Judgment

How would you feel if someone judged you with one look, they wouldn’t know you or anything about you, but with that one look, they decide how they are going to treat you.

Unfortunately this is one of the most common situations a person goes through every single day from both sides, whether the are judging someone or getting judged by someone, it has become a regular part of life. Sometimes people will not even realise that they have made an assumption about someone else. Now some of you may be thinking that, “I’m not like this”, “I would never do something like that” and many people are aware not to judge someone of their religious or racial background. But when someone has never met another person, and has heard terrible things about them, then how would they react when they meet that person.

There is a huge role that media plays in representing all kinds of people, from different races and backgrounds. For example if the BBC news they said that some specific people were crazy and were trying to eat other people, everyone would fear those people and run away from them. Now this may be an extreme example, but look at what happened on 13/11/15. The day that the Paris attacks took place. “This will change the world” said the French prime minister after a press conference. And not only did these events affect the Parisians that got targeted and were they victims, but this event also affected to 6.13 million muslims living in France.“ You think we like it when these things happen, you think we like having everyone put the spotlight on us and judge us” said a muslim man in France on the BBC news.On the media you constantly hear the reporters saying “Islamic state” and “Muslim extremist” which  makes someone who has never met a muslim quite scared of them and can make the life of the 6.13 million muslims in France’s life very difficult, as many people can and will be judged just because of the of their religion, but this problem isn’t just taking place in France, it’s taking place all over the world.

In UWCSEA a school in Singapore a new student walks in his class as the teacher walks up to introduce him to the class. “ Hey guys can I have your attention, we have a new student, his name is Ali and he is from Pakistan” said the teacher. The whole class erupt into whispers “He’s from Pakistan?”, “What if he’s Osama Bin Laden’s son” says one of the student laughing. Ali heard it, but he ignored it.

Hearing these kinds of stories should really make you think about how people make judgments like this, even in Singapore, where we are supposed to be a great accepting community. So why do people make these judgments.

Almost all of the time we will make these judgments unconsciously or by intuition. Sometimes these random judgments we make about another person are sensible: “She looks nice and friendly. I’ll ask her the directions.” But other times, these feelings can be riddled and filled with unsupported assumptions, biases, and stereotypes that will affect our behaviour, interactions, and decisions when regarding this person

Research dating back nearly 50 years shows, that even teachers that are supposed to always show support and treat all students equally, will still make these judgements, and some teachers view attractive children as smarter. This sways teachers to give those children more attention, which helps them to achieve more academic success and makes the teacher help the student more rather than a shy and quiet student . And this shows the effect of an initial snap judgment about the child’s intelligence.

Cedric Bellens a middle school student says “ In P.E I sometimes feel, that the teachers favour students with greater physical capabilities, and students that are more confident” This problem isn’t only related to race, but much bigger. It can effect people all around the world. And must be stopped

The next time you encounter a situation like this, think twice before you make a judgement about someone. Make sure you know someone before you decide to treat them.

By: Ali

References

Berry, D. S., & Finch-Wero, J. L. (1993). Accuracy in face perception: A view from ecological psychology. Journal of Personality, 61, 497–521.

Boothroyd, L. G., Cross, C. P., Gray, A. W., Coombes, C., & Gregson-Curtis, K. (2011). Perceiving the facial correlates of sociosexuality: Further evidence. Personality and Individual Differences, 50, 422–425.

Borkenau, P., Brecke, S., Möttig, C., & Paelecke, M. (2009). Extraversion is accurately perceived after a 50-ms exposure to a face. Journal of Research in Personality, 43, 703–706.

Clifford, M. M., & Walster, E. H. (1973). The effect of physical attractiveness on teacher expectation. Sociology of Education, 46, 248–258.

Ekman, P., Davidson, R. J., & Friesen, W. V. (1990). The Duchenne smile: Emotional expression and brain physiology II. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 342–353.

Macrae, C. N., & Bodenhausen, G. V. (2000). Social cognition: Thinking categorically about others. Annual Review of Psychology, 51, 93–120.

Rosenthal, R., & Jacobsen, L. (1968). Pygmalion in the classroom: Teacher expectations and pupils’ intellectual development. New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

Rule, N. O., & Ambady, N. (2008a). The face of success: Inferences from chief executive officers’ appearance predict company PROFITS. Psychological Science, 19, 109–111.

Rule, N. O., & Ambady, N. (2008b). Brief exposures: Male sexual orientation is accurately perceived at 50-ms.Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 1100–1105.

Rule, N. O., & Ambady, N. (2009). She’s got the look: Inferences from female chief executive officers’ faces predict their success. Sex Roles, 61, 644–652.

Rule, N. O., & Ambady, N. (2011). Judgments of power from college yearbook photos and laterCAREERsuccess. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2, 154–158.

Rule, N. O., Ambady, N., & Hallett, K. C. (2009). Female sexual orientation is perceived accurately, rapidly, and automatically from the face and its features. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45, 1245–1251.

Stillman, T. F., & Maner, J. K. (2009). A sharp eye for her SOI: Perception and misperception of sociosexuality at zero acquaintance. Evolution and Human Behavior, 30, 124–130.

Todorov, A., Mandisodza, A. N., Goren, A., & Hall, C. C. (2005). Inferences of competence from faces predict election outcomes. Science, 308, 1623–1626.

Zebrowitz L. A. (1997). Reading faces: Window to the soul? Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Racial Profiling: Reasons and Solutions

He walked down the street, looking at the surroundings of the beautiful city that he was in. On this cold day in Chicago, he wore some baggy pants and a hoodie to cover up from blistering cold winds that made his body shiver. As he walked down the street, he caught a few glimpses of people looking at him. A white lady, maybe around her 20s, walked passed him, and he could see her hands squeeze tightly onto the Channel bag that she was holding. Suddenly, as if a pretty girl walked into a room, everyone who he walked passed started acting different. The car door locking, the sudden motion of a man keeping his phone in their pocket, and the occasional police officer precariously putting their coffee down after making eye contact with him. Everything in the city now seemed dull and pessimistic to, like the rancorous emotions he felt towards everyone in the city who just discriminated him.

When you meet a person, you immediately to start to form an impression of them in your mind. This first impression lasts for a long time, and it does not usually easily succumb to change. It just so happens that the first impression of someone that you make is based off appearance. This frothy way of forming impressions based on looks can be deceiving and beguiling. A big part of what in influences these thoughts, positive or negative, is the media. The impressions that is posted on the news, and on social platforms change how we might feel about certain types of people. As a community, we are all in the movement to stop racial profiling, and to stop certain stereotypes about other people, but how can we actually do that?

Racial profiling is a sad yet common phenomenon that happens in daily life. This unfortunate event happens on a daily basis. A former black NFL wide receiver Nate Burleson, mentioned in his podcast that he has had experience with racial profiling, and how he was treated for being a black person. “You are very well spoken” was one of the comments that he was told when he met with a member of the public during an event. Now, many might take this for a compliment, but not Nate. Nate, being black football player, felt offended by these comments. He felt that this person created a stereotype for him, supposing that he was a ‘common black person’, and felt surprised by his formal manner that Nate presented.

