Mind's Eye Prep 2022

2022

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Happy Reading books are still the ultimate in escapism

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In a magazine written by school pupils under thirteen you might expect a few pieces about climate change, robots, electric cars and the horrors of plastic. After all, young people with their whole lives ahead of them are concerned about the future.

And since we now know that a happy future depends upon a healthy present you wouldn’t blink at a few more articles about diet, exercise, gaming, racism, social media, smart phones, vegetarianism and mental health.

But when the same magazine covers ecology, gender, mysterious disappearances (human and animal), celebrity, life on Mars, fashion, solitude, hair loss, flags, reading, homelessness, cryptocurrencies, dreaming, refugees, cancel culture, energy drinks, cricket, women’s football, sailing, caving, religion, neuroscience, retroliving, blues music, language-learning, birdwatching, space tourism, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, VAR and the importance of education, you might share my wonder and delight.

And a delight it’s been once more to harvest this annual crop of non-fiction from top prep schools in the South East, and to marvel at the expertise, wisdom and maturity on display, let alone the fluency and precision of the writing.

Huge thanks to all of the writers, who have taken so much care over their work; to their teachers, who have encouraged and channelled their creative energy; and once more to my brilliant colleagues at King’s, the inspirational David Hopkins and Peter Roberts in particular, who have fostered this project every step of the way.

I hope you enjoy the following.

Over to you.

Anthony Lyons Editor The King’s School Canterbury Design by Cobweb Creative www.cobwebcreative.org

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By Nadim

18 Dying Planet

By Nina Whately

20 Let’s Walk

By Matilda Ruther ford

22 Shooting Star s

By Alice Burns

25 Beetroot or Beef

By Imogen Oscrof t

42 Flying the Flag By joseph Berry

45 Happy Reading

By Elsie Ball

48 Hidden Homeless

By Flora Hay

50 Token Gesture

By James Gronow

52 A Million Dreams

By Martha Williams

26 We did it!

By Flora McLach lan

28 No Fin to see Here

By Guy Morgan

30 Battle of th e Bots

By Tom Godfrey

32 Fast Bucks

By Noah Roach

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Yellowstone National Par k was going fast until, as downhill Poppy Marr of SJCS poin government ts out, the grasped the regulating r ole of wolve s.

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ellowstone National Park was first established by President Ulysses and the US Congress in 1872.

Being one of the first national parks, its intention was to protect the natural ecosystem for hundreds of years to come. The park spans an area of 8,982km² and contains some of the world's most incredible lakes, mountain ranges, waterfalls, rivers, forests, canyons, volcanoes and hydrothermal features. Yellowstone is one of the most popular sights in America with around two million tourists visiting the park every year. The biodiversity and incredible geology make it an amazingly diverse environment. So how can the existence of one animal affect its entire ecosystem?

In 1914 the US Congress granted funds to ‘destroy wolves and other prairie dogs’ in an effort to protect the diminishing elk population. The park followed this request so, by 1926, hunters had killed 136 wolves. By 1935 wolves had been practically eliminated, which resulted in the wolf being one of the top mammals on the Endangered Species List in 1973.

The coyote became the top canine predator, but without it being able to take down larger animals the predatory pressure on elks decreased. Their population expanded, which caused issues for other species; being safe in most areas, the elks didn’t need to move a lot. The result was overgrazing, and there was less vegetation for other animals since willow trees and other shrubs decreased. Birds couldn’t nest in the trees and beavers, which used willows to survive in the winter, became less common.

In 1995 these issues were recognised and the federal government reintroduced fourteen north-western wolves from Canada. This had a knock-on effect for the national park: the elk population decreased, from over 15,000 

“

We all knew how the existence of one species could alter a food chain, but who would have thought it could change the geology too?

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d e v a S by the

Wolf Mind’s Eye Prep | 2022

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As they began to be hunted once again, the elks started to avoid more dangerous places, such as riversides, valleys and gorges.

When coming out of hibernation, the hungry bears had more carcasses to feed on and healthier trees produced more berries. The increase of fruit and vegetation also provided songbirds to 6,000. As they began to be hunted with food. Sightings of robins, sparrows once again, the elks started to avoid and meadowlarks became more more dangerous places, such as regular. The wolves also killed coyotes, riversides, valleys and gorges. Thanks which meant more mice, shrews and to the elks keeping on the move, rabbits survived. This prey also helped vegetation started to weasels, badgers, foxes, regrow evenly. In some hawks and other birds of the reintroduction places, the heights of prey. The population of all of wolves had a salutary effect trees quintupled in these species rose. on the biodiversity only six years. Willow and ecology of trees became healthier So, the wolves had an Yellowstone. and more robust so incredible effect on the beavers were able to ecosystem. But how did eat them. When the wolves were first they alter the geology? Amazingly, the reintroduced, there was only one behaviour of the rivers in Yellowstone beaver colony. Now Yellowstone is changed. They began to meander less home to at least nine. The beavers because regenerating forests stabilized build dams that provide safer habitats the banks and there was less erosion, for otters, muskrats, reptiles and ducks, and more pools formed. This was good and native migrating fish species need for wildlife habitats. the dams to alter the flow of the river to help reproduction. With more fish came extra food for bears and foxes.

When coming out bears had mor of hibernation, the hungry e carcasses to healthier trees produced more feed on and berries.

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ve, keeping on the mo Thanks to the elks ly. en to regrow ev vegetation star ted

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It can take decades to restore a habitat but only a few months to get back to square one.

But conservation is tricky. It can take decades to restore a habitat but only a few months to get back to square one. In the past few months twenty Yellowstone wolves have been shot. According to park officials this is the most recorded in a single hunting season for over 25 years. It is estimated that now only 94 wolves remain. Since it is only the beginning of Montana’s hunting season, who knows how many more will be killed? The superintendent, Cam Sholly, has attempted to ban hunting in the nearby area but Montana’s Republican governor, Greg Giafante, who himself shot one on Yellowstone’s wolves last year, denied the request.

All in all, the reintroduction of wolves had a salutary effect on the biodiversity and ecology of Yellowstone and created one of the most remarkable trophic cascades ever recorded. We all knew how the existence of one species could alter a food chain, but who would have thought it could change the geology too?

meant more led coyotes, which kil o als s lve wo e Th This prey also rabbits survived. and other mice, shrews and wk ers, foxes, ha s dg ba s, el as we helped birds of prey.

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how exactly its owner co did mpany, Wizards of The make Dungeo Coast, Dragons sud ns & denly become so popular?

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ungeons & Dragons nearly went bust in 1982 due to a moral panic and a belief that some suicides were possibly related. But now it is extremely popular and by the end of 2020 there were over 48 million players. This is a dramatic increase from May 2019 of 34.3 million players over 18 months, when in the 1980s there were only hundreds of thousands of players. So how exactly did its owner company, Wizards of The Coast, make Dungeons & Dragons suddenly become so popular?

First, let’s understand the history of Dungeons & Dragons. It was created in 1974 by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson as a small roleplaying game. It became popular in the late 1970s although it had its own financial difficulties in 1983 and again in 1995 while it was owned by TSR Hobbies. The problems in 1995 caused TSR to be bought by Wizards of the Coast in 1997. Wizards of the Coast were extremely successful and created three more Dungeons & Dragons editions.

Wizards of the Coast made Dungeons & Dragons popular by releasing many extra rulebooks that players could use to create characters. They released five rulebooks in six years, which is pretty impressive. On top of that, in Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition Wizards of the Coast attracted a wider audience by including many pictures of different ethnicities and genders.

Given that 2020 was mostly spent in lockdown, a lot more people have been on streaming channels watching videos. Twitch is a common place for people to watch these videos. Critical Role is a long-running web series in which a group of voice actors use Dungeons & Dragons mechanics to build an improvisational story.

Critical Role have made more money than anyone else on Twitch, making $9,626,712.16 from August 2019 to October 2021.

Another reason Dungeons & Dragons is popular is that it actually works well on Zoom. You can use online dice rollers and online information to play the game, and in lockdown lots of people wanted hobbies to pursue regularly with their friends. When you can do something online easily, people are more likely to do it if they have nothing else to do.

Overall, Dungeons & Dragons has been very successful, and I think it deserves this. It is a game with great potential, which Wizards of the Coast have used really well. Dungeons & Dragons is more than five times more popular than the next most popular similar game, Shadowrun, according to Google.

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New

Rules

Imo Macleod of Broo mwood Hall reckon s that Caster Semenya, a track at hl

ete who suffers from hyperandrogenism, should be allowed without question to compete as a woma n.

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re you male or female?

Seems like an easy-enough question. But for someone who identifies as a female and is being accused of being male, the consequences of that simple question may be far-reaching. That, in a nutshell, is Caster Semenya. She is a brilliant runner but, due to a genetic anomaly, she is not only known for her running.

Caster was born a woman but has a medical condition known as hyperandrogenism, meaning she has high levels of male sex hormones such as testosterone. This makes it difficult to categorize how she competes in the Olympics. The resulting debate has raised much controversy about her rights and whether she is permitted to compete. Have you ever had a talent, say drawing, cooking, or even fixing cars, yet, instead of your talent 12

Mind’s Eye Prep | 2022

being noticed, your rights have been demolished because you appear different?

Paula Radcliffe, the female marathon world-record-holder, said: "The effects of elevated testosterone on performance can’t be ignored. I Caster Semenya identifies as a woman truly believe this is in the interests of and has never publicly discussed her protecting female athletes’ rights and medical history. But competition." Martina ever since she arrived since she arrived on Navratilova, the 59on the global scene a time Grand Slam tennis the global scene a decade ago she’s decade ago she’s been champion, has been the subject of constant been the subject of one of the most vocal constant scrutiny scrutiny while the media critics of trans athletes and her fellow athletes competing as women: have speculated about her anatomy. ‘It’s insane and it’s cheating. I am happy People have misgendered her and to address a transgender woman in argued that she shouldn’t be allowed to whatever form she prefers, but I would race against other women. This debate not be happy to compete against her. It has raised awareness of how much would not be fair.’ Perhaps never before pressure athletes are under. How does has a female athlete faced such brutal the spotlight ruin their confidence and scrutiny by fellow competitors, sports passion for their sport? If Caster was officials and journalists. born a woman, shouldn’t she be able to compete with other women?

her accomplishments have decreased due to the ban on her competing and increasing scrutiny.

Semenya was barred from competition and subjected to sex tests. This affected her mentally and physically and, since this, she has shown a decline in her success. She won the women’s 800 metres in 2012, but since then her accomplishments have decreased due to the ban on her competing and increasing scrutiny. It is unjust to treat someone differently because of their genes. If she is a naturally talented runner, she should be allowed to compete. Just because she is faster than the rest does not mean she should be banned.

The International Association of Athletics Federations, known as the IAAF, recognised the complaints about Semenya and told her that if she wanted to continue competing she would need to take drugs to lower her testosterone levels. This caused controversy because traditionally athletes are not allowed to take hormone-altering drugs before competing. This goes against Olympic rules: if any other athlete were to take drugs they would be seen as cheating.

This makes the situation even harder to solve, as some people say that if she competes then she is cheating, but others say that she would be cheating and going against the rules if she were to take the drugs.

a enya, h Sem natural it w y wh ha n wit e we woma ntage, ar iquing a it v r ad nd c e is ing a judg r when sh lly he ura rt? y nat simpl o her spo t d suite

Mar t the ina Nav 59-t r ime atilova S l G a , cha mpi m tenn rand o is one n, h a voc of the s bee n a tra l crit most ics ns a com o t pet ing hlete f as w s ome n.

In every sport there are specific body parts and features that are natural advantages for the athletes. For an example, professional swimmers usually have irregularly large feet, so they are able to move through the water extremely fast. Another example is basketball players, who are tall and can be closer to the hoop. Overall, in almost every sport there are natural advantages for every player. Caster Semenya’s natural advantage is how fast she is and her strong and muscular body. So why with Semenya, a woman with a natural advantage, are we judging and critiquing her when she is simply naturally suited to her sport?

Overall, this case is just one of many where athletes are under scrutiny and pressure from the public. In addition, this is an example of how individual rights are so important in every workplace, including the Olympics. We can respect and make a place for everyone no matter what they look like or how they identify. I think that, though she is faster than other competitors, Semenya should be able to compete. And I do not think it is fair that she has to take drugs just to take part in something she is passionate about.

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Mano House the n to a E f o er ious the myster Louie Stoess to d e n e p p a at h . wonders wh 5 to Seattle 0 3 t h ig l F f hijacker o

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After the pl refueled, he ane is o the pilots to rders Mexico City fly to . Midway through th e lowers the flight he rear steps and jumps.

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t’s 24 November 1971, the day before thanksgiving.

‘D. B. Cooper’ boards the Northwest Orient Airline Flight 305 heading from Portland, Oregon, to Seattle, Washington. He is believed to be in his midforties and around six feet tall and carries a briefcase.

