet even will all the NGO’s in the world, it isn’t enough. There are still millions of children that are stuck in poverty, and it will stay that way unless you do something. Unless you do your part there will be children the number 21000 will not decrease. So do you part and help create a future where no one will have to worry if they will be able to have their next meal.
By Roshan
According to http://www.poverty.com, approximately 21000 people die of hunger everyday. Yet for these people hunger isn’t their only problem. They have to deal with infections and diseases like AIDS, Pneumonia, Diarrhea, Tuberculosis, Malaria etc., which they can’t afford to cure. Yet the saddest part is that only few are given an education, so the vicious cycle known as poverty will continue.
When I was 10 years old, I got the chance to go to visit one of the schools for the kids who live and the dumpsite known as “Smoky Mountain”. Looking back outside of the bus I saw two children, who were at the top of one of the mountains of trash which was as tall as a real mountain, sorting through the trash. At that moment I didn’t real understand what exactly they were doing. A few minute after I reached the school. When the bus door opened, I was greeted by the horrendous smell of trash. Think of the worse smell you have ever smelt. This was 100 times worse than that. It was liking smelling a rotten fruit basket which was covered in rotten egg. The school was just old shipping containers put together.
I was led into a classroom by my teacher, and I was greeted by a class full of smiling children. All of the children looked like walking skeletons. They looked like they hadn’t eaten a morsel for days. Then I realized something.
At least 5 of them hadn’t had breakfast in the morning.
No food in the house.
2 or 3 of them were orphan
At least 9 of them had lost a parent
And 99% of them would have to go back the bloody dumpsite.
Even though all the kids knew this, there wasn't one kid who wasn’t happy. No matter how many struggles they face, they were still happier than most kids who live in the city. These kids are given a chance to break the cycle through education. They could have a future in which this dump didn’t exist.
Yet even will all the NGO’s in the world, it isn’t enough. There are still millions of children that are stuck in poverty, and it will stay that way unless you do something. Unless you do your part there will be children the number 21000 will not decrease. So do you part and help create a future where no one will have to worry if they will be able to have their next meal.
By Roshan
October 8, 2014
Can people still show good sportsmanship?
Sometimes friendly sports matches are taken a bit too seriously. At the end of the game, the winning team would brag about their victory and the losing team would feel bad even though it was a friendly game. There would be shouting and screaming coming from the winning team. From the losing team there are sad faces and people yelling at other players for not helping or missing such an easy goal. All of the teams should just show some good sportsmanship because it was only a friendly game. This is what happened during the last few minutes of the friendly football game.
The two teams playing on the pitch are the Martinshaw primary school and the Leicester primary school. The game is coming to the end, the score is currently tied at 0 - 0. One team just needs to score a goal in order to win. One of the players from Leicester primary school runs up past the halfway line, a player from Martinshaw comes in and slides to get the ball. At the last second the ball was gone, he had just passed the ball to another player on the team. Martinshaw acts fast and goes into a defensive formation but the Leicester team is one step ahead and lobs the ball over the defenders and shoots. Martinshaw is relying on the goalkeeper to stop the ball from going into the goal. The goalkeeper jumps, his hands are out, his heart is thumping the ball just flings over his fingers and its a goal. The crowd is cheering, the Leicester team is going wild the score is now 1 - 0 to Leicester Primary School. Martinshaw is gutted that they couldn’t keep it a tie, but they stilled carry on playing.
Martinshaw starts with the ball, and they are off with a good start. Passing the ball through the Leicester team players. They just need to score one goal so that they can get a tie of 1 - 1. Midfielder is running up, and passes to the striker, one mississippi: the striker takes the ball. Two mississippi: lobs the ball over the defender, three mississippi: he shoots. The ball is flying through the air, the goalkeeper gets his hands up and blocks the ball. He shoots the ball towards the other goal. *TWEET, the whistle has been blown. The Martinshaw team has lost the game 1 - 0. This reporter went to talk to a Martinshaw player and asked how he felt about the loss “I am disappointed that we lost the game, I thought we had it but in the end the score was 1 - 0.” Quote Thomas Billson, student at martinshaw. The Leicester team was cheering and boasting of how good they were.
There is one team boasting and another feeling bad, why can’t the Leicester team have good sportsmanship. The thing that the Leicester team is doing is making the other team feel bad. It doesn’t matter whether the Martinshaw team lost because they will have another try when they play in a competitive tournament they can use different strategies that they learnt from this game. Leicester team can practice strategies that they learn’t from this game and they might be able to win their next match. We should all just congratulate the other team no matter whether they win or lose. You know that the other team has tried their best so just congratulate them for trying their best, you shouldn’t keep bragging about your win.
The two teams playing on the pitch are the Martinshaw primary school and the Leicester primary school. The game is coming to the end, the score is currently tied at 0 - 0. One team just needs to score a goal in order to win. One of the players from Leicester primary school runs up past the halfway line, a player from Martinshaw comes in and slides to get the ball. At the last second the ball was gone, he had just passed the ball to another player on the team. Martinshaw acts fast and goes into a defensive formation but the Leicester team is one step ahead and lobs the ball over the defenders and shoots. Martinshaw is relying on the goalkeeper to stop the ball from going into the goal. The goalkeeper jumps, his hands are out, his heart is thumping the ball just flings over his fingers and its a goal. The crowd is cheering, the Leicester team is going wild the score is now 1 - 0 to Leicester Primary School. Martinshaw is gutted that they couldn’t keep it a tie, but they stilled carry on playing.