Another example of racial profiling is the amount of times that black people have been pulled over. Based on a report by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, 46% of drivers and bikers in Chicago who were stopped were black, even though black people only make up 32% of Chicago’s population. This might suggest that the black people from Chicago might be targeted more, intentionally or unintentionally, by the mainly white police force that can be found in Chicago. In the same report, it is said that 3 out of 4 searches on the drivers or bikers, white people who were pulled over were more likely to be carrying a contraband item compared to black people. So why has the Chicago Police Force have numbers as high as 46% for the pull over rate for black people, even though white people have been proven to have a higher chance of having illicit items in their car? This issue about racial profiling when driving has become such a large issue, even the President of the United States, Barack Obama has addressed this. He said that he himself has been pulled over for no particular reason in Chicago, before he became the president.

But why do people profile black people? Some people feel threatened by black people they see, sometimes locking their car doors, or people holding onto their bags tighter. Based on a survey done by David L Goetsch, a retired college Vice President and professor of business and political science, most white people, both male and female, do not feel threatened by all black people, but only certain black people. A black man with baggy pants, a hoodie, tattoos and a strong attitude seemed to be factors that made these people feel threatened or uneasy. Therefore, it wasn’t their skin colour that made them feel threatened, it was their attire.

So why do people still associate badly with black people? This due to the media, and its effects on us. Mainstream media that says racial profiling is a branch of racism is complicit in that people of a certain demeanor are criminals. It is unfortunately true that the media, either intentionally or unintentionally, portray and report stereotypes about black people. With the average American using the television for about 5 hours daily and 75% of Americans believing what they see on the television, these numbers might be the reason why racial profiling has escalated into such a large problem.

But how can we stop this behaviour of racial profiling? The first step should be addressing the issue, and letting the people who are being discriminated against that actions will be taken. The next step that could be taken is reducing the publicity of black people doing wrong things, but increasing publicity of black people doing good things. In a paper written by Professor Jonah Berger from the Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania, he explains about bad publicity and its impacts. “When a rumor circulated that McDonald’s used worm meat in its hamburgers, sales decreased by more than 25%.” This offers evidence of how all the negative publicity can harm how people view black people. Reducing the amount of coverage on these events could reduce the stereotypes about black people, and how people view them. We should also have a positive and open mindset towards black people, or anyone who is being discriminated. Instead of picking on the wrongs they did, and saying something like,“Watch where you’re going!”, you could highlight what they did well, and pay them a compliment, like, “Thanks for using your turn signals when you changed lanes”. Simple words like this can make a whole world of difference, and will help to break down the walls of racial profiling.




Sources:

"Analysis: Major Racial Disparities In Chicago, Illinois Police Traffic Stops."Analysis: Major Racial Disparities In Chicago, Illinois Police Traffic Stops. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2015.

Lafraniere, Sharon, and Andrew W. Lehren. "The Disproportionate Risks of Driving While Black." The New York Times. The New York Times, 24 Oct. 2015. Web. 24 Nov. 2015.

Lavender, Paige. "Obama Talks About His Own Experience With Racial Profiling." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2015

"Mr. President Could There Be Other Reasons for Racial Profiling? - Patriot Update." Patriot Update. N.p., 31 July 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2015..

Ashkenas, Jeremy, and Haeyoun Park. "The Race Gap in America’s Police Departments." The New York Times. The New York Times, 02 Sept. 2014. Web. 24 Nov. 2015.

Dr. Mirko Janc (Tech Typeset) 427 1999 Feb 15 15:33:29. Positive Effects of Negative Publicity (n.d.): n. pag. Jonahberger. Jonah Berger. Web.

Vegetarianism: a choice to make

Are you against all forms of discrimination? Sexism? Racism?

How about speciesism?


The smiley girl sits at the dinner table with her family, only that instead of a smile on her face, a slight saddened orah surrounded her. She sat there thinking about the murders; more murders that she could count on her fingers, more than the amount of bones in her body, she felt like stephen hawkings, as though nobody could hear her, yet she was still being heard. The girl was often approached by curious meat consumers if she ever missed the juicy meat sensation in her mouth, but not eating meat to her, was like popping every bubble in bubble wrap. “Honey, how about a little piece tonight?” her worried mother would ask.

The girl thought about this as she eyeballed the golden brown juicyness and the blood red inside of the steak, she shook her head and continued eating her salad.


Everybody knows somebody who is vegetarian, whether it’s due to religion, health, economics, or the environment they are in pushes them to take on the vegetarian diet. Life is drained from animals 6,000,000 times a year, 50,000 - 60,000 pigs slaughtered in a slaughter home each year, 8.5 billion birds being cut to pieces in a single week, all this and we still consider ourselves to be the kindest species on the planet.

What comes around, goes around is an old saying that traces back hundreds of years, if the concept of karma is said to be true, what is the future for us humans that are responsible for the death of over 58 billion animals? We are mass murders, how we morally treat animals is parallel to the holocaust. Adolf Hitler ordered an individual who was responsible for a slaughter house to create, and mimic what happens in a slaughterhouse to the Jews. We say what happened in world war 2 was horrific, how is this not any worse?


We are indeed aware of the mass murder that we are responsible for, yet 375 million people around the world take the initiative to try and change this, those 375 million are the non meat consumers.

Some of these vegetarians are challenged with issues such as: finding a community that accepts them for who they are, locating nearby restaurants with vegetarian/vegan food, or educating others about the issue that we are faced with. It is understandable for non vegetarians to think that the no-animal diet is a hard lifestyle, but the outcome for most is very positive.

“I want to become a vegetarian, but I just think it’ll be too much of an effort’ says a middle schooler, this portrays the opinion of many people. Although the concept of a non meat diet sounds very inconvenient the amount of pleasure that comes out of it is incredible. “I’ve been vegetarian for a while now, and the outcome is great! I get the right amount of protein, and the funny thing is, I even feel happier now” says a father of 4. This outlines the positive outcomes that people have had.


It is hard to be vegetarian but the ending result is more than you could imagine. The slaughtery that is happening right now needs a change, whether it’s an individual movement or an organisational change.


The smiley girl came home from school again. This time instead of a downhearted little girl, she was in good spirits. Maybe her family decided for a no meat Monday, or karma had finally gotten to her.

Teenage Labels

Picture this; Charlotte is cool, popular, pretty. She’s funny, kind and amazing with people. She loves sport and shopping and she’s your classic popular girl. Sophie is a little bit strange, she spends a lot of time completely silent on the outside but animated and noisy within. She loves books and writing fanfiction, she sucks at sport and her fashion sense is a little quirky. In any teen novel, Charlotte is the nasty mean girl who will eventually get her comeuppance and Sophie is the protagonist who will probably fall in love with the popular sporty guy (who is obviously secretly a great guy.) and she’ll become cool and popular and liked by all, leaving behind all her realism.

Pop culture gives us one of two views; the first, that Charlotte is cool and the one we should aspire to be, Sophie is boring and will never amount to anything anyway, and the second that popular girl =bitchy and that Charlotte is shallow and false while Sophie is dorky and relatable. We only get one view never the possibility that both girls are good people and that we can learn from both. Nerdy guys are either our protagonist (such as in “Life in Outer Space” by Melissa Keil) or, (and this is more common), a side character, sometimes shown to be kind and/or smart but never with a love interest or portrayed as attractive.