Shortly after take-off from Portland, Cooper hands a flight attendant a note, claiming he has a bomb in his briefcase. To prove this, he opens his case to reveal several wires, sticks of dynamite and a battery. He also hands the attendant a ransom note, demanding $200,000 and four parachutes. After the plane lands in Washington, Cooper lets 36 hostages go but forces some flight crew to stay on the plane. After the plane is refueled, he orders the pilots to fly to Mexico City.

Midway through the flight he lowers the rear steps and jumps. He is never seen again.

What happened to him? Our first theory reckons that Cooper never survived the jump, or died later that day.

This is the most likely outcome. It is assumed he landed in a woodland area where bears and cougars could have mauled him to death. Also, the FBI claimed that Cooper could not have landed safely because weather graphs at the time show that it was stormy weather.

Our second theory says that Cooper was really Richard Mccoy Jr. A pilot by the name of Dan Gryder claims that he knows Cooper was Mccoy. Gryder believes that the FBI read the weather graphs incorrectly and were wrong to assume ‘Cooper’ could never have landed safely. Mccoy was arrested six months later for a botched attempt at another hijack, just like Cooper’s, and was sentenced to jail for 45 years. He escaped in 1974 only to be killed in a shootout with the FBI.

because he has spent years working for political causes and helping others. He spent his time in the Vietnam War helping refugees and would witness and speak out against the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1984.

Sadly, Peterson has now died at the age of ninety-four.

Our fourth and final theory is that Cooper is still in hiding. Although it is unlikely, it is still possible, because Cooper could have changed his name and started a new life. We also don’t know what Cooper would now look like. In 1980 a bag filled with $5,880 was found in the sandbanks of the Columbia River, which could mean that Cooper landed and then buried some of the money, ruling out our first theory. But I am not sure if this is true. There is also a big possibility that Cooper has already died of old age.

In the end, I think Cooper could not have stayed hidden after being hunted for 45 years, and there have been no leads except a moneybag, which is not really that conclusive. I now think that, after so long, we will never solve this mystery. 

Our third theory suggests that Cooper was actually Sheridan Peterson. Peterson looked the same as Cooper and was in the same age group as Cooper when he pulled off the hijack. Not only this but Peterson was a trained smokejumper and did skydiving as a hobby.

But it still seems unlikely that Peterson did the hijacking

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Poaching s i s i Cr Nadim Cortas of Newt on Prep laments th e destruction of wildlife and the deva station

poaching.

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oaching is the illegal trafficking and killing of animals. Over 150,000 animals are killed every year. This is done to obtain game meat, ivory for jewellery and musical instruments, illegal pets and the animals' fur for carpets.

Poaching has been a problem for a long time, but it was not properly addressed until the 1800s. But it’s still going on.

Just under 200 years ago ivory was used everywhere. Most people considered ivory to be the equivalent of gold and almost every rich person owned something made of ivory. During the colonisation of Africa, around 1,000 tonnes of ivory were sent to Europe from Africa. Now poachers are illegally killing elephants and rhinos to sell on the black market. After they sell their ivory it is made into traditional medicines, jewellery and other luxury items. The 16

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of ecosystems brou ght about by

rhino’s horn is made of keratin, which nothing is done to stop this slaughter is the same material that now, all these animals will makes up your hair and be extinct within a decade. your nails. Rhino horns Killing animals can also Why do people are mistakenly believed have a huge impact on the poach? The to cure many different answer is simple: surrounding environment money. diseases.

Consequently since ecosystems will they are sold for £3,000 to be altered when one of £7,000 per pound. Imagine the animals is extinct. having hair and nails in your medicine.

Unless the animals in these ecosystems manage to adapt fast enough, all the On average, 96 African elephants are creatures in their environment will killed every day, which means that in eventually die out. one year 34,560 elephants are killed.

At this rate African elephants will be Why do people poach? The answer is extinct in under two years. Likewise simple: money. Up to £160 billion are every year around 100,000 pangolins made from the illegal animal and plant are killed, mainly for their scales. All trade. Many people in the world need eight species of pangolins are on the this money and, sadly, choose to do this verge of extinction. In 2019, 124 tigers illegal job. Many poachers are taken were killed, mainly for their prized fur. to prison, even though they were just They are the most endangered big trying to survive. Poaching is still wrong cat, with only 5,000 left in the wild. If but tackling poverty will definitely have

Adopting an animal means that you are paying for its safe enclosure to keep it safe from poachers.

an effect on the number of poachers.

And if people stop encouraging poaching by not buying ivory and helping to tackle poverty, there will not be any need to poach.

There are good people involved, and there have been many efforts to stop poaching. The WWF, for example, is finding safe enclosures that are similar to the animals' normal habitat to keep them safe from dangers such as poaching. Over 40 species have been saved by the WWF. Adopting animals is a great way to keep animals safe.

Adopting an animal means that you are paying for its safe enclosure to keep it safe from poachers. The more people help to end poaching, the faster animal numbers will increase.

We should all play our part in the end of poaching. If poaching stops then animal numbers will increase and the food chains will stabilise again. The WWF is training anti-poaching patrols and helping societies living alongside endangered species by encouraging wildlife tourism. If we act now, we will be able to save our wildlife. 

eve r 100 y year , are 000 pa aroun fo kille ngoli d All r their d, main ns pan eight scal ly e g s ver olins pecies s. are ge of of e xtin on the ctio n.

What can you do? ● Donate to the WWF ● Get friends and family involved ● Adopt an animal by scanning the QR code below

g the Durin tion of 00 nisa colo round 1,0 re a e , w a Afric of ivory rom f es tonn o Europe t . a ic sent Afr

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t e n a Pl

uses lains what ca n do to what we ca d n a e g n a h climate c eversed. ensure it is r

of JKS exp Nina Whately

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We walk pa unfazed ever st trees y realising ho day, never w vital they are for hum anity and other anim al species’ survival on Planet Earth.

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ecent news has been about our planet heating up, causing forest-fires and damaging habitats, and about sea levels rising. Nature is being destroyed and lives are being lost and it’s all down to three human interferences.

We walk past trees unfazed every day, never realising how vital they are for humanity and other animal species’ survival on Planet Earth. We need these living organisms so much because they take carbon dioxide (CO2) out of our atmosphere and then release oxygen (O) for us to breathe. In Brazil, the biggest forest in the world is being destroyed and we need to stop it.

The Amazon is disappearing. It is being cut down to make space for palm oil plantations, cattle grazing and housing. An entire family of orangutangs could lose their home just so we can eat a chocolate bar or wash our hair with shampoo. Birds will be distressed, hearing our malicious metal machines and hurriedly flying away from their carefully constructed nests so we can enjoy steak for dinner. Animals should not be losing these beautiful tree-havens simply so we can enjoy the little pleasures in life.

Another issue is plastic pollution. This is just as serious as deforestation and there are two types: ocean pollution and landfill. Ocean pollution is when, instead of using the three r’s (reduce, re-use and recycle) people decide to absent-mindedly dump their waste in the ocean.

This puts hundreds of animals’ lives at stake; there have been many cases where turtles have been trying to free themselves from plastic drink holders; seals have got their fins stuck in plastic items, meaning they can’t swim up to the ocean’s surface to breathe, and fish have swallowed microspheres (miniscule plastic particles), causing failure in their digestion systems.

The other type of plastic pollution is landfill. Since it takes plastic so long to decompose (1,000 years), it is left in the middle of nowhere to sit and rot. Not only is this an eyesore and spoils glorious views, but it also can be very harmful to animals, just like ocean pollution.

Creatures mistakenly consume plastic believing it is food, and this heavily damages their digestive systems.

The last human cause is the burning of fossil fuels.

Currently, most factories around the world make products by heating varied materials using coal fires and setting oil alight. Many other modes of transport and everyday items burn fossil fuels to function too, such as boats with engines, ovens and camping stoves.

Also, plastic is made in factories by being warmed up by fossil fuel fires and moulded into the shape it needs to be. These greenhouse gasses travelling into our atmosphere are contributing to the heating of the world, and all the way over in Antarctica and the North Pole ice is crumbling away and gradually destroying the habitats of animals that live there. Instead of burning fossil fuels, we can use renewable energy made from wind turbines and solar panels or biofuel, which is any hydrocarbon fuel produced from a living organism.

Sadly people don’t realise just how many ways we can defeat climate change. An easy and simple one is the three r’s: reduce, re-use and recycle. Make sure you buy fewer disposable items and instead get things that are made from sustainable materials and will last a long time. You can also try not to buy products that contain palm oil, and consume locally grown food because food grown far away must be transported and that releases lots of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

One minor change to a bad habit in your everyday lifestyle could change an animal’s life forever.

Governments all over the world are trying to reduce carbon emissions and other damaging factors little by little, but their efforts alone aren’t enough. We need to take charge and give helping our climate our all. Get to it and make a difference today. 

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ates th of Vinehall celebr Matilda Rutherford se of them all humblest exerci most natural but walking.

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es, I know some people think walking is boring. If you are one of them, let me change your mind.

Invite a friend or family member to walk with you. You can walk with your dog if you have one. Once you’re out and about, here are some tips to make your experience better still: younger children like to play imaginary games, hide and seek or I Spy; teenagers enjoy hanging out with friends, taking photos, and posting on TikTok .

Walking helps you both physically and mentally. When you walk, your cardio fitness is improved and your risk of getting heart disease is reduced. It helps you mentally because it clears your mind and your negative thoughts My sister did her school project in the woods. She disappear. Let me explain this in a more scientific way: decided to use our wooded walk as the setting for when you walk, your brain releases endorphins, a type several different mini-movies by using photos. She of neurochemical that boosts mental health. Walking made a gangster movie, a short film about a homeless also decreases your sensitivity to stress person and a few others, using me as the and pain, and can even make you feel actor in all of them.

Walking also euphoria, which is intense excitement decreases your and happiness.

At the start, I mentioned the mental sensitivity to stress and pain, and health benefits of walking, but there can even make you Regular walking can regulate your are also great physical advantages as feel euphoria. sleeping pattern if you have trouble well. Many runners and joggers turn to sleeping. Walking can also help your walking if they are injured so they can creativity and concentration. For instance, when I go keep their fitness levels up. Some older people like walking with my sister we share secrets we wouldn’t to walk because it helps them keep up their mobility discuss in the house because there’s usually too many and keeps them warm. Young mums walk with their people around, or it’s too noisy. toddlers who need to gain experience of the world.

Although many people prefer walking on the beach, it is much nicer walking in the woods because it is calming and quiet and there are fewer people. Wherever you go, you will always find something new. Many people don’t enjoy walking and some even think it’s boring. So here are some ideas to make walking more enjoyable.

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Walking is not only fun but it is really good for you and the environment. When you walk, your carbon footprint is zero, and thus it is better for the environment. So the next time someone asks you to go on a walk say yes. I promise that after the walk you will feel much better. 

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Becoming a cel ebrity when yo u are young, s Burns of Broom ays Alice wood Hall, is n ot all it’s cra to be. cked up

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hen Brittany Murphy died, when Lindsay Lohan was put in prison, when Britney Spears shaved off her hair, the question was asked, ‘What went wrong?’ What happens when a successful young performer becomes a star? The high-profile troubles of celebrities like Michael Jackson demonstrated that nearly every child who has worked in the entertainment industry has struggled as an adult. Children have their childhood flipped upside down because of the flashing lights and dazzling cameras, the excitement of success. As a child I have always dreamed of being famous, but after looking carefully at what often happens to child stars, I have changed my view. Young celebrities seem to have a more difficult time coping with living life in the spotlight, so much that it ruins everything. Is being a celebrity as good as it seems?

Everyone loves to watch films but what's really going on behind the cameras?

Young celebrities are often described as having ‘too much too young’ or being ‘scarred for life’ by success. So what is it about celebrities that sends them into this downward spiral? Well, something that really affects people is how much private life they have. During childhood, we spend time doing a wide range of activities that will eventually determine our personality. During adulthood, we always look back on the wonders of our youth.

Show business is very hard for anyone, particularly for children. Children do not belong in the entertainment industry. Celebrities now often complain about a stolen childhood, the pressure they have had to face at a young age forcing them to mature too quickly, and the risks of exposure to show business while still an innocent playful child and not mature enough to deal with these issues.

Whenever they wake up, to whenever they go to sleep, someone is watching.

One day of having people follow you around might make you feel honoured and flattered. But soon the novelty would wear off and you’d be driven mad.

No personal space, no time on your own and never anywhere to retreat to and relax away from the world of business and pressure. Perhaps the newer world of social media has made it worse for child stars. Jodie Foster, a child actress in the 1960s, is still a Hollywood actress and even a successful director and

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Celebritie childhoo s now often com d a young , the pressure th plain about a s age forcin to e g them t y have had to fa len ce at o mature too quick ly.

Whenever they wake up, to whenever they go to sleep, someone is watching.

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the public rather than themselves who is ultimately in control of whether their career flourishes and seeking acceptance and likes causes a lot of stress. Being famous may seem appealing at first, but fame gives the producer. Did she find it easier without dark illusion of a perfect life and that is most pictures being posted of her on social definitely not the case. Most media everywhere she went? child celebrities have gone on Most child to struggle as an adult.