Martinshaw starts with the ball, and they are off with a good start. Passing the ball through the Leicester team players. They just need to score one goal so that they can get a tie of 1 - 1. Midfielder is running up, and passes to the striker, one mississippi: the striker takes the ball. Two mississippi: lobs the ball over the defender, three mississippi: he shoots. The ball is flying through the air, the goalkeeper gets his hands up and blocks the ball. He shoots the ball towards the other goal. *TWEET, the whistle has been blown. The Martinshaw team has lost the game 1 - 0. This reporter went to talk to a Martinshaw player and asked how he felt about the loss “I am disappointed that we lost the game, I thought we had it but in the end the score was 1 - 0.” Quote Thomas Billson, student at martinshaw. The Leicester team was cheering and boasting of how good they were.
There is one team boasting and another feeling bad, why can’t the Leicester team have good sportsmanship. The thing that the Leicester team is doing is making the other team feel bad. It doesn’t matter whether the Martinshaw team lost because they will have another try when they play in a competitive tournament they can use different strategies that they learnt from this game. Leicester team can practice strategies that they learn’t from this game and they might be able to win their next match. We should all just congratulate the other team no matter whether they win or lose. You know that the other team has tried their best so just congratulate them for trying their best, you shouldn’t keep bragging about your win.
Written by Dylan
Are Tech Devices Taking Over Our World?
After school in the library of UWCSEA East, the vault of silence gets
dramatically cursed by the witches of middle schoolers. Computers,
phones, gaming devices all summoned, geared with all gaming armory.
“Everyone ready?!” someone screams. Sooner or later students are gaming
all around the library. Some together, some alone, all get sucked into
the void of games. Turning them to more than witches, even into a big
fierce monster acting violent to their friends by swearing and
insulting. Words of inevitable failure floods throughout the library,
but others filled with triumphant laughter. Out of the mist comes a
sound of a bell, ringing through the void. Magically transforming the
ferocious beasts into a busy high schooler. All gaming gear back into
their school bags and flashes down the stairs in a blink of an eye, into
their buses. Of course it hasn’t stopped yet. The void isn’t too hard
to escape from.
At school, at home, in buses, taxis... Everyone has their phones or their computers out. A lot of tech devices are bought every day all around the world. Phones computers are now starting to become a need to human beings. An average person usually spends about 7 hours on their tech devices, which is about ⅓ of our day. Could tech devices ruin our lives? Are there any ways to solve this?
People all over the world go through a big and crucial problem with their tech devices. All around the world billions and billions of money are getting used on tech devices. Almost everywhere you go, a tech device always comes in handy. Sometimes it can be a really big distraction at school, work, etc… Many murdering cases have occurred due to people (mainly young kids or teens) that get mixed up with their online life and offline life. “Too much inappropriate gaming can make you be influenced by the game…” Dylan Tsao Grade 8 student of UWCSEA East. Not only were gaming addiction causing murder cases, a case in South Korea, where a student has been an outcast online in a chatting application. Not only was he abandoned by his friends, he was also insulted and basically cyber-bullied. This made him a very suicidal person, and sadly killed himself because he decide he couldn’t take it anymore. Therefore, it is important for us to use technology properly, since it could affect us and other people around us.
We have to learn to manage a consistent balance between our online and offline life. This way we can enjoy our time online and also maintain a healthy lifestyle. We have to retain technology from taking over our lives, sooner or later even babies will know how to work a tech device. As Orison Swett Marden quoted “Work, love and play are the great balance wheels of man’s being.
Written By Youngchan
At school, at home, in buses, taxis... Everyone has their phones or their computers out. A lot of tech devices are bought every day all around the world. Phones computers are now starting to become a need to human beings. An average person usually spends about 7 hours on their tech devices, which is about ⅓ of our day. Could tech devices ruin our lives? Are there any ways to solve this?
People all over the world go through a big and crucial problem with their tech devices. All around the world billions and billions of money are getting used on tech devices. Almost everywhere you go, a tech device always comes in handy. Sometimes it can be a really big distraction at school, work, etc… Many murdering cases have occurred due to people (mainly young kids or teens) that get mixed up with their online life and offline life. “Too much inappropriate gaming can make you be influenced by the game…” Dylan Tsao Grade 8 student of UWCSEA East. Not only were gaming addiction causing murder cases, a case in South Korea, where a student has been an outcast online in a chatting application. Not only was he abandoned by his friends, he was also insulted and basically cyber-bullied. This made him a very suicidal person, and sadly killed himself because he decide he couldn’t take it anymore. Therefore, it is important for us to use technology properly, since it could affect us and other people around us.
We have to learn to manage a consistent balance between our online and offline life. This way we can enjoy our time online and also maintain a healthy lifestyle. We have to retain technology from taking over our lives, sooner or later even babies will know how to work a tech device. As Orison Swett Marden quoted “Work, love and play are the great balance wheels of man’s being.
Written By Youngchan
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