So why do we do this? Why do we categorize people and disregard evidence that doesn’t fit with the way they’re meant to behave? We have formed stereotypes for thousands of years, it provides an evolutionary advantage in that if we know that a certain type of animal (or person) behaves in a certain way we can be on guard around them. Friendship groups in a school setting are usually quite solid by the age of 11 and while heavy emphasis on “popularity” is most common in middle school and lower high school, most situations in which there are cliques will have some sort of social and popularity hierarchy.

Knowing why we stereotype doesn’t tell us why we associate things like “nerdiness” with being a loser and “popularity” with unkindness, when in reality, some studies have shown it’s not the kids at the top of the pecking order that do most of the bullying, and that many people have identified popular people as being popular because they’re kind and good with people. We also seem to have this idea in our heads that you can belong to one group and one group only! Apparently popular people can’t love Doctor Who and write fanfiction, and if you have glasses and love books you are destined to remain at the bottom. I personally know this to be untrue, as of of the most popular girls at my old school secretly loved to geek out over fanfiction with me.

So how can we leave these stereotypes behind? Well, it’s going to be hard to do that entirely. Teenagers are always going to label each other no matter how much we preach. In fact, some people are proud of their labels, proud of having something to connect them to others. But we need to remember that labels are a perception, not a perfect description. No label can Entirely sum up an individual and nor should we expect them to. Labels can be useful, they can be a badge of honor. But a badge shouldn't define a person and neither should any label.




"Why Nerds Are Unpopular." Why Nerds Are Unpopular. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2015. <http://www.paulgraham.com/nerds.html> Kennedy-Moore, Eileen. "Popular Kids." Psychology Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2015. <https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/growing-friendships/201312/popular-kids>.

Social Media's Influence on today's Youth

Eating disorders are becoming the norm in today’s society. Up to 30 million people of all ages and genders in the United States are affected by eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating. Almost 50% of people diagnosed with this illness also fit the criteria for depression. These disorders more commonly affect young girls aged 12 to 25 but is also starting to show more in boys as well.

Eating disorders are illusive to a lot of people. For some, they associate eating disorders with people who are extremely depressed or are looking for attention. This is not the case for most people. Social media is one of the main causes for eating disorders. This drives teenagers to the brink of doing anything to be “pretty”.

“I think that pictures on Tumblr and Instagram with models that have perfect bodies contribute to girls feeling insecure and that tv shows and movies glorify eating disorders and make them seem not as bad as they are.” says grade eight student Isabella Duncan.

For many people the “desirable” type of body they see on social media is just out of reach. Impressionable young girls and boys opening up Instagram on their phones and seeing photos of the good life, photos of flawless people with perfect bodies, perfect jobs and perfect lifestyles, going to amazing places on holiday and look like they're always having fun drives them to trying to be the same. These teens then think to themselves, maybe if I looked like that I would be as happy as them.

After seeing picture after picture teenagers start to detest their bodies and blame themselves. They start to think that maybe if they were just a bit skinnier, or just a bit prettier they would have it all. For many teens with social lives, it is hard to stay on a constant diet when there are so many temptations, and hard to find time to go to the gym regularly. Even if you manage to do all these things it still takes time to progress and lose weight. 

“In my friend group, we always complain about how we look and say things that we don't like about our bodies. I think that girls feel like they have put themselves down so they don't seem self centered or arrogant.” says Isabella Duncan.

Eating disorders are not just a “phase” or for attention. Social media has chalked up eating disorders to something they’re not; a passing trend that you use to lose weight and then move on. This is an important issue as it affects the people around you in their everyday lives.

Even though it seems like a scary thought, it is a reality for many people and it is important in today’s society for us to make it a mission to help spread body positivity and make every body type acceptable.

By Francesca Marshall

Is killing Sacred Cows in India the solution to an Economical Rise?

Two Indian artists in the state of Rajasthan were detained by the police recently for their art installation involving a life-sized cow hanging in the air. The incident reflects a sign of growing religious intolerance in India -- however, it may come as a surprise to most that what lies at the heart of the conflict is the sacred cow. Cows in India are revered and honored. They are respected for their gentle nature which also happens to be the main teaching of hinduism. This is why 80% of India does not eat beef. Despite this, India remains one of the world’s biggest exporters of beef.

In the year of 2015 so far, India has exported a whopping amount of 2.4 million tons of beef. According to a USDA report, it is believed that global beef exportation in India will rise to an outstanding 10.2 million tons, 3% higher than the forecast for October 2014. This is probably due to the fact that cow slaughtering greatly contributes to the economy. OMG facts states that there are more than 280 million cows in India -- surprisingly far exceeding the number of cars in America. “After understanding this fact, I believe that slaughtering cows for money can be a great way for an economy to rise. The world is eating beef.” said Ishaan Singh. This might be a good way of making money, but does this mean that Indians will kill their own sacred animal?

The impacts of cows slaughtering are deadly. These tragic events will continue to rise over and over again. Cattle slaughter in India is influencing many others to follow and do the same thing, to look for a better way and easier way to make money, by killing sacred cows. Ishaan Singh believes that the most influenced types of people would likely to be poor people. “ They would definitely be the ones looking for an easy way to make money.” he added. Cattle slaughtering can cause conflicts between people who still respect their sacred cows and people who are willing to continue to kill cows for a better financial status. In fact, conflicts have already taken place.

An example of a recent cow slaughtering tragic event involves Indian muslims and Hindus. A Indian Muslim was spotted leaving raw beef outside an Hindus house. This had frustrated the hindus. The hindus later found the man, and beheaded him in the temple. It is therefore evident that cow slaughtering is not a sustainable way for economy growth if it leads to conflicts. “This is a poor strategy for economic growth.The related conflicts would lead to the decline of the economy in other sectors,.” Ishaan Singh added.


The adverse impact on the environment is probably the most important reason why consumption of beef needs to fall. It is not the right way of making money if it just going to kill the planet. Brahma Chellaney, a noted author and strategic expert recently said,”'Meat production is about ten times more water-intensive than plant-based calories and proteins. For example, one kilogram of beef requires 15,415 litres of water to produce. Furthermore, meat consumption actually leads to more greenhouse-gas emissions annually than the use of cars does.” Brahma Chellaney’s recent talk on cow consumption sheds light on why cow consumption should be banned, and is therefore not a sustainable way of making money.

Health is another issue that people should be concerned about. Cattle slaughter for a better economy does not only kill cows, but can actually harm human health too. Beef products are loaded with saturated fat, artery- clogging cholesterol, and gives the chances of inheriting diseases such as heart diseases, diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis, alzheimer’s disease, asthma and also gives chances of developing impotence. This is not the end. While prone to eating beef, you ingest bacteria, hormones, and even some toxic that can accumulate in your body for years.

