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

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.

Written by Arjun

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 

#Bringbackcuriosity

What is the real reason you’re reading this article? Was it the catchy title? Did your teacher make you? I bet its anything but the fact that you actually wanted to find out more information. That you were honestly curious and wanted to find out more. These days, kids and adults have lost that interest to go and discover something new. Thanks to the easy access to the internet, and more importantly google, we are so used to typing in a question and getting the answer within seconds that we have forgotten the real meaning of research.

According to the Internet American Life Project we have become 'an easily distracted generation with short attention spans.' This means if we don't get our answer immediately we get frustrated, forget about it and move on. What would have happened if the apple fell on Newtons head but he wasn't bothered to figure out why? These life changing discoveries, like evolution, DNA and medicine, would have never been found if people weren't curious. Recently we have lost this curiosity and become so independent on the internet.

A few months ago, for a humanities assignment, Grade 7 students were asked to complete an essay on the Vietnam war. It was a dull day and the students were already getting bored, sitting in their seats. As the task was announced, the students burst into conversation amongst their friends, complaining and moaning as they knew that this task would be a lot of work and would force them to do a lot of research. Mr Murray, the humanities teacher, continued to explain the project while the students fidgeted in their seats and doodled in the corner of their books. Already the students were dreading the research as they knew it would be extremely boring and the information would be hard to find.

“On the bright side,” Mr Murray continued “I have created a planner that should make the research easier,” Some of the students faces lit up as they were looking for any possible way to make the project effortless in any sense. “Here is the summative planner, in the first column you can come up with specific questions that you would want to answer in your essay and in the second column you can gather some information that answers those questions.”

This idea encouraged the students as it meant that they could just copy the question into google, click the first couple links and jot down just about enough information to form a sentence or 2 answering the question. Still the students procrastinated till the last minute, dreading to the start the research.

As if doing their chores, the students finally began their work. “I don’t get this!” said Sophie, a girl in the humanities class who was re-reading the assignment. “Do you think I do?” Aditi, who was sitting next to her replied. “I don’t get why we have to do all of this research, can’t they just tell us, I’m not finding anything,” frustrated Sophie, banging on her computer keys. “Have you tried searching the question yet?

“Ya, I typed in ‘Did Ho Chi Minh make decisions that would benefit the people?’ and nothing came up. There’s just this long essay and I don’t want to read that.”

This sort of research is not useful for anyone. When asked how much students remembered from this project nobody said more than 70% and still there was a very small percentage that remembered that much. Teachers found that when students were given research topics they enjoyed they were able to go into full detail because there were so many resources online but in the same sense when students did not want to research the topic, they were easily capable of searching in Yahoo answers and getting information from un-credible sources.

When middle school students were asked what they think the definition of research was most of them replied by saying that it was finding information. Seika, a Grade 8 student said it was “Using resources to gather information for an assignment, project or just for fun,” to which Patrick replied which a laugh “Who does research for fun?” This is the perfect example of how research has turned from a ‘intellectual curiosity and discovery’ to a ‘fast paced, short term exercise aimed at locating just enough information to complete an assignment.’

Back at the humanities class on the next day, the students walked into the classroom and sat down in their regular seats with a fixed mindset. Mr Murray, encouragingly repeated the instructions again before letting the students continue their research. Grudgingly the students opened their laptops and began looking for the document where all their information was. They began searching for more information on their topic but still failed to see the point of the essay.

By this lesson Aditi had found a couple solid and reliable sources to gather her information from. Sophie on the other hand was still confused and kept sneaking looks at Aditi’s computer. “Where are you getting all your information from? The only website that comes up for me is shmoop and there is nothing good about shmoop!” Sophie irritatedly demanded. Aditi began reasoning with Sophie by reminding her that “You won’t get any information if you just search up the question, you need to understand what you are really asking and break it down.” Aditi explained “But that sounds like a lot of work and I don’t really care.”

“Yeah neither did I, but over the weekend I really started understanding the topic and I started liking it and that helped me want to find out more and then I was able to do it properly,” Aditi said. “Okay... but I don’t want to do it so then how can I get my information?” Sophie had begun to understand what Aditi was getting on to but was still very confused. “Just try to focus and be curious! Your from Vietnam so it shouldn’t be that hard,”

Sophie represents about 75% of our population these days. They are unable to understand the point of research and are not interested in finding out more. Aditi on the other hand represents that smaller population that understands why curiosity is important.

Even though students are capable of doing in-depth research for topics they are interested in, still very few people would go, experiment and find out new information without being prompted. Sometimes that spark of curiosity comes in our heads but we just brush it away because we are not bothered. Technology has turned us into thoughtless creatures who expect answers straight away and give up if their expectations aren’t met. We have to fight against this and bring back the curiosity.

