#STOPTHETWERKTEAM

After I paid the driver and jumped out of the cab, and walked down the steps into ‘The Cathay’. I was early for dance so I didn’t have to do my usual speed walk to the escalator that lead down to the basement.

As I was walking past the oh so popular Starbucks, I happened to notice a very young girl, by the looks of it a 9 year old. But what shocked me was that she had an unnecessarily large amount of makeup that was spread across her still undeveloped face. It was quite a sight. However her bright green crop top, and short shorts just added insult to injury. I was shocked, but I soon realised that she was pretty brought up on people dressing in revealing clothes and wearing a ton of makeup. One of which is a new song ‘Anaconda’.

You may think that Nicki Minaj’s latest hit ‘Anaconda’ is about her in a bakery asking for food for her pet snake, but no. Just like many other songs nowadays, it is promoting the idea of sex, drugs, alcohol and many other things not suitable for the targeted age group. You may wonder why songs like ‘Anaconda’ are targeted at children and young adults. Well, anyone around the age of 40 and above are probably too busy listening to Bob Dylan and Billy Joel on their cassettes. Anyone in their 20’s-30’s probably think its just more modern-day garbage full of autotune and meaningless lyrics. That leaves the pre-teens and the teenagers, still impressionable and raised up on the tragic evolution of Hannah Montana, and a time where technology rules the world. They are constantly under the influence of photoshopped models and profligate behaviour.
Almost every month a new trend is created. Whether its taking drugs or forcing yourself to throw up so you can be called ‘pretty’. “I think this trend of having a “perfect body” that is often referred to in recent pop culture gives young girls the impression that they need to look a certain way to be accepted.” Akanksha explains. “I think its gross!” spat Kiana, disgraced at the behavior of children nowadays.

Is beauty really a necessity to the world? How come all those ‘cheesy’ sayings like “dont judge a book by its cover” and “its what in the inside that counts” are not actually put into use?! I want to promote the idea that modern day music has become auto tune, and a catchy beat. Everything is all about being top on the charts and having money and fame.

If celebrities want to behave like role-models (given that they realise most of their views and likes on youtube are from kids) then they should behave more like ones.

As lady Gaga once said “Baby, you were born this way.”

Written by Patrick.

The YouTube Internet Bug

It was a typical Thursday morning right before mentor time. As students start to arrive at school, the friendship groups become obvious. There were a group of girl sitting near the escalator at UWCSEA East deeply focused on their phone screens. This is not surprising for this generation anymore. They were intently watching the latest YouTube video that their favorite YouTuber has posted ignoring their friends surrounding not even stopping to say hi or have a simple morning conversation. The girls choose to invest their time in watching videos that have little purpose but also have entertainment values instead of talking to friends sitting right beside them.

Morning, for the group of girls by the escalator, have become the time to watch the most recent video by a YouTuber. Whether its PewDiePie, Tyler Oakley, Joe Sugg or Zoella, there’s an infinitive cycle of new videos to keep them entertained every morning before class. This routine has become a daily habit for them and possibly for many more. Just a few years ago there were actual conversations with your friends instead of the semi-quiet environment that is produced because there are no exciting talks about what happened just yesterday.

As a girl arrives at school, she goes up to her friend and sits down beside her. She asks “What are you watching?” the friend replies without removing eye contact from her phone “Tyler Oakley’s new video. It’s so funny!” The girl nodded and went to her phone to watch the exact same video. After the video ends, the girls stand up to go up to their classes with their friends discussing about the video and many more to come. Is that what we want our future conversations to be made out of?

It seems as if we are connecting invisibly through the internet. Now people are competing for the number of followers on Instagram, friends on Facebook and subscribers on YouTube. The new video is the new talk for these girls every morning now whereas it used to be about subjects in school or something interesting that has happened.

Though the internet has brought people together, it has significantly brought people apart. Everything on the internet has a learning purpose no matter how big, small, meaningful or not. YouTube has become a bookmarked page to lots and it has swimmed it’s way from the occasional video to a morning routine.

Is technology a barrier to deeper conversations, or is it the start? Though it has helped students to gain more information and adults to succeed further, has it shaped our world too much? This is not the first article to say this but it is a great reminder to how much people should appreciate technology but at the same time people should be aware of how much time they spend on the internet. 

Written by Seika