India are also the world's biggest indisputably dairy industry. Last year India had produced an outstanding 100 millions tons of milk, also surprisingly 15% more than the United States. It is often imported to Vietnam which is its current top importer, as well as saudi arabia, malaysia, and even egypt. How will India sustain their dairy industry, when the cows population continue to decrease as more and more are slaughtered for their meat? According to Pawan Kumar, a rabobank analyst, “The animals are needed to keep India's huge domestic dairy industry going. This information tells us that India will soon face a tough decision to either choose to stop beef exportation, or having lesser dairy products made when the population of cows continue to decrease.”

The next steps that India should take is to take the path of selling dairy products, and to end beef production. This path would stop conflicts from taking place. It would save the Earth. It would prevent the economy from crashing. Selling dairy products would also benefit religious Hindus as it it does not involve killing cows. It is also a great way of making money, and it will continue to keep the Indian economy going, without having to kill their own sacred animal.


Will India decide to do things differently? Or will economy continue to control people’s minds, with hell continuing to break loose?





By: Ishaan Singh

Awareness and ignorance of the public

Saturday, families sit together and watch the news. The headlines were blazing bright red saying terrorism and bombings, yet they were unaware of the fact that there is still people without electricity or heroes uncelebrated.

The news, providing information to the world about the place that they are living in yet the awareness levels for brewing problems is still low. In the news nowadays we normally see a lot of terrorist news and a lot about attacks, but not a lot about problems that actually haven’t been solved since they began a long time ago or smaller stories that matter to some. Part of the reason that the media is not facing these is because people tend not to want to know about this kind of thing and want to learn only the major news. This leads to a major issue of low awareness which could improve if the media or social media had more information about smaller stories.

Recently there had been a lot of news about isis and the plane shot down, but there are also greater things like Akon providing electricity for places in Africa and from research a huge percentage of people had no idea that had happened and were not aware of the fact that there are still some place in the world living without electricity . The bombings in France were tragic but it could have been a lot worse. On that day a hero stepped up, but was ignored, a Muslim security guard named Zouheir stopped the bomber from entering and reduced the death toll to just himself. If the public had been aware of this maybe the problem of stereotypes could have been helped since people have been categorising Muslims as terrorists because they were born there, this time the Muslim was the hero and yet no one knows about him“,I would like to learn smaller news other than the big headlines,”said an anonymous interviewee.

Media not only can create awareness, but it can also create ignorance and especially social media. Everyday, people use social media to show what they are doing, but getting too attached to their phone. When people post they usually ignore what is around them and by using social media they are essentially blocking out real life and being ignorant to their surroundings. Fast food restaurants are showing that people tend to be ignorant about what they don’t want to know. Fast and cheap, but unhealthy yet everyone still goes. People tend not to think about their future, but look at the present harms and effects only even when knowing that fast food causes obesity, diabetes and so on. Even in getting a job or education people tend to only get people that have good grades or sports, but forget that there are people who want to learn out there and people who work hard that might deserve more of a chance or opportunity to get to learn.

Awareness is a problem that can be solved if the media or social media could give a bit more information or story to things that are smaller in scale, but matter a lot. Ignorance about facts would not be a common thing and a lot of issues would be solved just by raising the awareness.




By:Chien

SODEXPOSED

By: Alessia

A vegetarian student is hanging out with her friends when one says “let’s go to Burger King”. They sit down at a table and dig in, everyone but her. She stares at the burger and wonders about that animal that has been slaughtered. She’s aware of her choices on what to put in her body, She aspires to live a healthy life and believes that animals should be able to, too. She is disgusted.

Kids are developing unhealthy habits of drifting towards meat options at restaurants or even at school. With the population rising, chickens are being grown unnaturally with the use of hormones for cheap. Of course, when we eat chicken, we eat these hormones too, which is why eating chicken often while growing and developing has more serious consequences on health. How are people getting involved with this issue? How are parents aware of what their kids are eating.

Parents send their children to school each day, most middle schoolers buy their lunch at the canteen managed by Sodexo. How are parents aware of what children eat each day, and more importantly, how do we know what quality sodexo food is at? The highly famous “Chicken 65” on Fridays, at $1.60. How is it possible to have good chicken at only a dollar and 60 cents. Kids aren’t aware of what they eat. The results to a recent survey says that 3/4 of an average eighth grade class never think about whats before them at the lunch table.

Canteen meals have been expected to be of the same quality as fast food. Fast Food Companies claim to have strict policies about the safety of their food, but how can we trust them? McDonalds—and fast food in general—is reputated to not be a balanced meal choice. However, McDonalds themselves believe that their food covers all the bases. A big Mac currently costs $4.80. If a Big Mac was made from free range corn fed chicken, it would cost $13, and not everyone can afford that.

As I mentioned earlier, 13 dollars for a burger isn’t affordable to many people, “Would you rather have to pay 30 times that money for your future healthcare due to the food you eat” said an anonymous student. It’s not just the poor meat at McDonalds that gives them this reputation, but the amount of oil and fried items on the menu. Seed-based oils aren’t usually very healthy, for example, Canola oil. Soy oil is highly processed, harmful to health and used in every McDonalds burger. And this is the standard expectancy of canteen food in the US. There currently aren’t any laws regarding the kinds of food required to be served at schools in the US. Is there a solution?

Vegetarianism. A trend today is to become “Vegan” or “Vegetarian”. There are many theories on how veganism and vegetarianism can solve environmental issue. The number of vegans has doubled in the US since 2009. Slowly, more and more people are taking on this lifestyle whether its for their health, religion or simply animal rights. The average person in the UK consumes over 85kg of meat per year and your average american consumes around 7,000 animals in a lifestyle. 7,000 animals. The real question here is, is there a solution? Is vegetarianism the solution? Is it the future? Red and processed meat consumption are associated with colon cancer. Evidence compiled that diets with high intakes of fruits and vegetables may reduce cancer risk. If more people took part in developping a vegetarian lifestyle, animals wouldn’t be killed at such a fast rate. According to the European Food information Council, 1 or 2 portions of meat suffice to get the weekly protein requirements.

The process and decision of becoming vegetarian or potentially vegan doesn’t happen immediately. Some people believe that they aren’t ready to take on the extremes on being vegan.

Phones And Teens

It used to be you go to school, you have a nice day and come back. For some it used to be that maybe you get bullied at school but you get through a day, and when the school day is over you can escape it, your home is refuge from the bullying. Now with phones added into this equation, there is no escape, no matter how far away you are from the bullies they can still get to you. So how safe is it really to own a phone?

Middle school can be a tough time for kids as they are constantly changing, physically and mentally. Most kids are given a phone when they are in middle school. To a kid receiving a phone is like winning a lottery ticket. The main reasons why kids are given a phone is because of safety reasons, it’s a way parents can be aware that their kids are safe wherever they are, but are the kids really safe? Approximately 9 in 10 teens have a phone, and around 1 in 5 are victims of either cyber bullying or text bullying. Only 1 out of 6 adolescents parents are aware of the intensity of cyberbullying, and therefore don’t consider the risk in handing a phone to their child.

Imagine this: You are a pedestrian waiting for the light to go green. In front of you see cars zooming past at full speed. To your right you see that most cars have stopped waiting for the traffic light to go green, in the distance you see car on your right heading straight towards the junction but did not seem like it was in the condition to stop. The driver was a teenage boy was driving his car at full speed but was paying absolutely no attention to the road in front of him as he was on his phone and seemed to be getting distracted. You can guess what this led to next. He drove ahead blindly, and ran a red light, a big truck rammed into the passenger side of his car, and his car rolled over several times, breaking glass and inflating the safety bag. He was dead. If only he was not on his phone. If only he payed attention the the road ahead. If only, but he did not.