Another reason child stars celebrities break down is because they have gone on to So, being a child star can flip get used to all the attention struggle as an your life upside down in ways that comes with fame, and adult. that these individuals cannot then suddenly lose it when control. Next time someone they grow up. When fame is asks you if you want to be famous, think taken away from child stars so quickly, twice.  they may not know how to handle the lack of attention and look to drugs to cope.

They might have never really experienced a 'normal' life and, once it hits them at an older age, they realise that life isn’t all about being pampered, but actually having to look after themselves. Fame can even go as far as ruining people’s lives through harsh self-doubt, the constant urge to pick up a bottle and drink and the enormous burden of pressure to succeed. These stars feel vulnerable to the personal evaluations of other people. They might feel that it is

t o o r t e Be Beef or

A

In the environmental and nutritional battle between vegetarians and meat-eaters, the plant-munchers win hands-down, says by

Imogen Oscroft of Bede’s.

vegetarian is a person who to be fresh, whilst processed meats have does not eat meat or fish, and chemicals added to them to make them last sometimes other animal products, and longer. This means that the only choice for makes up 8% of the world’s population. A many people is to eat less expensive fruits meat-eater is a person whose diet includes and vegetables and more processed meats, meat, and they have made up the majority which can be damaging to their health. of the population since the stone age. So which is better off, the vegetarian or the Lean meats, however, are the best source of omninvore? There are many pros and cons protein, something that your body requires to both being vegetarian and eating meat, for muscle growth. But there are a lot of but being vegetarian is overall protein-high vegetables better for the environment that can be just as good, beef emits 20 times more and for your health. whilst being better for the greenhouse gas environment. per gram of My first reason is the shocking protein than the amount of greenhouse gas So, there are many reasons average proteinfilled plant. for which the production to support my view that of meat is responsible. One being vegetarian is better. cow makes between 250 and 500 litres of Whilst this is true, you don’t have to be fully methane gas per day. For comparison, a vegetarian for these benefits to affect you car emits between 4 and 30 litres of carbon too. For example, you could do Meat Free dioxide (another, more potent, greenhouse Mondays. If all of America skipped meat gas) per 100 km. On the other hand, like for just one day a week, they would save trees, crops absorb carbon dioxide out of approximately 320 million litres of fossil the atmosphere because they are plants. fuel and three million acres of land in just The fact that beef emits 20 times more one year. As well as that, 1.4 billion animals’ greenhouse gas per gram of protein than lives would be spared and 100 billion the average protein-filled plant really sums gallons of water would be saved per year. up the negative impact meat has on the If the whole world replaced meat once a environment. week that would have the same impact as 240 million cars being taken off the roads And studies have shown that not eating each year. All of this for just swapping your meat may reduce cardiovascular disease beef burger for a bean burger once a (conditions affecting the heart or blood week. vessels) and numerous types of cancer. The unfortunate truth, though, is that many It’s one of the easiest ways fruits and vegetables are more expensive to help save our planet than processed meats, and anyone can take because they have part.

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DID

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World War, reflects If it hadn’t been for the Second wouldn’t have Flora McLachlan of Bede’s, women available today. such a range of clothing styles

Y

ou may think that 1940s women’s fashion was just red lipstick, wavy hair and A-line dresses but it was much more than that. Yes, they did have red lipstick and dresses but they also started wearing new things too. During the war women started doing men’s jobs so they had to adapt their clothing to be practical and comfortable.

hats and jackets fashioned from blankets.

One of the most famous images of the Second World War was the American poster of Rosie the Riveter who was drawn with blue sleeves tucked up and a red spotted bandana – typical clothing for working women.

Trousers and overalls were popular clothing too because they were good for practical work.

It was harder for everyone to get clothes when there were shortages so the government introduced clothes Women started to work more coupons. But clothes coupons caused because all the men were at war. It problems, though. Coupon theft was mostly women, for example, who started happening and built the new Waterloo was reported to many Bridge. As well as During the war local newspapers. clothes rationing, the women started doing men’s jobs so British government they had to adapt There was a governemnt introduced new their clothing to drive for women to help controls in February be practical and comfortable. the war effort. ‘When 1941. The new order you are tired of your old outlined designs and clothes, remember that by making details for a clothing scheme them you are contributing to some popularly called utility. Utility wear part of an aeroplane, a gun or a tank,’ freed up factory space for the war said Oliver Littleton, President of the effort. Producers of the collections Board of Trade. had detailed instructions about the number of buttons and pleats they Women came up with lots of could include in the clothing. different ways of freshening up old clothes: flowers made out of yarn, Women's fashion in World War Two embroidery silk or fabric were used was not only to do with what they to hide obvious stains. In Britain, thought looked good; it was also to do the international wool secretariat with practicality. Women didn't mind organised an exhibition showing the the changes in their clothes. They amazing ingenuity of the average really liked looking at them. Women housewife and mother. Some of the and girls might not even wear shorts clothes on display included a child’s and trousers today if women hadn’t jersey made out of the tops of brown started war work that made them stockings, slippers made of old felt change their clothes.

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No

in F to See Here

The stark futur e of sharks, by Guy Morgan of Holmewood House School

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Sinc e befo 1970, f iv r mov e the f e years irst ie wa Ja s the glob releas ws ed, a po ls decr pulation hark ease h d b as 71%. y over

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harks are often depicted as fearsome sea monsters who terrorise the seas and can easily kill a human. Such depictions are mainly seen in movies such as the 1975 Jaws. Whilst an entertaining and seemingly harmless narrative, sadly the impact of such stories have been seen in the shark ecosystem and population all around the world. Since 1970, five years before the first Jaws movie was released, the global shark population has decreased by over 71% as of January 2021 and is likely to decrease further if we do not make an effort to save them.

Some species, such as the tiger shark, smoothhammerhead shark and bull shark have decreased by 99% worldwide. One of the main reasons historically has been finning. This means removing the fin of a shark and then releasing the live shark back into the ocean where it usually dies of blood loss or starves as it is unable to chase prey. It is estimated that over 75 million sharks each year are killed by finning alone.

Luckily the Finning Prohibition Act of 2000 has saved the lives of countless sharks but finning still continues to this day especially in places such as Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Habitat loss, such as the destruction of coral reefs, are very important to all fish but to sharks as well, since human-induced rising global temperatures have forced sharks to compete for fewer resources.

Because the ocean is warming, sharks are more likely to be born weaker when, especially for the predatory sharks like the great white or the tiger shark, speed and strength are particularly important. Shark pups also use small crevasses to hide from larger predators, and the destruction of these areas by humans have made it increasingly difficult for young sharks to survive.

Water pollution has also been a large problem for sharks because these animals are very sensitive to any changes in the water, which is vital for catching agile prey.

Another problem that faces the sharks, and all fish today, is overfishing. Since 1950 a rising human population has meant the number of fish caught is rising exponentially, which can have a catastrophic effect on the shark population. Overfishing can also affect the sharks directly when they get caught up in nets, usually accidentally. Plastic pollution also affects them in the same way it affects other animals, since a lot of pelagic (oceanic) sharks eat plastic bags that look to their less complex eyes a lot like jellyfish, their natural prey.

Sharks balance marine ecosystems by keeping invasive species in check, and protect other marine life indirectly by picking off weak animals with dangerous diseases.

So what can we do to save these important creatures?

Well, you should never eat shark fin soup for a start, or any other shark-based food products because such dishes are always merely expensive luxury status symbols. And to preserve marine life in general you should eat fish that comes from trusted sustainable fish farms only, rather than commercial fishing.

The shark population may decline irretrievably unless we act quickly. We must raise awareness of this underrated global issue. We need to encourage governments around the world to change existing laws, and change our lives to be more shark-friendly.

Mind’s Eye Prep | 2022

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e l t t a B of the

Bo ts

is St. Ronans f o y e r f d Tom Go

igence

ell ial int ic if t r that a orried

w

will one day kill us all.

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A

rtificial Intelligence has been around since the 1950s, but recent advances in technology have made it more powerful than ever. The US and China are especially interested. China has recently developed an AI algorithm called Wu Dao. Wu Dao creates poetry inspired by Eighth-Century Chinese poets. On a website, the Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence challenges visitors to distinguish Wu Dao’s poetry from authentic Eighth-Century Chinese poetry.

Very few have succeeded in guessing correctly.

Although this seems like a very mild use of Artificial Intelligence, there are less benign applications, like war. While it might seem far-fetched, we are nearing the stage when robots are fighting wars for us.

Robots are cheaper, hardier and more expendable than humans. But a machine capable of wandering a battlefield and spilling blood must be intelligent enough to carry that burden. An unintelligent drone will not last long in a battle; worse still, an unintelligent gun-toting robot is a war crime waiting to happen. In other words, it could be fooled into shooting anything it comes across, including those on its own side. So, to trust AI in war we need to make sure the robots are intelligent enough to distinguish their side from the enemy but not intelligent enough that they would choose to rebel and overthrow their creators.

There are pros and cons to AI robots fighting wars.

First, and theoretically, there would be fewer human deaths; the robots would be fighting robots. However, there is a problem here: if, say, the US was at war with Afghanistan and the US had a giant robot army, but Afghanistan only had a smaller army of men, the result could be unfair and immoral carnage. The robots would obliterate the men.

A more obvious downside is if we send our AI robots out to war and they completely lose it. They, in effect, become the unintelligent gun-toting robots ruthlessly killing anything. Or there is another possibility, and this could happen at any time: the robots are so intelligent they mimic their creators with a very human trait. They stop wanting to work for us, and they do exactly what they are programmed to do: kill.

rone ent d g ig l l lon inte An un not last orse l w il ; w attle igent in a b unintell is a n t o ,a still oting rob g to in gun-t rime wait c . r n a e w happ

split up and join back together as one.

Already, completely autonomously, a drone has broken into someone’s house and mapped the ground floor.

Following World War II, there was a significant increase in the number of nuclear weapons. But we solved that problem with a combination of three to trust AI in war we approaches: deterrence, arms need to make sure the robots are intelligent control and safety measures. enough to distinguish their side from the enemy.

I think we should not continue with our ambitious pursuits until we have a clear solution to how we are to supervise and control AI without it rebelling and killing us all. If we continue and build AI with no safety net to fall back into then I’m sure AI will be the death of us.

These possibilities will become probabilities without the proper safeguards. There are already such things as swarms of killer drones, armed with explosives, which can communicate with each other. They can

rs to allenges visito ese ch ce en ig ll te in tury Ch rtificial In tic Eighth-Cen cademy of A The Beijing A Dao’s poetry from authen correctly. ng u distinguish W have succeeded in guessi w fe ry poetry. Ve Mind’s Eye Prep | 2022

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t s a F

Bucks Noah Roach of SJCS gi ves us top tips abou t how to make a fortun e online.

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ocial media have become a really from monetization back into his videos. huge deal and, for a lot of us, He recently recreated the extremely social media monetization has popular Netflix show, Squid Game. This cost him $3.5 million made us realise how and took him seven easy it is to make money social media monetization has weeks to make. In with just our phones.

This is not strange when made us realise how comparison, the original easy it is to make Squid Game took the you consider how fast money with just our creator (Hwang Dongsocial media is growing. phones. hyuk) ten years. This But let’s explore the creators that have cracked the code of just shows that big TV companies can’t ignore the fact that online creators are the YouTube algorithm. pulling in millions of views, far more We’ve seen many, many examples of than actual TV shows, for relatively creators making millions of pounds short videos (5-20 minutes). For a lot of from posting videos online. A prime creators, YouTube is a full-time job and example is Mr. Beast. He has grown is making them very wealthy. his YouTube channel by 71 million subscribers since October 2019. He The average CPM (Cost Per Thousand said in an interview on ‘The Colin and Views) is $2 but we can easily assume Samir Show’ that he’s actually broke. that Mr. Beast’s CPM is around 5-8 Well, not quite. He essentially puts dollars per thousand views. Let’s do the almost every single dime he makes maths: 32

Mind’s Eye Prep | 2022

200,000,000 views ÷ 1,000 x 8 (cpm) = $1.6 million That’s likely to be how much Mr. Beast made on his Squid Game video alone.

There are hundreds of people who have made a living out of social media, including the likes of Khaby Lame and Charlie D'Amelio. But how do these people actually become so popular?

Almost all of the most-viewed pieces on YouTube have been music videos, with ‘Baby Shark’ reaching 10 billion views and ‘Despacito’ 8 billion views.

But not all of the most-watched videos are music-related: the highest watched non-music video is Johny Johny Yes Papa, which is almost like a movie for younger children. Highly viewed videos tend to be aimed mainly at children because parents will play it

, many seen of We’ve xamples g e many ors makin ds creat s of poun os n e millio osting vid p m . o e r f onlin

on loop to their son or daughter to keep them quiet. This is very much the case with the Baby Shark Youtube clip.

Another huge chunk of popularity are funny videos, also known as ‘Memes’, such as ‘Charlie Bit my Finger’. That video is simply someone's younger brother biting his finger. This appeals massively to the younger generation or teenagers.