Written by Aditi

Conquering Awkward Family Dinners

The awkward weekly dinner begins. You reach for the salad fork at the same time as your mother. You both smile, and you cast your eyes downward, feeling the uncomfortable silence hanging between you. Your phone chimes a short melody, and your hands itch to answer it and relieve yourself of boredom, despite your mum’s no phone at the table rule. Your dad starts talking about the football game on Saturday and what the teams’ tactics will be this time. Soon enough, his chatter dies down to his mutters, then tense, unpleasant quietness is back between you again, and you just can’t wait to lock up your bedroom and skype your friends, complaining about how annoying your parents are.

But it shouldn’t be a pain. They’re people too, with lives that they lead, filled with problems, difficulties and accomplishments. Families are made of people, each has their own story, and with some work and some love, their stories can be part of yours too.

Families are the biggest factor of someone’s life. Your family will stick with you for your entire life - so instead of pushing yourself away from them, be grateful, and embrace the love they give you. Often, teenagers are moody and touchy, but that shouldn’t drive them away from their families. But because of this, many parents think that letting their children do their own thing would be better, but ultimately, everyone benefits from some family time.

According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, teens who spend less time with their families are much likelier to use drugs, alcohol and/or tobacco. And while typically, while teens are thought to be the ones who push away their parents, sometimes, parents don’t give their children enough attention, and in turn, their kids turn to other sources for affection, which in the end, could result in them to abusing substances.

No one thinks about this, especially during the dreaded teenage phase, but your family will be there with you forever, and when you’ve graduated and are off living your own separate life, you’re going to wish that you all were closer. And by the time your parents pass away, you’ll want nothing more than the chance to go back in time to your moody teenage days, and put more effort into your relationship with your family.

From a young age, students at UWC are exposed to technology, and soon enough, they become obsessed with their laptops. As they grow older, students depend more and more on their laptops, and by the time they enter high school, they spend most of their weekends shut in their rooms, cut off from their families by their closed doors and raised screens. And because of this, their families drift apart, only held together by the fact that they live in the same house.

Akanksha Shukla, age 13, says that the relationship she shares with her family is very strong, mainly because she has regular meals with them, and also because she shares her daily struggles and successes, which helps build trust with them. Although she does spend time alone with her laptop, she enjoys family time and voluntarily participates. In return, her family cares for and loves her, and supports and encourages her when she needs it.

Family could be seen as a colony ants. A single ant, all alone, can’t bear much weight, and is easily crushed by the others around them. But, an army of ants, working together, can achieve great things, and can protect each other from any harm. A tight knit ant colony should inspire you to build stronger bonds with your family, because they will support and protect you for as long as you live.

Family is a really important aspect of life for me. I didn’t realise this earlier, but a lot of the people in 8th grade don’t spend much time with their families. I find this really strange because my whole weekend is spent with my family, and I find myself missing them when I spend the weekend with my friends.

You don’t have to spend all your time with your family. Having some time to be alone or with your friends will also benefit yourself. You just need to find the perfect balance between the two.

Written by Kelly

How’s Technology Affects Children’s Daily Life?

Over the last five years, technology has changed and expanded in every field imaginable. Smart phones are now like the Hogwart. It is capable of taking pictures, sending emails, contacting and even searching the Internet. Of course, it does change our lives but not always in a good way.

As in a real life example,during dinner time at the canteen, there’s a group of students flunking together in one table, eating their dinner. But the one noticeable thing is that they spend most of their time paying attention to their phones and headsets in their ears. But no one starts the conversation to each other.

In this situation, we can see that technology can change the world in a different way from what we expected. It supposed to help us communicate better with people more when we don’t see each other very often and it also uses to help our studies as well. Moreover, it has many apps that can help our life more convenient with everything. Even though, it’s not always the same as what we thinking.

A boy and a girl chat with each other on the phone everyday but when they see each other face to face at school, they don’t even say a word. Furthermore, on Facebook or Twitter, they have thousands of friends or followers from all over the world. But their friends in their outside world is just only 20 to 25 only. And furthermore, their friendship is not even improving because they don’t communicate very much.

Second is about their study. Some technology like phones, electronic dictionaries, laptops, Ipad are expected to help young learners with their studies. And that’s also a big reason when their parents buy them all that technology devices. But most of the children use it for the entertainment even more than everything. Some kids even complain about too much homework and too much pressure. But it is actually not the problem with the homework but it is with themselves. They check their phones to see if there’s any messages or emails several times in an hour. They even spend their time doing stuffs with their electronic devices in bed as well. So where is the real meaning of using technology?

“Modern technology is part of contemporary life and naturally affect in people’s lives. However, it becomes really obvious that a number of children nowadays are using technology excessively” says a teacher.

So what can we do to stop it? We don’t need to throw the phones or the laptops away to stop it. But the important thing is people have to balance their schedule better. They have to balance what time should they have for their family, friends, studies and for their entertainment!!! Then, everything will be BETTER!!!!

Written by Khantey