Phones have not only made it easier for teens to get bullied but have also led to many driving accidents. 56% of teens have admitted to talking on their phones while driving, and 13% of teens have admitted to texting while driving. According to statistics teenagers are the most involved in car accidents. Irresponsible behaviour such as the one listed above, and lack of respect for the necessary safety precautions have been the main reason for the cause of such accidents.

These are definitely some very significant issues with some teens owning a phone, but is it the phones fault of the teens fault? Do parents need to take aways their kids phone because of these reasons, the answer is no. Michele L. Yabarra of Internet solutions for kids inc. agrees, she said, “There is no reason to become distressed or take kids cell phones away.” there is no reason to get too worried but parents should definitely be more aware of the way their teen uses their phone. Phones were made for communication, now they have become much bigger and have more than 1 purpose but that does not mean that it is okay for people to use their phone irresponsibly. Alongside the parents, teens should also start to take more responsibility, and be more cautious of their phone use. If you are getting bullied via your phone report it to your parents, they can help you. All in all, there is no harm in using a phone as long as you use it safely.

By: Aarushi Sachdeva

The Sexist Divide - What society teaches us from birth

“She’s a girl. She can’t play with us.” The voice echoed in the basketball player’s mind. She slumped down in the locker room, cradling her ball to her chest. The day’s events replayed in her head, from school to the bus ride, to basketball practice. She bent her head over, small, painful tears running down her face. Her face burned when she thought about practice. Hugging the ball so tight it hurt, she wondered how she was going to face school tomorrow.

This isn’t fiction. This athlete is only one of many facing sexism in their sports. Even in a school like UWCSEA (east), the sexist divide is still evident even in today’s world. The above example is a minor one, one of many that build up and damage an adolescent’s self-esteem.

A good example of sexism in early ages is a Toys”r”Us store, or most other toy stores. Looking at one from a distance, you can tell the difference in each half of the store. Pink and purple for girls, and every other color for boys. Kids grow up with this thinking, if one thing is used by girls, it can’t be used by boys.

Studies show that 90% of “girls’ toys” are colored pink and purple, while “boys’ toys” come in every color except pink. Some companies are starting to change, such as the Nerf “Rebelle” line, but there is still a long way to go before achieving actual equality.

Another part of this sexism is the kind of toys kids play with. Girls get to play with pink colored baking kits and makeup kits, while there are robot and train building sets for boys. What does this say about women’s role in life?

“Women are still remarkably underrepresented in the U.S. Congress, in science, math, engineering and technology—in any area that could remotely be identified as “the upper echelons of power”—well, it starts in the toy aisle” says Nancy Kaffer, from The Daily Beast. Toys should be neutralized, according to experts, because girls and boys should not have to conform their interests to what society thinks is best.

Fast forward a few years, into middle school. Where kids shift from playing tag to sipping drinks around tables. Similarly to how society picks toys for kids, it sets the standards for your behavior, from your clothes to your activities.

Walking into the H&M Men’s section is strange, but acceptable for a girl. For boys though, it’s a little stranger. Boys just can’t wear dresses. Why is it we have this judgment of what girls and boys should wear?

A possible explanation for this could be that in the past, men were viewed as superior to women. A woman wearing clothes from the Men’s section is unconsciously viewed as stepping up to a man’s level. On the other hand, choosing to wear a dress is stepping down a level for a man.

“Nice shoes, but aren’t they a bit boyish?” Asked a friend of a middle school student at UWCSEA. The shoes were colored red.

“We’d made progress in erasing arbitrary gender divisions….but we stopped” says Kaffer. Once upon a time, society became close to accepting a boy playing with a kitchen set, or a girl playing rugby. Except we didn’t get there.

In class, boys are often asked to help pick up heavy items, and generally expected to be louder and more active. Girls are expected to be more creative, or intelligent, and work harder than boys.

When playing sports, 3 out of every 5 girls feel they are underestimated, according to a study done in UWC. This affects many students, as it puts pressure on their self esteem.

“It does make me feel like I will never be taken seriously,” an anonymous source from UWC says. “People don’t take my love for science seriously, and that is quite discouraging”. It becomes more clear that underestimation or just not being taken seriously can affect a student’s passion for a sport, subject, or hobby.

Why is all of this important?

The reason is, all these minor things lead to as small, but much more impactful events in the future, such as discrimination against colleagues at work, or less opportunities for girls at college. “Subtler forms of sexism that women face can be even more difficult to handle than explicit discrimination,” says Jessica Valenti, writer for The Guardian. This evidence is significant because it demonstrates how hard it is to fix small but hurtful actions.

Men and women are not able to work, play and do everything in between without society choosing the rules. The small things that we see from an early age, like the choice between pink and blue, slowly build up over time, developing into standards for behavior, sport and intelligence. “For young women, there’s added pressure. Because once they get a decent job, they still have to contend with structural workplace discrimination, overtly sexist behavior and a weight of social expectations”, says Natalie Gil, also from The Guardian. Added onto previous evidence, this portrays what young women face in today’s world.

So the next time you go shopping, be aware of the number of small, insignificant forms of sexism that takes place. All of them are why we still believe men can’t wear dresses, or women are not as athletically capable as men. They are the reason girls feel discouraged when they proclaim their passion for science, or the reason boys feel insecure about their hobby of ballet or art. Our society needs to change this, and the small stuff is the starting point.

Or you could pick up a basketball and show them how it’s done.

By Rhea Goyal

Valenti, Jessica. "Everyday Slights Are Just as Harmful to Women as More Blatant Sexism." The Guardian. The Guardian News and Media Limited, 15 Nov. 2015. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.

Kaffer, Nancy. "Sexism Begins in the Toy Aisle." The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, 29 Nov. 2014. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.Gil, Natalie. "It's about to Be a Good Time for Young Working Women." The Guardian. The Guardian News and Media Limited, 23 Nov. 2015. Web. 2 Dec. 2015.

The Effects of Using Technoogy

Everyone believes that technology plays a big part in our lives whether we use it to text our loved ones or use it to can be useful in a way but it can also be a major distraction. People like to minimize their daily electronic life to experience the real world and not to be trapped in the social black hole and staring onto a screen. There a lot of great social opportunities and you are going to miss them if you stare down at a screen all day.

Have you ever used your phone so much that you just don’t want to get off it? It is just too hard to let go of it.

One reason why people should stop using their screens too much is that they will start to act different such as use their phone when they are not supposed to, fellow 8th grade students at UWCSEA says

“I use my phone 2-3 hours a day and sometimes I use my phone when I am in school and it distracts me when I am in class. I use my phone to manage my social accounts.”