All these creators have one thing in common: they pass the ‘over-theshoulder test’. This test allows anyone in the world to be able to understand any video. It suggests that if you can look over someone's shoulder and understand the video they're watching without sound and without context then it has viral potential. You’ve increased your maximum potential audience size. Without sound, a

video podcast, for example, is not that interesting because it depends on context and being able to hear what the hosts are talking about.

These viral videos often don’t feature speaking, which removes the language barrier and maximises their potential audience. The ‘over-the-shoulder test’ mostly involves visual hooks. Videos need to be visually interesting to be universally understandable. That’s why people like Khaby Lame (131 million followers) and Bella Poarch (85.2 million followers) are so popular on TikTok: they don’t speak!

(131 Lame s) Khaby follower h n c r io a l Po Mil ella and B .2 Million o (85 are s ers) ikTok: w o l nT fol ak! lar o popu don’t spe y e h t

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Five

s e t inu

M

of

Solitude

Grace Hazan of Skippershill explains how to relax by being mindful.

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o you ever feel stressed? Does the Close your eyes. Imagine you are sitting in a length of your to-do list make you tall, old tree, your legs dangling below you, shiver? Then you might want to try swinging slightly in the wind. Although there something called mindfulness. Mindfulness is is a crisp wind blowing through the branches, the quality of being present and you are wearing all of your thinking in the moment, instead warmest, comfiest clothes, so you Imagine you are of just living inside your head don’t feel any cold, except for the sitting in a tall, and being isolated. It allows you old tree, your legs slight chill turning your nose and to think about and reflect on your dangling below you, ears a light pink. You can see the thoughts and feelings, which may swinging slightly in other branches swinging in the the wind. help you make better decisions wind, and feel the rough, almost and act in a more positive way, as sand-paper-like bark as you trace well as get rid of some stress or your fingers along the branch anxiety. People around the UK are becoming you are sitting on. On the end of the branch, increasingly interested in mindfulness, a robin decides to flutter down and perch on a finding it really helpful just to clear their tiny twig, chirping occasionally in a higgledyheads and relax for a minute. piggledy song. You decide to count every time it tweets. One, two, three, four… until it Today we are going to do a short mindfulness eventually is joined by another, finishing its session to help you clear your head and unfinished song with more sweet little chirps. prepare yourself for the rest of the day ahead. You decide to ascend further up the tree slowly until you can see the whole forest below. You You will need: just sit and absorb your surroundings for a minute. What can you hear? Can you smell - A quiet, safe place – preferably outside anything? Are there any animals around you?

- A few minutes of uninterrupted peace Let these questions encircle your mind as you - Some relaxing music or incense (optional) slowly bring yourself back to the moment, allowing yourself perhaps a few seconds to breathe before you open up your eyes again.

Doing this every day, or just as often as you can, will help your mental health. I advise taking just a few minutes simply relaxing and taking in your surroundings. See you next time. Bye!

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Hair ing s i Ra

Alopecia expert Jo nathan Child of Sole field School explains wh at it’s like to live wi th no hair.

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hat do Matt Lucas (comedian), Duncan Goodhew (champion swimmer) and Jonathan Child (that’s me) have in common? Answer? No hair! At the tender age of eleven, I was affected by the auto-immune condition known as alopecia areata and I am here to reveal what it’s like to live with this life-changing condition.

Alopecia is an auto-immune disease, which means the system in your body that kills off colds and normally protects you from illness works too hard. This, in turn, can result in the immune system attacking any part of your body: with alopecia, it attacks your hair follicles.

In common with all alopecia sufferers, I have asked myself many times Why did I get it? and Is there a cure? To be honest, there is little known about this condition, although the most 36

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common suspected element is stress. struggled to learn how to live with it. It Stress is often to blame for even mild all started in the first lockdown. We had hair loss. When my been back at school for just one morning I hair started to fall out, one week. I already had a woke up and a just after lockdown, I condition, trichotillomania forest of hair was extremely anxious (hair pulling), but then one cloaked my pillow. because I had an morning I woke up and a important exam coming forest of hair cloaked my up. There are other theories as to why pillow. Initially unaware of the extent of the auto-immune system rebels in this the hair loss, I showed my parents, who way, such as genetic factors, but stress were aghast at the many bald patches seems to be the main culprit. Currently, at the back of my head. there is no cure for alopecia. Scientists have attempted to develop treatments At school, I started wearing a black hat but to no avail. in an attempt to hide the disaster on my scalp. I told my friends that my dad had There are many different types of given me a terrible haircut but inside I alopecia including alopecia totalis felt dreadful. I asked myself Will it ever (all hair gone) and alopecia areata grow back? and How will my friends (patches of hair loss). Statistically, it is react? In hospital, I was diagnosed with estimated that 15 out of 10,000 people alopecia areata and, sadly, the doctors are affected and 50 percent of cases could give me little information on the start in childhood. People experience condition or whether I would ever have alopecia in different ways and I hair again.

n, esso art l by my n a in ed wly ound surr ates, slo I , m y s l s s u cla It autio and c ff my hat. e b o o k T o to good o s felt free.

From then on, I wanted to learn more, to understand alopecia and to try and work out the chances of my hair regrowing. Occasionally at lunch and break I welled up, full of negative thoughts. It was a very difficult time.

Eventually I decided something had to change. Summer was coming and I knew wearing a hat every day would be difficult as I would get very hot.

Then, in an art lesson, surrounded by my classmates, slowly and cautiously, I took off my hat. It felt so good to be free. But I also felt strange and exposed at the same time. At last, I was hopeful that I could live with my alopecia, and it was not going to be that bad. Far from it. It gave me a singular identity since everyone now knew who I was because I stood out so much! Paradoxically, the resilience I have gained in dealing with alopecia has made me a more confident person than when I had a full head of hair.

ht rig the , you h wit dset a min n find e to ca e sid . itiv ing pos nyth a

So, what are the advantages of having alopecia? A strange question, you may feel. You get recognised. You stand out.

You gain resilience. You learn empathy.

In fact, my mental health is better than it's ever been. (You also get seats on the train, by the way.)

The charity, Alopecia UK, which brings people with the condition together and offers support and advice, has been extremely helpful. It organises fun trips like the annual visit to Alton Towers. I will be going on the next one.

Alopecia is a cruel and terrible disease and it can ambush anybody at any time.

To my own surprise, I have learned to live with it and discovered that, with the right mindset, you can find a positive side to anything – if you are brave enough to embrace the challenge.

l crue ia is a le c e p Alo errib and t nd it can e at s a disea h anybody s u . ime amb any t

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37

Not Out

chool

d S an of Solefile h t a n a g u m n vered a Dara Sh cently unco e r m is c a r e th by is appalled ricket. d sport of c e r c a s e h t in

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Racial abus e must never acceptable be in our society, on the field or off the field.

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s the searing sun smiles down on me, I see a vast field of happiness – like-minded people from all cultures and backgrounds enjoying the sport they love. Smiles, cheers and team spirit fill the air as we share our passion for the game on the same green grass. Tension escalates as the bowler grits his teeth, aiming for the three historic stumps.

The batsman, anxious but primed, awaits the hurling delivery of the advancing hard ball. This is how I saw cricket until the 16th November 2021 when I saw Azeem Rafiq, a former Yorkshire cricketer and Under 19 England captain, break down in tears on the news when he described the inhuman behaviour he had tolerated for too long. With this shocking story, I realized that I felt compelled to find out more about this silent discrimination, which has been lurking in the shadows. According to the dictionary, ‘discrimination’ is the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different people, especially on the grounds of race, age, sex or disability.

In England, we have a county championship where counties compete against each other to win the cup.

As a result of Azeem Rafiq’s distressing interview, an inquiry was led into Yorkshire County Cricket Club, and it was discovered that the club was institutionally discriminatory. In Yorkshire, there is a large community of British Asian people yet hardly any of them get picked to be in the top squad. As the drama unfolded, it was discovered that the club had been racist towards other people of colour over the years too. The ECB (England Cricket Board) is now conducting a review of all county cricket clubs and putting in measures to make sure that racism is silenced for good. Some perpetrators make the excuse that they were just having a laugh or having ‘banter’. Racial abuse must never be acceptable in our society, on the field or off the field. Azeem suffered one of the most unforgivable experiences that will have scarred him for life. I do not understand or accept why racial injustice is even in our thought process. We are all human and all different for a reason.

have apologized for their abhorrent mistakes, and they regret their poor behaviour. Why should these people say what they think when they should read the room and set a good example for the ones who look up to them, such as young cricketers who call them heroes?

It does not matter if you are black, white, Catholic, Hindu or if you are simply a boy or a girl. If we stand up for what we believe in and what we believe is right, we will rise up and demand to be heard and conquer this problem now. This is when we either stand up or stay silent and hide in the shadows as your world crumbles and your world falls apart. We have waited too long for change, from the Montgomery Bus Boycott until now. One act of bravery can lead to another and then you are joined by brave companions who also desire a better and unfractured world. You only have one shot at living. Life is a book, and only you can write the chapters. When your book ends, will it be infested with regret or pride? Let all the children with hope play with heart. Let all the voices that shimmer from the past join together and create a voice in unison, hand in hand, finger in finger, as one. Just simply let the bat hit the ball and let the game play on. When appeals of darkness override the field, you can only be one thing – not out.

In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr: ‘I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.’ And I have a dream that my friends and I could just play the game that we all love without interferences from politics or racism. We shall not be judged by our ethnicity but by our capability.

Furthermore, other famous faces whom young cricket fans look up to and even call ‘idols’ have been heard uttering racist comments towards Asian players. Many

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d e R

Future

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Casper Montague of JKS weighs up the reasons why Elon Musk has chosen Mars for his famous space project.

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lon Musk: ‘When I started SpaceX I thought that the most likely outcome was failure.

And I think to have any other expectation would have been irrational.’ As far as we know, no living species has ever been on the red planet, Mars. In fact, until 1969, humans hadn’t been into space yet. In 1969 Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. That was a major event in history, but what next?

now chemically break down the carbon-dioxide and turn it back into oxygen. The now re-filtered air would be pumped into the bubble and then the process would repeat. This would be major. Not only would we be able to get into space, or even stay in space for a year, but we might even be able to live in space.

So why Mars? Why did Musk decide to colonize Mars? We already have Earth, and why couldn’t In 1998 the ISS (International Space Station) was we take the moon? Well, some might say that launched. This was the next step, making a way it was more ‘exciting’ to take over Mars than it for humans to stay in space for longer amounts would be to take over the moon, but that is not of time. This was revolutionary for the world and a valid argument. There are more important many people have gone up to the ISS and stayed reasons than just a bit of showing off that Musk there for up to 328 days. The next stage was to could go to Mars. So how did he pick? Well, we can create the ability to live in space. immediately eliminate Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto because they are too cold for In 2015 Musk started to research the idea of humans to survive on, and Mercury and Venus colonizing Mars. His first thought was that if he are far too close to the sun. This leaves the moon could get a rocket to land on Mars, then humans and Mars. First, since the moon rotates around would be able to colonize the red planet. He built the earth, half of the time the whole of the moon on this idea and started designing will be shrouded in darkness. This extremely large ships that could hold could lead to up to fifteen days in up to a thousand people: hundreds some might say that complete darkness. The moon also of households sent up into space all it was more ‘exciting’ has a very thin atmosphere, so to take over Mars in one go. His second thought was than it would be to meteorites are constantly smashing how humans could live in space. take over the moon. into it. The lunar surface is also There were many problems, such as covered in dead volcanoes, massive food, air, water, health, materials, craters, and potentially poisonous and many others. After landing probes on Mars, dust. Since the atmosphere is so thin, it doesn’t Musk realized that millions of years ago Mars provide any protection from the sun’s radiation. could have sustained life. This was huge. Not only had Musk started designing a rocket to Mars but On the other hand, Mars has a larger atmosphere he had also found a way to possibly sustain life on so fewer meteorites can penetrate. This also the red planet. means that there are fewer craters on Mars.

This makes Mars a supposedly better place for So, let’s focus on one of the largest problems – air. humans to stay. So, yes, a mission to Mars is Air was a huge dilemma. On Mars there would possible. SpaceX is not the only team attempting be no air, so Musk had to find a way to supply to go to Mars. The team ExoMars is also having a vast quantities. The idea was that there would go. They are planning to send a rover into space be giant, plastic bubbles surrounding the space between September 20th and October 1st 2024. towns. This would stop any air escaping. Ships They will not send any humans on this mission would carry large containers filled with liquid due to the potential casualties, but they will send air. They would bring this to Mars and turn a rover into space so that they can scout out the liquid air into oxygen, carbon-dioxide, and Mars’s surface.  nitrogen. Humans would breathe in the oxygen and breathe out carbon-dioxide. Humans can

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41

an flags are y h w s in a l exp ry of Bede’s r e B phy. h p e s o J l iconogra a b o l g f o art important p

A

flag is a ‘piece of cloth or similar material, typically oblong or square, attachable by one edge to a pole or rope and used as the symbol or emblem of a country or institution.’ Because such a simple fabric object can represent a country, company, place, family, or even a person, the flag is essential to every culture.

Flags have been used for over 3,000 years, and were invented in either China or India; it is uncertain. They were seen first in the modern world in the early 1600s on war ships to show which ships were on which side. The oldest continuously used flag is that of Denmark, which first fluttered in 1219 and was officially adopted as the national flag in 1625.

Flags are a relatively recent phenomenon and, after China and India, they were used by Egyptians, Assyrians and Romans.

When China invented silk, flags as we know them today began to flourish and spread. Most traditional cloth was too heavy to be held aloft but silk was much lighter and could accompany armies on battlefields. Out of the 194 countries of the world, 191 national flags are rectangular in shape, but two countries, Switzerland and Vatican City, have a square flag, and Nepal has a combination of two triangles.

The parts of a flag are the canton (the top-left section), the field (the rest of the flag), the hoist (the left side), and the fly (the right side). Flags have many different designs, the most common being the triband. A triband consists of three stripes.

These stripes may be two or three colours, and 

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g n i Fl y the

Flag

“

Out of the 194 countries of the world, 191 national flags are rectangular in shape.

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43

Mos t clo tradi th w tion he alo avy to as to al o f muc t but be hel d s h i l l cou k ld ighter was acc and ar o bat mies mpany on tle fiel ds.

Over the years, flags have become more common and their design sometimes comes up for review. The most recent national flag change was in January 2022, in Honduras, where the new flag is now a lighter blue than its predecessor. The South African government adopted a new flag design in 1994, which marked the end of apartheid, to represent a new path to freedom and success. The previous flag had symbolised the racist regime.

Every single national flag in the world includes either red, white or blue, except for Jamaica.

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may be charged with an emblem, often in the middle stripe. A common shape added to flags is a star. It can sometimes be just a singular star in the centre of the field – for example, in Ghana – or the stars could be Many Commonwealth countries are arranged in a constellation, as can be seen thinking about shedding the Union Jack on the Australian flag. Many from their canton, to look Commonwealth flags also use a circle of stars, away from the past. The New countries are like the flag of Cabo Verde.

Zealand Prime Minister in the thinking about Another shape used on flags shedding the Union 1940s, Peter Fraser, wanted to Jack from their is the cross. The cross can be include a Māori emblem on canton, to look in the Nordic form (a cross away from the past. the flag but the idea wasn’t symbol in a rectangular field, brought up again until the with the centre of the cross 1970s. In 2014, Prime Minister John Key shifted towards the hoist), or upright- held a nationwide referendum, asking centred (like the flag of the Dominican whether or not to change the flag design.

Republic).

In November 2015, the first referendum took place, which asked voters to rank the Most Islamic nations have flags that include five shortlisted flag alternatives in order of a crescent and star symbol. These are preference. The winner of this referendum commonly found at the top of mosques. (the ‘Silver Fern’ by Kyle Lockwood) went The five-pointed star represents the Five up against the current flag and the current Pillars of Islam. The crescent moon and star flag won! are symbols relating to the greatness of the creator. Flags often use similar colours. In Today, it is almost unthinkable for a fact, every single national flag in the world country not to have its own flag. They are includes either red, white or blue, except an essential part of a nation’s identity. for Jamaica, which uses black, yellow and green.

dern world in the Flags were seen first in the mo w which ships sho early 1600s on war ships to e. sid ch whi on e wer

y p p Ha

Re adi ng

y l School tells us wh Elsie Ball of Vinehal me more. reads then reads so she reads and

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45

I ha ve t j Rai o the ust be nfo Ama en clim r bed est, w zon her th tre e high e I es. est

A Just picking up a book and reading the first few pages can take you off into another world.

t the moment, I am sitting in my comfy spot. I have just been to the Amazon Rainforest, where I climbed the highest trees, straight after petting a hippogriff in the Forbidden Forest, having just had tea with Ratty and Mole by the river. Yes. Just picking up a book and reading the first few pages can take you off into another world.

Reading is such a special thing to do.

Anyone can do it if they put their mind to it and there are so many different ways of reading – thick books, thin books, comics, blogs, magazines, newspapers – that there is something for everyone out there.

There are many benefits to reading.

One of the most obvious is that it helps you academically. I’m sure lots of people have told you this before but it really does make a difference.

Research shows that children who do

not develop sufficient reading skills by the middle of primary school do less well in their academic subjects. It helps with your vocabulary, comprehension and spelling but also unlocks your imagination and increases your general knowledge.

A benefit of someone reading to you at a young age is that it actually helps your mind to grow! Studies have shown that a parent reading to a child has an excellent impact on the activation of the child’s brain.

Another huge benefit of reading is that it helps you to empathise and meet people from different countries and different walks of life who you might not have come across before.

Or perhaps you might connect with characters that are similar to you in some way, who make you feel like there is someone else out there like you, or going through what you are going through.

Studies have shown tha t a parent reading to a child has an excell ent impact on the activation of the child’ s brain.

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am When I orried w ed, stress gry, I like n a r o here somew d to sit a ful n peace allows It read. it of me a b m. is p esca

art blood pressure and he t Reading lowers your ge u yo lps he me dti at be rate and a good book . ep sle for ready

Reading also benefits your mental health greatly. When I am stressed, worried or angry, I like to sit somewhere peaceful and read. It allows me a bit of escapism from the real world.

It’s a fantastic stress-buster! Statistics show that reading lowers your blood pressure and heart rate and a good book at bedtime helps you get ready for sleep.

Some people will say reading is a sedentary hobby and so not good for your physical health but you can include exercise in your reading!

Here are a few tips: after every chapter you read, run 10 laps of your garden or room; whatever number chapter you are on do that many exercises, so if I were on Chapter 6 I would do six sit-ups; speaking of sit-ups, every time you come up to sitting, have your book in front of you and read a line!

Having said that, children are generally rushing about all day long so it’s nice to just stop completely and unwind with a book. I’m off now because the White Rabbit is waiting and you know how he hates being late! 

you m ight c with char onnect that acte to yo are sim rs ila u in s ome r way.

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n e d d i H

Homeless 48

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s, r travel u o y n o y ople definitel eless pe e m r o a h y e e e h but t t not s Ronans, .

You migh t S f o y ra Ha help. says Flo ed your e n y e h t d there an

wome na are m nd childre o n in Brit stly hidden ain be they a c re the ause vulne m r able a ost don’t nd sl stree eep on the ts lik e men .

I

magine you are walking through Charing Cross on your way to see a friend. All the excitement is building up and you look around to see a person wrapped in a sleeping bag, shivering. You wonder: ‘Where is his family?’

Read on to find out the most common answer.

Lots of assumptions are made about homelessness, but most of them aren’t true. One assumption is that there are more homeless men than women. Most of the time you see only homeless men, but does that mean there are no homeless women and children? No. It’s just that the women and children are mostly hidden in Britain because they are the most vulnerable and don’t sleep on the streets like men.

Women go to friends or family’s houses and sleep on their sofas, and if children are young and don’t have any place to stay they usually go through the foster process. So you see mostly homeless men, not women.

experiencing the worst type of homelessness right now and this number is supposed to almost double in 25 years, reaching 314,000 by 2041. Crisis says, ‘Where you can predict it you can prevent it.’ I think this is an amazing saying.

Another assumption is that if you become homeless you will always be homeless. This is not true either. Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, was homeless but when his company became a big hit he could afford a house and You may not see homeless people but that doesn’t mean wasn’t homeless any more. So don’t believe they’re not there. If you do see them then why assumptions. not give them help? There was a man who saw Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, a homeless mother and a daughter on the way Some evidence has shown that Covid-19 has was homeless but to work. He gave them some money and then had a big impact on homelessness because when his company did this every day he passed. One day there was became a big hit people have lost their jobs and have no he could afford a just a child’s teddy on the usual spot, so he felt income. Then they lose their house and so house. bad but then he turned around and the girl was lots of people have become homeless in the coming back from school! You don’t have to do past couple of years. In September 2017, 121,400 children that much but just think: every small thing you give could were in temporary accommodation and people think this change someone’s life. number will carry on rising. There has also been a 134% increase in rough sleeping since 2010.

Now I’ve told you all the bad things, I must say there is some hope because there are many charities out there trying to help. You can also help by buying homeless magazines and raising money for the homeless, or donating a bag of goodies. One of the big charities is Crisis. They are trying to end homelessness because almost 160,000 families are

ee ot s ple n y ma peo n’t You less oes e d m ho that ’re not but n they . e mea ther Mind’s Eye Prep | 2022

49

n e k o T sture Ge James Gronow of Ho lmewood House Scho ol wonders when the likes of Bitcoin will ever

in your pocket.

C

ryptocurrency is a digital equivalent of physical money that has, in the last five years, piqued the radars of many people because of the vast gains investors have made from Bitcoin or Ethereum.

This sudden rise in popularity has made many question whether cryptocurrencies are the future of financial transactions.

After the 2008 financial crisis, Satoshi Nakamoto (presumably a fake name for the creators of Bitcoin) had an idea for a decentralised currency that was not under the control of any centralised bank. He created the first cryptocurrency in 2009, called Bitcoin.

Bitcoin would later go on to become 50

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really take over fr om the pound

the world’s biggest cryptocurrency after the 2017 cryptocurrency boom.

amounts of energy trying to solve mathematical problems. The excessive amounts of energy used in cryptoMost common cryptocurrencies today mining have contributed to certain run on a system called governments (such as PoW (Proof of Work). This China) to ban outright many people and system requires people the use and mining of governments to verify that transactions have not adopted cryptocurrency. cryptocurrency person to person are for use because legitimate and the people Other than most its value is too who want to transfer cryptocurrency being unstable. cryptocurrency cannot damaging to the spend cryptocurrency they environment, many have already used (called ‘double- people and governments have not spending’). These ‘verifiers’ use GPUs adopted cryptocurrency for use (Graphical Processing Units) or ASIC because its value is too unstable. For (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) example, in the span of one month, processors. The major issue with these May 2021, the price for one bitcoin processors is that they ‘waste’ vast dropped from £42,000 to £24,000, a

The amou excessiv used nts of e e n in cr ypto ergy have minin c o ntr certa g in go ibuted to vern (such me ban o as China) nts u t r ight to use a th n cryp d mining e tocu rren of cy.

43% decrease. This risk has led to the creation of stablecoins, cryptocurrency that is related to real life values, such as the value of the US dollar, which is more stable than most cryptocurrencies. One such cryptocurrency is Tether, which controls the value of the cryptocurrency through supply and demand to match the value of the US dollar.

Addressing the other problem, the environmental issue with cryptocurrency, is a group of cryptocurrencies in the category of PoS (Proof of Stake). Instead of using energyintensive GPUs and ASIC miners, PoS uses the percentage of cryptocurrency that the miner has (or the stake the miners have in the cryptocurrency) to determine the chance of getting a new coin of cryptocurrency. For example, if a person owns 10% of the total cryptocurrency, they have a 10% chance of receiving a new coin. Overall, PoS cryptocurrencies are recognised as more sustainable for the environment and the result of this is prominent cryptocurrencies, such as Ethereum, moving to PoS. In 2022, cryptocurrencies have been well adopted by many people and there are many ways to spend cryptocurrency. One such way is to buy

the uture w f e h In t e of a fe will pric rencies g asin ocur p y cr t inue incre ller t a n m co will the s while urrencies r. oc pea crypt wly disap slo

In 2022, cryptocurrencies have been well adopted by many people and there are many ways to spend.

NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens), pieces of art (most commonly digital art) which have a unique place in the blockchain.

These NFTs do not give anything, such as copyright, other than ‘ownership’ of that piece of creative art. Since most NFTs do not give you anything of value (other than owning that piece of art on the blockchain), people buying NFTs are speculating that their NFT will go up in price. This has resulted in either their NFT being worth nothing or it being worth millions, in the case of a group of NFTs called ‘cryptopunk’ NFTs. In the future the price of a few cryptocurrencies will continue increasing while the smaller cryptocurrencies, which do not get as much publicity, will slowly disappear. I predict that the same thing will happen with NFTs. However, for the price of cryptocurrencies to rise more dramatically, there will have to be more uses for cryptocurrency, such as being able to spend it online. Without this, it seems extremely hard to believe that cryptocurrency can fully replace physical currencies.

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A Million

s m a e r D

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However you choose to interpret them, Martha Williams of Bede’s believes that those who think our sleeping thoughts express a coherent narrative, such as Freud and Jung, are way off beam.

D

eep inside the temporal lobe of the brain is the hippocampus. Its role is to remember, imagine and dream. Our most vivid dreams are a remarkable replication of reality, combining thought and memories into a detailed hallucinatory experience. A single human has between two and six long or short dreams a night but can’t remember 95% of them.

Another theory suggests that dreams could be wishes from your younger self. For instance, if you dream of going to Charlie’s Chocolate Factory, that may be your self wishing to go there.