Kids create many social media accounts to interact with each other whether it is friends or family. They use their social media in the wrong way as well. There are many types of social websites or such as facebook, instagram, snapchat, etc. If kids have the time they will just take their phones out of their pockets and check their social media. It isn’t bad to check social media but you can manage your time well to social media and not access your social media uncontrollably. Another distraction kids face these days are the games that they download. Kids can’t stop looking at their screens when playing games. When on public transport people, especially kids stand around at the exit staring at their screens. They don’t notice that there are other people around them. They are in their own world. It's not good to see kids in this generation staring at a screen. They could be doing something useful as well. Phones should not be overused as kids are trading their friends and family for a useless screen that is there only to waste your time and to entertain and make your life fun. But all a phone does is make you pay for it and phones take up most of your day.

“The internet is so big, powerful and pointless that for some people it is a complete substitute for life.”- Andrew Brown

What Andrew Brown is trying to convey in the quote, some kids use their phones like it is their life. All kids need to manage their time on their social media accounts and not to spend ridiculous amounts of time looking at a screen. There won’t be any problem if they manage time well. Spending about 30 minutes to and 1 hour is a reasonable time that a child should spend using their phone on a daily basis. A rising problem kids are facing is that their phones are keeping them awake at night.

A 8th grade student has unveiled that their phone keeps them awake at night until 1 in the morning almost everyday.

Using your phone at late hours will cause you to get less sleep and that might cause drowsiness the next day and you will start to have behavioural problems. Changing how much time you use on your phones will be helpful but using your phone for excessive amounts of time will cause to be different and trapped in your own world.


Using your phone at the wrong time is not correct, you should use your phones when you are free and not doing anything. Using your phones during school, no matter how much your phone distracts you. Even Though you would just take your phone out of your pocket if you are bored. It may seem okay to do that but in reality it is not correct. You can do something more useful rather than procrastinate on your phone.

“Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.”

- Gertrude Stein

Gertrude Stein has revealed that children will start to have social and behavioural problems whether it could be at school. Some children get separation anxiety when separated from their phone showing a different attitude without their phones. Teenagers need to learn that there is a lot more things in this world rather than a magical screen. In reality children are stuck on a phone. What children need to understand is that we should look up sometimes at the real world and not at a screen that tells us what is going in the world.        

By: Adhvay Krishnan :)

Third Culture Kids

She screams to Noshin about One Direction coming to Singapore, turns around to talk to Juliette about the math tuition on Saturday and throws an imaginary rugby ball at Jemma.

“Good catch” She laughs.

Noshin stares at her, the confusion all over her face. How can you have so many friends and be so different around each of them?

“Third culture kids tend to be very social and adaptive people because they are constantly having to make new friends.” Claims the website I Was An Expat Wife. So how socially different are third culture kids to normal kids?

“I think that because I’ve experienced so many different places and people I’m able to connect with a wider range of people.” Says an eighth grade student attending UWC. Having lived in quite a few countries the student has really been able to experience different people and cultures and as she said those things make her able to connect with a wider range of people. This anomaly is something very common to these world travelers and 95% of the interviewed subjects admitted to having a very diverse friend base because of this ability to connect with very diverse and differently unique people.

Some of the questioned subjects felt however that they don’t have much of a say in the friends that they make, “We are going to have a varied mix of friends because we are in a place where there are people from all over the world so obviously we are going to connect with very diverse people.”

So does this phenomenon occur because of their clearly different and more adaptable personalities or because they are simply put into a position where they don’t have much of a choice? Well according to the subjects it was an exact divide, fifty, fifty.

Author Courtney Runn from the article TCK for teens, suggests, “Having to say hellos and goodbyes very often these kids learn to establish deeper connections faster than most peers.” A lot of TCK’s find that after having to make friends so quickly so often it becomes a ‘simple concept’ and learn to skip past the uncomfortableness and awkwardness that adolescents know too well.

Despite only focusing on the TCK’s of today many adults struggle with their new more stable lifestyle. Twenty five year old Joel Winget, “I don’t like change, but I need it.” Many of these people find that there is a very unique thrill to changing environment, culture and even having to make new friends and transitioning into a usually more stable adulthood isn’t easy for all of them.

This reveals that in spite of having this constant ‘hardship’ of having to say a lot of hellos and goodbyes kids still learn to love this way of life. “The constant sense of uncertainty and fear of going to a new place and meeting new people is what I think that the excitement of life is all about. I can’t imagine living in one place my whole life and not going insane.” Says the fourteen year old TCK.

This paradox though is really only specific to these change craving migrants as after interviewing a non TCK they conveyed, “As I don’t particularly like change I can’t imagine having to adjust that often and make new friends so quickly. Leaving my life long friends now would break my heart.” And so it becomes even more clear that the different homes TCKs have has impact the way they look at making new friends and the way they look at change as a whole.

So is this a good thing or not?

Maria Foley, author of I was an expat wife.com suggests, “Because of their knowledge of other cultures TCKs get excellent interpersonal and intercultural skills,” However she also speaks of these kids having somewhat a fear of commitement especially with relationships. So this suggests that although these kids create relationships quickly they sometimes aren’t as deep as the normal only one culture kid.

 
So to the TCK readers, as you move forward in your adventure know that as you continue on the journey that is life you will find durable and sometimes endless relationships with both TCKs and non TCKs.

THE EFFECTS OF BODY SHAMING AND BODY OBJECTIFICATION

A girl with short hair walks down the corridor. As she turns into her class she hears an insult being called out behind her. “Gay,” a group of girls shout.

Today, body shaming has become a regular occurrence. Body shaming and sexualising people regardless of gender is a very dangerous thing. 5/7 of students of both genders in 8SMd have felt the need at some point in their lives to change themselves due to others opinions about their bodies.

There are many generalisations about body shaming. Often, people feel as though body shaming only happens to girls which is a stereotype in itself. It can happen to anyone, owing to the stereotype of the ‘perfect look’ as propagated by social media.

After carrying out a survey I learnt that 10 out of 14 people in 8SMd, are insecure about so many different parts of their bodies and just how they look. An anonymous source in this class has said, “ There have been multiple occasions where I have wanted to change what I have looked like to try and fit in with different people in different schools.” This evidence is significant because it shows that objectification does not just happen to adults and it does not just happen on social media. This represents that it can happen in school, at home and that people of all ages are affected by body shaming.

Girls and boys go to unreasonable extents to look like models or celebrities. “In the United States alone 1.5% of women / 4.7 million women and 0.5% of men / 1.5 million men are threatened by Bulimia, an eating disorder which is usually diagnosed in young adults.” says the Mirror-Mirror.org website. It has been diagnosed in people as young as 6 years old and can be diagnosed in adults too. The idea of a perfect body has unfortunately become a mindset deeply entrenched in society. This gets reflected in ads, social media, TV shows and movies. And sadly, this is the thinking that has seeped into children as young as 6 years old who in the process can become Bulimic.

Dress codes can be a massive problematic contribution to objectification. In August, 2015 Stephanie Hughes of Versailles, Kentucky was sent home from school for exposing too much of her collarbone. “Woodford County High School and the principal have been enforcing a dress code where girls can not show even their collar bones because it may distract their male classmates,” wrote Stacie Dunn, Stephanie’s Mum, on Facebook.Because school is a very influential place, dress codes have started to make girls and boys more conscious of what they are wearing and what they look like. This has made it much more visible that objectification can come from anywhere, even your teachers and fellow classmates.