The word ‘lucid’ comes from the latin word ‘lucidus’, which means light, bright and clear. Lucid dreaming is a specific type of dream where the dreamer is aware that they’re Dreams typically occur in the REM stage of sleep (rapid dreaming but they may gain some amount of control eye movement). Normally, it takes about 90 minutes to get over the characters in the dream, the environment or the into that stage. The REM cycle is where your brain switches narrative, just like you're directing a movie. However, this is between non-REM sleep and REM sleep. First comes non- not mandatory for a dream to be called lucid. For a dream REM sleep, followed by a short period of REM to be lucid, you must be aware that you are sleep, then non-REM, and the cycle continues dreaming and that the events flashing through dreams could just be thoughts until you wake up. your mind are all a dream, but the dream feels from our brain real. Lucid dreaming is considered safe, but scrambled ‘Dreaming is non-essential when it comes some people have after-effects such as sleep together to to survival as a body but is essential with problems. Because lucid dreaming purposely create a rough storyline that regard to our development and evolution as interrupts sleep patterns, it can cause getting could make sense metaphysical beings,’ says Jeffrey Sumber, enough sleep hard. However, there could half the time who studied global dream mythology at be some more serious effects, such as sleep and be complete Harvard University and Jungian dream paralysis. Sleep paralysis is a feeling of being nonsense for the other half. interpretation at the Jung Institute in Zurich. conscious but unable to move; you may be He says, ‘Dreams are the bridge that allows unable to move or speak for a few seconds up movement back and forth between what we think we know to a few minutes. Some people may also feel pressure or a and what we really know.’ This shows that dreams could just sense of choking. be thoughts from our brain scrambled together to create a rough storyline that could make sense half the time and be Dreams are still a big mystery to some sleep doctors who complete nonsense for the other half. believe that they have a meaning. But I believe they don’t.

Dreams could simply be electrical brain impulses that pull Professional dream analyst and author Lauri Quinn random thoughts and imagery from our memories. Many Loewenberg says that dreams could be your future self theories state this, but many still have a more creative view. warning your present self of something that may happen People may argue that your heart rate increases when you soon. Loewenberg calls this the Threat Simulation Theory, are in REM sleep and that may mean something strange is which suggests that we dream in a state of anxiety or happening inside your head. Well, not really. It does increase stress, but there are no obvious links that prove this theory but it also decreases a lot. It also may increase because your correct. For example, if you lose your pen in your dream, it heart rate could drop from your resting heart rate which, doesn’t necessarily mean that you will lose your pen; it may let’s say, is 85; it could go down to 80 or even 75. This may be mean that you will lose someone or feel like you are losing because of lack of oxygen whilst sleeping, but nothing major. someone.

Or you're having a dream where you might be running, so your body responds how it would if you were running in real life.

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t o N st ju a

Game Harris Chan of Vinehal l explores the pros and cons of gaming.

H

ave you ever stopped to think about the usefulness of gaming? Is it negatively affecting your personality or is it dramatically helping you? Gaming is one of the world's most popular forms of entertainment; it varies from simple two-dimensional video games to complicated three-dimensional games to high-quality role-playing games. In short, there are endless possibilities. So, are they as bad as some adults claim?

Most importantly, video games give teenagers an activity to occupy themselves. If teenagers were not at home playing video games, some might spend their time engaging in reckless, harmful, and dangerous behaviour, such as staying out late with friends, causing trouble on the streets and being a nuisance to the public.

With time-consuming video games,

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teenagers stay at home where they are safe and will spend their time playing with their friends online.

information, because they weren’t really friends I know in real life.

Additionally, gaming can improve Furthermore, a vital benefit of playing your ability to identify subtle physical video games is that it can combat changes in an unfamiliar scenario. For loneliness and isolation, as well as example, one's reaction speeds and developing social skills. When I first instinctiveness can develop as a result came to the United of long-term video game Kingdom (two years playing. Personally, I If you spend ago), I did not have any have been playing video all your time friends and due to the games for a long time engrossed with the screen, when COVID-19 pandemic I and I see that I am able you have to do could not go out and to detect and respond to something else make friends, so playing motions and movements you may be unable video games gave me faster and more easily. to focus on daily activities. the opportunity to When I started, I could speak to new people. remember being very Also, it helped me build my social slow at things. But the longer one skills because I was virtually meeting plays for, the more these skills become people from different cultures refined, and more slick, which helps in and backgrounds. Of course, I was both the gaming world and the real careful not to give away any personal world.

e wer ers aying g a pl een If t t home , some a s e t r m no thei o ga vide t spend ing in migh engag mful, time ess, har us l ro reck d dange r. n o i a v u beha Gaming is one of the wo rld's most pop ular forms of entertain ment.

But some video games can definitely make you more violent. Shooting video games can be aggressive, especially the games where the player shoots characters that are realistic and look like humans. When people play these harsh games, they become infinitely absorbed in the game because they are the ones who are shooting the characters; once they finish the game, they cannot distinguish real life from gaming life and continue to be violent.

I prefer to play non-shooting games, and hence I have not become violent.

Sadly, you can become addicted to video games. If you spend all your time engrossed with the screen, when you have to do something else you may be unable to focus on daily activities

and duties at hand because you will be thinking about the video game instead.

But this is uncommon and there are ways to prevent addiction. Some preventative measures include limiting the number of hours you play per day (a maximum of five), spending time playing a sport every day, or spending one hour outdoors in the fresh air every day to clear the mind.

So gaming is beneficial and cannot cause substantial damage to a person's health or wellbeing if players are aware of the dangers. I believe that all teenagers should be allowed to play video games in their free time although there do need to be time limits in place.

-19 OVID the C d not go o t due coul iends, mic I fr s pande nd make game out a ying video rtunity a o so pl e the opp people. m w gave ak to ne e to sp

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55

m u l y s A Seeker

ae

by Hollie-M Olivant of Skippershill

I

am an asylum seeker and I have some facts for you.

I want to go home I am feeling so blue.

Three thousand of us die each and every year.

That is nine per day just trying to get here.

They will kill me if I stay so I have had to flee Faced with the challenge of the unforgiving sea.

Four out of ten of my kind are children and babes And each of them will be lashed by the icy cold waves.

I have made it, I am here and feeling nervous and skittish And I'm hearing the words spoken by the British: ‘They want our money, the NHS, our jobs and our homes!’

All over the country I hear these moans But there is something here you need to understand: No one gets in a dingy unless they think it's safer than land.

My application begins and I'm questioned again and again.

The questions and pressure are squeezing my brain.

I just want to work, I keep saying to my questioner.

I was a doctor back home – a medical practitioner.

‘You're not allowed to work, I'm afraid, until you're accepted to stay So, until that time, you will get £5 per day.

That £5 will allow you to buy clothes and your food.

Having your own money should lighten your mood.’

Lighten my mood! If only she knew.

I want to go home I am feeling so blue.

‘They want our money, the NHS, our jobs and our homes!’

All over the country I hear these moans But there is something here you need to understand: No one gets in a dingy unless they think it's safer than land.

I am alone in my room, a bedsit in Rye Though it’s safer than home where it's sure that I'd die.

I feel so cowardly for running away But the warmongers would kill me for the way that I pray.

Some people of Briton do not want me to stay.

They want their government to toughen up and send me away.

They think I’m strange and different, you see, But some asylum seekers even become a celebrity.

Take Freddie Mercury, Albert Einstein, even Superman.

You see we're not all are suicide bombers trained in Iran.

Why is there so much hate? I simply despair.

Surely mankind can learn how to share.

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‘They want our money, the NHS, our jobs and our homes!’

All over the country I hear these moans But there is something here you need to understand: No one gets in a dingy unless they think it's safer than land.

I'd not let my family on the boat with me that day.

I told them to stay in their tent in Calais.

The dangers of that crossing I knew were too great And I would not risk my family as bait.

I'd always believed that Briton was great; It was fair and honest with love and not hate.

So here I am now asking for a chance To live in your country, feel safe and advance, For my son to play outside without fear of being shot And our gratitude to you shall not be forgot.

All these words were told to the lady hearing my case.

Did she listen? I couldn't tell from her face.

‘They want our money, the NHS, our jobs and our homes!’

All over the country I hear these moans But there is something here you need to understand: No one gets in a dingy unless they think it's safer than land.

I try to make friends because I feel so alone But people avoid me like a human traffic cone.

I cannot wait till I get to bring over my son and my wife Then we can begin with our brand-new life.

The telephone rings with my application decision date.

It's on the 24th of July that I will finally hear my fate.

It's a decision that has taken 10 months to arrive.

I've been cooped up in this bedsit like a bee in a hive.

The 24th has arrived and I’m told to sit down By the sterned-faced official whose mouth’s in a frown.

‘Not good news, I'm afraid, I hear the man say.

‘Your application has been denied. You're unable to stay.’

I was shocked, I was hollow, and I started to cry As I realised your country was sentencing me to die.

I'm being sent back to my country, my home, And I know I now need to remain all alone.

When I think of my family back on the shores of France I pray to my God that they still have a chance.

‘They want our money, the NHS, our jobs and our homes!’

All over the country I hear these moans But there is something here you need to understand: No one gets in a dingy unless they think it's safer than land. 

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t e G Out s w a Cl Sean Wang of SJCS wo nders how we should respond to the recent spate of ethic al atta cks on people in publ ic life.

C

ancel culture is a form of ostracism by which someone is thrust out of social or professional circles, whether it be online, on social media, or in person.

The question is whether it extirpates hereditary social prejudice or creates a toxic and polarising community in which renowned and goodwilled celebrities are isolated and condemned, even for the most trivial ill-guided comment. Whether it is either or neither, it has undoubtedly created a new attitude in those picked out by the fastidious but brutal spotlight of fame.

Many celebrities and famous people have fallen victim to cancellation, although some might argue that the 58

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things they did or said were quite about transgender people and genderminor. Take J. K. Rowling, for example, recognition. the famous and commended author of the record-breaking Harry Potter Her infamous tweet was called ‘a series. One would expect it to be litany of half-truths’ and a ‘transphobic impossible for such a manifesto’ at once praised and respected afterwards, amongst Many celebrities person to be ‘cancelled’ many other unprintable and famous people have since J. K. Rowling’s works reactions.

But the fallen victim to have offered escapism watershed moment came cancellation. and solidarity for many after the widespread people, and she has made fan backlash, when the huge donations to charity, such as actors who portrayed her characters, her contributions to Comic Relief by Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and Daniel Quidditch through the Ages. But this Radcliffe, became outspoken about hard-earned fame and philanthropy the subject and their words were not could not stop the wave of criticism in favour of Rowling. Radcliffe said: that erupted later, after she expressed ‘Transgender women are women. Any her controversial views on Twitter statement to the contrary erases the

The G u rep ardian ‘deac ortedly tivat pers ed it on poll’, of the y s afte immediat ear r J. K ely beca . Rowling me th e favou rite.

identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I.’ Watson’s views were: ‘Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren’t who they say they are.’ Grint said: ‘Trans women are women. Trans men are men.’

But these comments were not praised by all, since some disagreed and others who agreed thought it unwise to criticise their source of fame and fortune. The Guardian reportedly ‘deactivated its person of the year poll’, immediately after J. K. Rowling became the favourite, allegedly to avoid selecting her and becoming embroiled in the contentious debate, although The Guardian claimed otherwise.

Another cancelling storm descended on the author of ‘Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me’, by teacher Kate Clanchy, which seemed at first to be a great success, winning the prestigious Orwell Prize and receiving widespread praise. But nothing could stop a barrage of furious criticism after further reading found apparently racist descriptions, such as ‘chocolate-

Clanchy would not give the location of her current workplace for fear of further ‘malice’.

media social ing, is grow hatred l as the as wel lture it toxic cu es. a e cr t

coloured skin’ and ‘almond-shaped eyes’, as well as discriminatory sentences about disabled children. Clanchy was called a ‘racist’ and authors such as Chimene Suleyman and Monisha Rajesh firmly opposed her, whilst Philip Pullman and others came to her defence. Notably her defenders were mostly white. Even after repeatedly apologising, Clanchy was still condemned. When she appeared for a brief interview on BBC Radio 4, she was close to tears that caused tense and sombre pauses during her account of the slander and abuse she had experienced.

She said she would not give the location of her current workplace for fear of further ‘malice’.

Was the punishment Rowling and Clanchy received proportionate? Was it morally right for citizens to ruin famous people’s careers and spark off such hatred and anger? Perhaps nobody can judge, but social media hatred is growing, as well as the toxic culture it creates.

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g n i h t y An

Goes!

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Syd Joseph of Broomwood Hall relishes the modern era of fashion that says you can wear whatever you like whoever you are.

F

ashion: dresses, shoes, shirts, jeans, bags and jewellery.

For as long as we can remember, a sense of fashion has been a necessity. In the Tudor era, dressing up for a wedding meant donning the most extravagant gowns. In subsequent years, the wealthiest wardrobes were filled with fur, linen, silk and pearls. In the years before the Second World War, flappers were seen wearing red and black leotards with feather boas slung around their necks. In the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s, teenagers and young adults began to learn that they could express themselves through tie-dye T-shirts and baggy dungarees, doc martens with metal toe-caps, or neon leather jackets and extravagant hairstyles. Even today, whether it’s silky dresses or vintage jumpers, fashion remains a dominant force. However, it is obvious that fashion still isn’t taken seriously by all. To some, clothes are just clothes.

Fashion is very clever. Don’t believe me? Well, before the Sixties women were told they should be very conservative in clothing, and not ‘tempt the boys’. So they would wear shirts and long skirts. But in 1969 the contraceptive pill became commonplace. With this came a sense of freedom and excitement. Miniskirts became fashionable and women felt they could look as attractive as they wished without a care in the world.

“

If all the dresses created were the same shape, made for the same body type and with the same decoration and embellishments, it would be unbelievably boring.

Over time, the fashion industry has produced some of the largest global companies, such as Dior, Versace, Dolce and Gabbana, Gucci, Hermes, Burberry and many more.

The amazingly talented people setting up such successful companies all share three things in common. One: their love 

’

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In 1969 the contraceptive pill became commonplace... Miniskir ts became fashionable and women felt they could look as attractive as they wished without a care in the world.

It is one thing to make an outrageously extravagant gown with bits of lace dangling off, but it’s another thing entirely to have the courage to wear it.

accentuate curves and be pleasing to a man’s eye. We can all agree that the world is very different now. Today’s fashion industry is flooded with terms such as androgyny, masc-fem, and gender queer. All of these concepts orbit around the idea of breaking of art. Whether that is fashion, painting, gender norms. Why can’t men wear or photography, they all share a passion miniskirts? Why can’t women shave for art and creativity. Two: their unique their hair and wear a suit to a wedding? styles. If all the dresses created were the These thoughts were all triggered by two words: what if? What same shape, made for the same body type and with I urge you to wear if women and men looked the same decoration and that renaissance the same? What if men dress to the wore makeup and women embellishments, it would supermarket. had hair under their arms? be unbelievably boring.

Wear those huge diamond heels Fashion is about creating to your school Fortunately, these the ‘ooh’s and ‘ahh’s of reunion. thoughts have created outfits, making one dress short and another long, one blue and a beautiful world where we can wear another gold, one flowery and another whatever we want, whenever we want. frilly. Three: bravery. It is one thing to So I urge you to wear that renaissance make an outrageously extravagant dress to the supermarket. Wear those gown with bits of lace dangling off, but huge diamond heels to your school it’s another thing entirely to have the reunion. Some people are always going courage to wear it. To wear something to disagree with what others wear; it’s so meaningful that people spent so a fact of life. But they cannot hold you many hours making and designing back from wearing what you truly want to wear. The only person capable of doubtlessly requires bravery. doing that is yourself. In the past, fashion has been very stereotypical when it comes to gender. It was practically robotic: men wore trousers to look pleasing to a woman’s eye. Women wore dresses to

en shave can’t wom oughts y h W ? ts iskir ese th wear min to a wedding? Th n e m ’t n a suit ?

Why ca s: what if and wear their hair gered by two word ig were all tr

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smartphone is a device that fits in our pockets and allows us to take photos and videos, to play music, watch TV, download films and even look at the news. It also lets us call, message and contact people all over the world, no matter where we are. So surely this device is quite simply magnificent? Not so fast.

Keep reading.

produced in factories on a huge scale and will be one of the prime polluters on our planet.

Each year, Apple designs a new iPhone model which is unveiled during September. Each year, everyone races to get the newest gadget. But why are we still designing new iPads, iPhones, watches and computers when we already have plenty that work fantastically well?

Did you know the radioactivity from your smartphone can give you a terminal disease? That’s right: when you put your Many people argue that smartphones phone in your pocket it is against your have enabled us to become more sociable. leg. If you get into the habit of doing this We can now be in constant contact with all the time, scientists have suggested, it people all over the world. But I disagree. increases your risk of getting bone cancer. Smartphones have allowed us to become Likewise, constantly holding your phone anti-social. Instead of meeting up with one to your ear can increase the risk of a brain of your friends, you send texts and snaps tumour by 27%, according without walking out of the to studies collected by the door. you only need to American Cancer Society. be staring at your A further change phones phone for twenty minutes before it And you only need to be have brought about is that can cause damage staring at your phone for people spend a lot of time to your eyes. twenty minutes before it on them because they are can cause damage to your extremely addictive. In fact, eyes. Your eyes adjust to the screen of according to Google, an average UK citizen your phone. This can cause headaches, eye spends around 6.4 hours a day on a screen. strains and sometimes even makes your That’s one quarter of your day, which vision go slightly blurry. means one UK citizen spends eight solid weeks on their device every year. What's Also, manufacturing mobile phones even worse is that the website Medium requires the extraction of precious says the number of hours is predicted to elements such as gold, cobalt and lithium. rise year on year.

This extraction process is highly polluting.

When people get new phones, they often So, how many people on our planet have a simply throw their old one out. The phone smart phone? Worldwide, roughly 78% of can end up in landfill even though it is toxic the world's population have a smartphone waste. But that’s the effect of throwing or iPhone. But what's scarier is that 56% of out one phone. When 78% of the people children below the age of eleven have a on this planet have a smartphone, 9023 mobile phone. smartphones are thrown out every second.

That’s 49.8 million tonnes of electronic Overall, I still think iPhones are an incredible waste. To put that into perspective, 49.8 discovery that can help us in everyday life. million tonnes is the equivalent weight of But before smart gadgets were invented, 326 million cars. bus stops were more sociable, trains were noisy with people chattering, children It gets worse. Smartphones and data went out to play together and teenagers centres are damaging to the environment played more sports. and will have the biggest carbon footprint in the tech industry by 2040. This means Perhaps now you may think twice about that, in the future, smartphones will be what's happening behind your screen.

Behind the

Screen Maybe smart phones are not that smart after all, says Arthur Parkin of Vinehall School.

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Issy Drokov of SJCS asks what happened to the famous cham

pion we all loved an d admired.

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Image: Shergar wins the King George and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes (Eng-I) in 1981 RACINGFOTOS.COM

g n i k e e S Shergar

S

hergar: a beloved racehorse with extraordinary speed and skill and seasons of great success.

Those are just a few of the first things that came to mind when you thought of Shergar. But then there was his kidnap. Shergar, valued at £15 million, was taken on the 8th February 1983. And he hasn’t been seen since.

He ha style d a specific of rac ing - h tongu is e out - a would hang nd a g ent perso nality le .

So Shergar was a highly valuable star, but nobody was predicting what would happen next. On the 8th February 1981, on a cold evening in Co. Kildare, he was kidnapped by a band of men in balaclavas. Shergar was only five years old at the time. It had only just gone 8pm when the son of Jim Fitzgerald, Shergar’s head groom, heard a knocking on the door. It was a horror to open the door and see two men in balaclavas with guns in their hands, saying: ‘We’ve come for Shergar.

We want £3 million.’

His father, Jim Fitzgerald, was held at gunpoint and told to lead the men to Shergar’s stable. The two men were joined by six others, all dressed in balaclavas.

The men loaded Shergar into a horsebox the men had brought with them. Fitzgerald could do nothing. He was forced into their car, the gun still pointed at him.

Fitzgerald told The Telegraph how it felt. ‘I can still remember that night in that car with them lads. All sorts of thoughts were racing through my head about what they might do to me. One of them, with the revolver, was very aggressive.’

Shergar achieved international prominence with a trio of group I wins in 1981 RACINGFOTOS.COM

Shergar was a bay racehorse with white socks and a white blaze running down his face. He had a specific style of racing – his tongue would hang out – and a gentle personality. He was owned by the Aga Khan.

Shergar had many triumphs, including his victory in the 1981 Epsom Derby, which he won by ten lengths, the longest winning margin that race had ever seen in its 202-year history. After this, he had many other achievements, such as four more impressive derby wins. Later, in the year 1981, he was dubbed European Horse of the Year, a huge triumph. After that season owners paid a £120,000 stud fee for Shergar.

The kidnappers used coded messages to communicate with the Aga Khan’s representatives, but they were smart enough to hang up the phone after 90 seconds so the authorities could not to track their location. They decided not Shergar’s story took to pay the ransom. the internet by storm because everyone was so determined to find him.

Shergar’s story took the internet by storm because everyone was so determined to find him. The Dublin police offered a £150,000 reward for Shergar’s return. The kidnappers arranged a visit with Derek Thompson, who worked for ITV’s horse racing team, and he flew to Belfast where he planned to negotiate at the Europa Hotel. He was greeted by about 100 cameramen both in the airport

After three hours of driving around, Fitzgerald was dumped out of the car, and he went to find a telephone to call his brother. And that call led to a chain of other calls: to Shergar’s shareholders, to his vet, to Irish Ministers. The police weren’t notified of the kidnap until eight hours afterwards, by which time the men were long gone.

Year, a Horse of the an pe ro Eu d bbe 0 stud fee 981 he was du on owners paid a £120,00 1 ar ye e th In as . After that se huge triumph for Shergar.

Shergar at his stables June 6, 1981. Micheal Daines/Mirrorpix/Getty Images

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Sadly the men never came to an agreement.

The next day, Thompson received a horrible phone call from the kidnappers. ‘The horse had an accident. He’s dead.’ Then they hung up.

Nobody knows what happened to Shergar, but there are many theories. Perhaps Shergar had an accident in a frenzy of fear, and the men couldn’t handle it and killed him. It’s likely that the men behind this all were the IRA (Irish Republican Army), and they could have ended Shergar’s life in many possible ways. Some people think he was thrown into the sea, or buried in a bog.

Shergar's dark story has no known ending.

He never returned. So our question, ‘What really happened to Shergar?’ cannot be answered.

Image: Shergar in the St. Leger Stakes at Doncaster. Getty Images

and outside the Europa Hotel, where he was joined by his co-negotiators.

from the le phone call ib rr ho a ed dead.’ iv Thompson rece horse had an accident. He’s he ‘T kidnappers. up.

Then they hung

A

round one third of teens regularly consume energy drinks. But these drinks are a problem because they do damage both physically and mentally.

Poison

Chalice

There is much more lurking in a can of Redbull than just energy, say Lexie White and Emma David of SJCS.

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Children think that drinking energy drinks will help them do more work, perform better in sports or keep them awake to stay on the X Box longer. But all they do is drain energy by creating bad sleep patterns. They can also give you very bad headaches. Reduced sleep can affect your standards at school and in everything you do. These drinks are filled with caffeine, sugars and lots of other stimulants that give you a ‘hit’ from drinking just one can.

There is the same amount of caffeine in one energy drink as there is in a double espresso; this is way too much caffeine for a young teen’s body and mind. A small energy drink of 250ml contains 80mg of caffeine and a double espresso contains 60mg.

Research shows that energy drinks are more commonly consumed by boys than girls. One important factor for is that energy drinks are often drunk while gaming, and a bigger percentage of boys are gamers. Lots of medics have warned people about these drinks. In America, one young person who regularly consumed energy drinks developed heart disease and lung failure. Another man, who drank four 500ml energy drinks a day over a long period, spent 58 days in intensive care.

His heart and kidney had failed. He did recover but has to live with migraines for the rest of his life. Energy drinks can also cause high blood pressure, heart palpitations, anxiety and panic attacks.

One of the most popular energy drinks at the moment is called Monster – ironic when you consider what is lurking in the can and what it does to your body and mind. Next time you are offered an energy drink, stop and think. Are the long-term risks really worth a quick and cheap kick?

Y

ou may be asking, ‘Why oh why is a twelve-year-old child trying to get into a magazine by writing about cricket?’ Well, the answer is split in two. One is that it’s my hobby and two is that English cricket needs to be discussed urgently by other fans. You do not have to be a fan of the game to know that England have lost the Ashes in a rather pathetic effort. So I have provided some ways that could improve our standard.

exposes himself. This means that he only gets side on to the ball when it is just being delivered and does not have enough time seeing it at the correct angle, causing him to nick it into the slips’ hands. Perhaps the most realistic and adequate method would be to try the two Kentish men, Zak Crawley and Jordan Cox. Crawley is an opener who is positive yet plays the most gorgeous and exquisite strokeplay. Cox may seem a bit of a wildcard to others but his doublehundred against Sussex in 2020 was a masterclass in opening elegance, resulting in himself and Jack Leaning breaking a record for the highest Kent partnership in history.

First, to put it plainly, England need a new head coach. It is quite simple to see when you review England’s test record under Silverwood in 2021: twelve test matches, one win and nine defeats. These numbers show he may not be, or is not, coaching The future for our bowling attack is more England correctly. If Silverwood is to optimistic. Although James Anderson continue, he must do better. and Stuart Broad are aged One potential option for thirty-nine and thirty-five You do not have to be a fan of head coach could be Gary respectively, they have the game to know Kirsten. The former South improved in recent years. that England have African batter has been Best of all, they seem eager to lost the Ashes in tipped by other journalists continue their international a rather pathetic effort. and was interviewed when careers. In the sheer pace Silverwood was appointed category, England have the coach. Maybe he could be the man who playful Geordie in Mark Wood, who took improves England’s batters’ techniques an impressive 6 for 37 in the Hobart test and leads us into a brighter future. against Australia. England also have Jofra Archer and Olly Stone, who are currently Second, the pitches in England are a injured but are also incredible prospects. problem. We cannot expect to have some And Saqib Mahmood looks impressive so of the greenest pitches on the planet and far. The standout performance from his have a top order you could bet your life career is 4 for 42 against Pakistan in a series on. I know that it’s a difficult job preparing that saw England overthrown by Covid. If good batting pitches in a country where England carry on trusting him, he could be rain is common, but we should try as a future star. hard as possible. This leads onto our toporder issue. It is no surprise that England Last, the spots up for grabs in the national have had one opener, Alastair Cook, who side suggest spinners will be needed. Matt has averaged over 45 since 2010. Another Parkinson remains a good option because definite reason for this is that several of he turns the ball Warne-style. Sam Billings England’s batters have, some may say, is the obvious choice for keeper. He is incorrect techniques. The technique is aware and supportive even when times workable, if that is what they have always are tough, and he has lots of potential with done and is effective, but Rory Burns and the bat in hand.