Rhea Goyal, an 8th grade student has shared an experience saying that, “Because I am quite skinny people usually view me as somebody who cannot play sports because I do not look like I have a lot of muscle mass.” Unfortunately this is a stereotype that is placed on a lot of people due to their body image. Because of magazines and TV, we view athletes as big built and strong, yet because the stereotypes have so much power over us we never tend to overlook that materialistic mindset.

Media has played a pivotal role in creating unreal images of ideal beauty. For a long time now the ideal body for a women has been an hourglass figure. In order to be beautiful you have to have translucent skin and be extremely skinny to the point where it usually is impossible to have a figure like that. For a man it is all about a macho image and a six-pack body. As media evolved and social media became popular, people started to try and get justification about their looks through likes and comments on their pictures. Throughout this evolution we just started getting more and more materialistic about the subject of beauty.

A girl with short hair walks past a slightly overweight girl in the corridor and calls out, “Lose some weight!”

Words are powerful. Stereotypes are powerful. The sooner we stop body and objectification, the sooner we will start to realise that people are more than just bodies. As BeautyRedefined.org rightfully says, “See more. Be more.”

By: Rhea Shrivastava

SIBLING RELATIONSHIPS

Problem with sibling relationships - Are your sibling relationships healthy or unhealthy? 

Having an older sibling is good because you have someone to look up to even if you have your parents, but is it true?

Just imagine twins. Usually people believe that twin are best friends, right? But usually, people, even parents like one twin better than the other. Are the twins trying to steal each other’s spotlight? Yes. Are the twins trying to get people’s attention? Yes. They fight with each other to get people’s attention, and fight to get love from BOTH of the parents instead of one.

It is natural for sibling to fight. It is pretty hard to find siblings that get along with each other. Parents usually have the hardest time trying to get their children to get along with each other. It is not the chores, it is not the shopping, but it is their children. 

Sibling conflict usually happen because of parents, like it is a divorce, or your mum have a not so brilliant idea of having you to chose with your own seat in the dining table, and you and your sibling fight for the seat that is closest to the TV? Small arguments like this can drift sibling apart. Siblings with divorced parents relatively are closer to each other, because they rely on each other to survive through a single parent, while that parent is at work, the children will take care of each other, help each other when needed.

“We only argue about the most randomest things like who gets the last piece of chips or who is the best.” Ella, an eighth grader, agrees.

What about the people who are an only child? They usually have more friends and they tend to trust their friends more than the people with siblings. They have more trust on other people then their family members. The good thing about being a single child is that you do not have to fight for seats, the last piece of pizza, for anything.

They why are sibling relationships important you ask?

Sibling relationships are important because:

1. Friends might come and go, but you will have siblings will stick with you for your entire life. This relationships is one of your longest relationships that people have experienced.

2:Siblings have the same genes, the same interest, grown in the same environment. Siblings might be different, but you generally have the same interest, the same ideas, same hobbies etc. just because you share a house, perhaps sharing a room, even sharing the same food maybe. They know that they will always have each other, and that bond them together even more when they are together.

3. A support from an older sibling can drive academic achievement. The older sibling helps with work, while the younger sibling copies the older one, and the older sibling can give advice of what is good or not like which classes to take etc.

So how close is your sibling to you?

According to businessinsider.sg with a survey with 7,730 americans, only 30% will call their sibling for an emergency, and over 60% said that their sibling was one of their best friends.

Bonding with your sibling is really important, even if their parents treat them differently, your sibling is one of the most important people in the world. People tend to bond with their sibling more than bonding with their parents. Are you close to your sibling?

By: Lydia

Is technology ruining relationships?

Is technology ruining our relationships? I conducted a study only to find that more than half of the students who responded spend 4-6 hours on the laptops alone each day. A more universally relatable example would be on the 21st of November I was invited to a friends place but there was no conversation and a room filled with an awkward silence. Apparently it was more convenient to have a virtual conversation on the chat!!

I ran a study which included inputs from 20 different Grade 8 students. 50 percent of these students said that at least one of their parents is constantly on their phone or some form of technology. That’s a really staggering amount as this age of teens really need their parents attention. An anonymous student from UWCSEA also went to say that they repeatedly urge their parents to get off their phones but they don’t do so. Although it is understood that some parents have a lot of pressure from work the screen time must be limited and family time must be extended.

Did you know an eye-opening amount of 71 percent of teens use more than one kind of social media? This amount has to be reduced as smartphones are shown to facilitate shifts in teenagers communication and information landscape. These pieces of data already show how addicted we really are becoming to the virtual and made-up world.

Jabiz Raisdana, a Grade 8 English teacher also went to say that, “Social media is becoming an extra stage for our performance, people are just trying to search for validation.”

The PewResearchCentre also found out that one in three teenagers sends more than 100 text messages a day, or 3000 a month. This evidence is significant as it shows that this amount has to be reduced, texting could be the cause to many of our own social issues, such as bullying and being the cause of insecurity in people due to lack of attention.

On debate.org and anonymous user has also shared their strong opinion about social media ruining relationships. “People of young age are becoming so awkward, they don't even know how to interact with flesh and bones anymore. They don't know how to say hello without looking like a complete moron. They’re becoming very disrespectful to society by showing them their scalps more than their faces. (off topic: how many times did you miss the elevator because of some kid blocking the way while being distracted in the middle of writing a tweet? Ridiculous you guys!)” What is revealed here is that our actions are now getting to a level that is expressing disrespect and contempt to other individuals. It also illustrates that the youth are losing courage to have face to face conversations and put forth their views and ideas in real world interactions.

Some ways we can stop surrounding ourselves with these anti-social people (or becoming one!!) are, find an interest which you really love... play a sport, read a book or go out and meet friends and family! Another way is to stop yourself from too much screen time is make a time limit and stick to it. For example, only using your laptop for an hour each day. Also assign yourself some reading time, tell yourself you have to read at least thirty pages of a book each day.

Although technology is contributing positively to our world we must learn to control and moderate it. After all, eating something too sweet can leave a bitter aftertaste.

By Shrishti Khetan

Don't Listen to the Stereo

From a young age, we are introduced to a world full of stereotypes. Specifically, gender. The media, our parents, our religion and our society are just some of the aspects that influence our beliefs and in a way, have overtime created gender stereotypes. They can sometimes teach us unideal ways of living. Stereotypes categorise humans into groups that tell us what we are meant act or be like, which in result can make many feel untrue to themselves or like outcasts.

Her life has been set out for her. Finish school, get married, have kids and support the breadwinner of the family.

Noshin is terrified as she overhears her mother on the phone with her grandmother, sobbing one night, saying that her life has been ruined by the men in their family. Her grandmother’s whole life consisted of assisting men and she could hardly be her own person. She didn’t want to live like that anymore. Noshin cries to herself thinking about how unfair her grandmothers life was. “In my country, Bangladesh, women are treated more as maids” said Noshin Saiyaara, 14. “The life of a girl; clean the house, cook and take care of the kids.” This makes it clear that to this day, there are still unequal and stereotypical behaviour in society. This could be because of her religion and that they believe it's right. But is it? Should this be socially acceptable in a society where more and more cultures have grown to be more open about the decisions that women make to become more of equals and not maids?

Noshin told our journalist that she wants change. Her siblings and herself are determined to change the traditions of her family to benefit their lives for the better. “I want to change the routines of my family. I’m not going to sit around and do nothing, I want to work and contribute to my family.” Her experience has empowered her to change their ways, to be who she aspires to be in the future.

From a variety of people that took part in a survey on their thoughts about where stereotypes originated, the most commonly agreed opinion, with more than 50% of the surveyed people, is that stereotypes have been an ongoing tradition for a very long time. For instance, during medieval times there were little to no women as knights and it was the men's job to be chivalrous towards the women. Women were thought to be more delicate so their jobs were often to do housework and cook and maintain the family.

In modern day, we have come to a point where stereotypes have been advertised so much, that they have started to infect more and more of the human species into thinking that they might be true. Isabella Duncan, a student from an 8th grade english class thinks that “Overtime, stereotypes have been reinforced by people with fixed mindsets.” In many ways this is true. Through the people in the media and our society, the message that women and men are different and not equals is very clear statement. You may not realise it, but everyday the commercials you see can have traces of gender stereotypically and it’s hard to realise it because they’re just so common.

Many ideas are reinforced through television to a specific audience. To do this, commercials have to make it relatable to the audience hence, showing things a girl and/or boy would do. In the case study “GENDER STEREOTYPES IN MASS MEDIA” by Malgorzata Wolska, she states “More and more commercials are directed to children. They indicate ‘the proper place’ in the society for girls and boys. Girls are shown as babysitters nursing dolls or cleaning house with a pink cleaning kit, whereas boys do sports or play computer games.” It mentions that most commercials main target audience is children, so the concept of gender stereotypically is already being engraved into their heads. In the future, when they understand how it impacts their identity, they will have a ‘template’ to follow.

Everyone can be affected because of gender stereotypes in many ways. Having to be a certain way and being surrounded by people who support gender stereotypes, can sometimes result in peer pressure and bullying. Life as a middle schooler can be hard, considering that there are lots of pressures with fitting in with others. A middle school student who wished to remain anonymous, tells their story “I am a dancer and a singer and that's what I want to do when I'm older. Ever since I was young, I've been bullied for doing what I like to do. I started hanging out with girls because some of them had the same interests in dance as me or they just understood. I think boys are more disturbed with the stereotype issue and they find it harder to welcome misfits, than girls do.” What is revealed here is that sometimes, people can get peer pressured if they don’t follow a stereotype because it's unfamiliar to others, so the action and person is slightly alienated.

What's strange, is that it's harder for a boy to enjoy something that usually a girl would like, than the other way around, because they usually get picked on by other boys who are more manly. Rhea Goyal’s theory for this is that “In the past, boys have generally been viewed as stronger, smarter etc. while girls were viewed as inferior to boys, so now society says it’s okay for a girl to move up to a boy’s standard, but not okay for boys to move down to a girl’s standard.” It suggests that by being a boy and doing things a girl would do, it would make you less of a man, and that you are admitting to being weak.

Lately there has been less discrimination towards people that happen to go against the grain of a stereotype, but it still happens. If you are someone that is in this situation, know that you are not alone and that there are always going to be people to help and are going through something similar. Its great to be yourself, to be unique. Don’t let stereotypes and hateful comments from others hold back what you desire to be or do. “There shouldn't be any barriers or force, because people's choices are their own,” said Noshin Saiyaara.

Let's imagine that all these concepts have been compiled and put into a stereo. Some of the music could be great, and you like to listen to it, but sometimes there is going to be bad music. People might have different tastes to you, but you don’t need to change your taste to please others.

Success, or just stress?

The high schooler sighs as she glances at her clock,1:49 am. Her headaches, she can barely keep her eyes open from the long nights of studying and has got little sleep during the past few weeks. She stares at her textbook, thinking hard, then scrunches her paper into a ball in frustration. She sinks down into her chair as the her hope fades away slowly like a fire turning to ash.

Homework is meant for students to continue their school learning outside class but for many, studying for long hours each night, pressure from parents, frequent exams, tests and assignments only leads to a weight of stress on their shoulders.

Too much homework can lead to stress, negative behaviour and health problems, depression and a lot worse. Research shows that in South Korea, the amount of teen suicides rise each year dramatically as exams in school starts. According to the National Statistical office, 1,000 students from ages 10-19 committed suicide from 2000 to 2003 due to stress in school studies. This shows the high stress levels in Korea that are leading to teenagers committing suicide as a last resort. In addition, Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union and the Korea Youth Counselling Institute have surveyed Korean teens on if students had considered the idea of suicide. 48% of all the students had suicide ideation.  

Just as in South Korea, in UWC students are feeling stressed in school studies. A high school student says she often feels stressed and tired from the amount of studying. “Tests in high school have become very overpowering and stressful. It gets especially tough because of the upcoming IGCSE’s,” she says. Studies have shown that more than two hours of school homework everyday is counterproductive and she agrees, “When I am stressed, I tend to sleep very late and am up till 1 to 2 am studying, which leads me to being very tired at school and unable to study or understand what the teacher is saying,” she says. The National Sleep Foundation recommends that teens should be getting at least 9 and a half hours of sleep each night, however 58% teens sleep less than 7 hours each night due to studying.

Stress from school studies leads to the question, what is causing this pressure in middle school students? Is it self pressure to get better grades, peer pressure to be as clever as your friends, pressure to not disappoint your teachers? These could all be reasons why students face pressure to do well in studies, but most students say that the pressure to do well comes from their parents.

Another middle school student explains the harsh consequences of not doing good enough on exams at school. “I am always very stressed when doing tests because I know that if I don’t do well, there will be consequences. One time, my parents were so disappointed with my grade that my mum didn’t allow me to meet up with friends or use my phone for 2 months as well as doing intensive maths studying every day,” she says.

How do we stop stress in studies? Since most of the pressure on school studies in middle school comes from parents being harsh on their children, parents should be more forgiving and help their child improve positively, not through stress. Should parents lecture their child? Limit their activities? Punish the child? According to the University of Michigan researchers, parents should create a home environment that stimulates learning. When there is a good environment at home and good parent and child interactions, children perform better. Punishing and lecturing children and teens results to the child feeling more pressure and stress to do better and can lead to the breaking of family relationships, health issues and negative behaviour.  To prevent stress, parents should motivate and support their children not create more stress. Choose between the path to stress or the path to success.

Sources:

"Statistics Korea." Statistics Korea. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2015. <http://kostat.go.kr/portal/english/index.action>.

Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2015. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_South_Korea>.

"Is Too Much Homework Bad for Kids' Health?" Healthlines RSS News. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2015. <http://www.healthline.com/health-news/children-more-homework-means-more-stress-031114>.

"Teens and Sleep." Sleep for Teenagers. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2015. <https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/teens-and-sleep>.

"Bad Report Card: Are Parents Too Tough? | University of Michigan News."Bad Report Card: Are Parents Too Tough? | University of Michigan News. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2015. <http://ns.umich.edu/new/releases/23062-bad-report-card-are-parents-too-tough>.