Dom Sibley, for example, have failed to score on big occasions and part of this is It’s time for England to move on from their because of how they play. Burns is one current squad and look to the future. that starts outside his stumps and slightly

A Sticky

Wicket Archie Hills of JKS considers the turbulent present and promising future of a beleaguered English cricket team.

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to use looks forward Ho or mn Cu of B. Poppy professional men who play the day women and ld. on a level playing fie football can do so

W

hen you flick through the TV channels on a lazy Saturday afternoon, you soon see men’s football gets more airtime than women’s. As an avid and passionate footballer myself, I wonder why this is so and whether it is right.

We are often bombarded with media images of male footballers showing off their expensive cars, large houses and lavish lifestyles. They have a lot of money at their disposal. But it’s rare to see women footballers displaying any wealth. Why? Although sponsorship plays an important part in promoting the lifestyle difference between male and female players, it starts at grass roots level. The bias towards male football can be seen even at the junior level when girls’ teams struggle to find coaches, match officials, a team strip and even a regular ground to play on. Equivalent boys’ teams typically have none of these problems. It is not until a majority of football fans value women’s football as much as men’s that the shift to pay equality can be made. Money flows with demand.

But it’s not just pay where the inequality stands. Training facilities for women are not up to the same standards as those for men. The difference in the facilities means women lack the opportunity to develop as fast as their male counterparts. The playing field needs to be levelled so that every player, regardless of sex, has the same framework to improve their game and skills.

By equally nurturing both male and female football players from an early age, the highest quality matches could be expected from both. As a result people would be just as keen to see female matches as male matches.

With equal demand, sponsorship money is more likely to be evenly distributed.

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Companies are willing to spend millions to advertise products or services to football fans. The vast amount of money available to the top teams means that securing the best football talent is very important. It follows that skilled players are in demand and can command a very high wage. If demand from the fans were the same for women’s football, companies would want to advertise using the female teams. This would result in top women players being more highly valued.

But the inequality is not a global phenomenon; there are some countries where women’s football is just as popular as men’s. For example, in the USA women’s soccer (as they call it) is not just popular but the national women’s team is far more successful. This demonstrates two things. Given a gender-neutral approach to football like in the US, a women’s team can be more successful than a men’s team. Secondly, given the US’s dominance in world football, it shows that other countries are making the same effort and prioriatising the development of women’s football.

In order to obtain equality in women’s football globally, the US approach needs to be adopted. This means that football needs to be represented at schools and grass roots level as a sport that is not gender specific.

Over time, this will feed into the fan base and women’s football will finally be in demand.

Overall, inequality in football is a consequence of biases at the foundation of the game. My wish is to see these biases removed. Can male footballers justify how they get treated? While it may be easy to blame the players, we should be focusing on the game.

the is n inequ alit phe ot a are nomen glob y al on so whe me co ; ther e re foo w untr t pop ball omen’s ies is ula r a just sm a en’s s .

g n i n n i W

Side s

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l i Sa

y a w A

he cts on t e l f e r s onan one of St. R vessel, w g e in h il y a a s f the Zach M lution o o v tions. e g in ant inven t r o astound p im d’s most of mankin

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Today our sailing ships are used for leisure, either exploring picturesque sunny coastlines, or racing in competitions.

I

love to sail, especially racing solo against friends when we’re all hiking-out, or with them as a team, our spinnaker flying.

ble mida r r o e fo se f The ts wer en, a bo rying m d car eed an to p in at s fear g . n y i k m i str he ene t

As time passed, man discovered hollowed logs were more buoyant, stable and water-tight than a tree trunk.

The boat, together with the wheel, From this, crude dugout canoes were is one of man’s best discoveries – made, propelled along with a stick. a scientific marvel perfected over These primitive cavemen, however, 300,000 years. It has allowed man to would have soon become tired from cross rivers and seas, escape predators, paddling, and realised the wind could catch food, migrate to better places do the work if they raised a mat, skin and flee war and famine. It has also or even a bush to propel them along; enabled us to extend our knowledge of as long as they weren't facing into the world, mix with other the wind, since then, The boat, together people and develop of course, they would with the wheel, is trade. Sadly it has also end up back where they one of man’s best helped greedy and cruel started. discoveries - a people to steal goods scientific marvel perfected over and enslave others.

Mans' earliest sailing boat 300,000 years.

Unfortunately historical came from ancient Egypt Britain is not blemisharound 4000 BC, invented free: we ‘colonised’ far lands and earned to travel the Nile and smaller Egyptian vast amounts from the slave trade. rivers, because overland journeys by Thankfully Britain is no longer part of wagon were nearly impossible in the this terrible institution, but it still exists. boiling heat of the day, and dangerous Indeed, currently some of the migrants at night due to bandits. The fellucca flooding into Europe by boat will have (the Egyptian name for sailing boat) agreed, as payment for their passage, to was initially made from reeds, moved work for years in service in order to pay and steered by oars. This, however, was back their smugglers. Many migrants, hot work, so they quickly invented a sail however, have successfully used boats from papyrus, although the oar at the to escape persecution and poverty, and back remained for steering. start a safer, healthier life.

Around 1000 AD the Vikings started No one knows who invented boats. to build long-ships. These formidable Cavemen no doubt held on to logs to boats were for carrying men, at float across rivers, and when someone speed and striking fear into the discovered that tying two logs together enemy with their large, toothy, buggave more stability (so they were less eyed figureheads. The ships were  likely to roll over and drown), he most likely felt he had created a marvellous Mans' earlie st sailing b o ancient Egyp invention and was probably thought of t around 400 at came from 0 BC, invente travel the Nil as a prehistoric Einstein by his friends. d e and smalle r Egyptian ri to vers.

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Many countries changed from masted sailing sm boats to larger all, singlevessels. This meant boats co four-masted uld carr y mor cargo, men and e weaponr y.

specially designed to be thin, long and shallow-bottomed, to travel up small rivers; they were also very light to move quickly during battle with a top speed of 17 knots (20 mph). Each longship could hold up to 60 oarsmen, had 24 to 50 oars and a large square sail and mast.

Clipper ships in the 1800s were the last type of major ship to be invented before steam power took over.

From 1450 AD many countries changed from small, singlemasted sailing boats to larger four-masted vessels. This meant boats could carry more cargo, men and weaponry, so they could travel further and faster, for exploration and trade, allowing quick movement and many battle tactics to be discovered.

In 1660 Charles II of England travelled all the way to the Netherlands by yacht, the first time anyone had had a boat decked out for high-class travel, and started a fashion!

Clipper ships in the 1800s were the last type of major ship to be invented before steam power took over. These vessels had long, thin hulls and tall masts, to hold as many sails as possible. They were built for speed, to transport cargo quickly, since time was money to businessmen.

Today our sailing ships are used for leisure, either exploring picturesque sunny coastlines, or racing in competitions such as The Olympics or The Vendée Globe (the solo, non-stop race circumnavigating the globe) like some of my heroes, Ben Ainsley, Robin Knox Johnston and Ellen MacArthur.

tend our led us to ex ith other ab en as h Sailing mix w f the world, knowledge o elop trade. ev people and d

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d e v a C In

Willoughby A. of Cumnor Ho use describes the dramatic

rescue of a football team from a flooding cave in Thailand.

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boys, clipped them to The divers sedated the with their own water each other one by one t. ou tanks, and swam them

that retreating to the entrance was not an option. The rain fell. The cave flooded. The boys were trapped.

O Everyone suddenly realised how serious the situation was. The boys were stuck in the cave with no food or adequate clothing.

n 23rd June in Thailand, the Wild Boars football team, twelve boys and their coach, ventured into the Tham Luang Nang Non cave (sometimes called the Great Cave of the Sleeping Lady). The cave is located underneath a mountain in the Chiang Rai province and stretches for 10.3km down to 83 metres underground. Because the football team had been planning to explore the cave only for an hour or two, they travelled light and brought only some torches and energy bars. They had no idea they needed to bring much more.

While the boys and their coach were exploring the extensive cave system, heavy rain started. It was then Monsoon season in Thailand so it had been raining for some days before the boys’ adventure and there was already a lot of water in the cave. The cave began to flood. To escape the rising water, the boys headed to an elevated outcrop of rock about 4km from the mouth of the cave. The boys had been in the Tham Luang many times before so they knew

The authorities were alerted to the danger when the boys’ parents, who knew about the trip because of a group messaging chat, found their bicycles and football boots at the mouth of the cave. Everyone suddenly realised how serious the situation was. The boys were stuck in the cave with no food or adequate clothing, but rain water dripped off the cave walls of porous limestone so the team had a clean supply of drinking water. Air also squeezed through the cracks so they boys had enough oxygen for the time being. However, the water was still rising and there were fears the boys would drown.

The Thai navy was called in to help with the rescue but there were many complications. No one even knew if the boys were still alive, let alone where they were in the cave. The Thai navy was told to dive through the narrow tunnels of the cave and try to find the boys. The first ideas to liberate the boys included pumping the water out using electric pumps, or even drilling them

No one even knew if the boys were still alive, let alone where they were in the cave.

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navy Thai ed in e h T call h was elp wit ut h b e to u any resc the were m s. n e o ther plicati com

Above: One o rescuers to th f the rescued boys is carried by e medics for treatment.

e team at a press and - 18 July 2018. Th Above: Chiang Rai, Thail from the Tham Luang Nang Non cave. cue conference after their res

Above: Chiang Rai, Th ailand - 15 July 2018 . Some of the rescued soccer team members eat a meal together at a hospital in Chiang Ra i.

out, but these plans did not work in a cave still filling up with water. A river that ran over the top of the cave was blocked but even then the pumps were not efficient enough. By this time, the story of the trapped team had become an international affair and aid was sent from many different countries. The most prominent was a team of professional British and Australian cave divers.

On 2nd July two English cave divers, John Volanthen and Rick Stanton, made a major discovery. They had surfaced in a small area of the cave that was only party flooded, about 4 km from the entrance of the cave. The divers said that the first sign of the boys was their smell. John emerged from the water and shone his torch onto twelve boys and their football coach. They couldn’t believe it. They had found the Wild Boars.

Finding the boys was not as hard as getting them out. The expert divers shot down many rescue ideas, including the suggestion that a tiny submarine should manoeuvre through the flooded cave. It soon became clear that only one idea would work: they had to dive back through the cave with the boys.

And so the divers sedated the boys, clipped them to each other one by one with their own water tanks, and swam them out. After two weeks, and with the help of thousands of volunteers, the Wild Boar football team and their coach were finally free.

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d e ud

o r Sh in

y r e t Mys

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Peter Kim of Ea ton Hous

th Res e Shro e u the arch P d of T clo mark roje urin ct t i with h werengs on said the ac con ruc ifie sisten db ody t .

e the Manor w what might happ onders en if evidence fo r th e in of the Son of carnation God were to b e verified.

D

id Jesus Christ exist and, if he did, was he truly the Messiah he claimed to be? The answer to this question has remained unknown for more than two thousand years and is a very controversial topic among many religions and even those who don’t believe in a religion. It is estimated that 2.4 billion people believe in Christianity, making it the largest religious group in the world. To be able to prove if Jesus was alive and answer the mystifying question of whether he was the actual Messiah would convert many non-believers into Christians and give them hope of a truly omnipotent and omnibenevolent God. The possibility of Jesus’s existence lies in the Shroud of Turin, a linen cloth that for centuries was purported to be the burial garment of Jesus. The linen measures 4.3 meters long and 1.1 meters wide. It portrays two images, those on the back and front, of a 5-foot 7-inch man. The images on the linen contain markings that allegedly correspond to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus, including thorn marks on the head, lacerations on the back, bruises on the shoulders, and various stains from what is presumed to be blood.

There have also been many scientific studies about the shroud’s authenticity. In the 1970s, the Research Project said the markings on the cloth were consistent with a crucified body and that the stains were real human blood. Also, in 1988, a group of scientists said their analysis showed the linen originated between 300 BC and AD 400. This research is significant because it can be evidence for a being like Jesus to have existed.

announces the Lord. ‘At that time, I will rise up from David’s royal line.’" (Jeremiah 23:5) Jesus was a descendant of David, again something he could not control. Also, this prediction regards money: "‘So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.

And the Lord said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter.’" (Zechariah 11:12-13) Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus for thirty silver coins.

Later Judas threw the money into the temple and left, and the priests used the money to buy a potter’s field. Again, Jesus could not control these people’s actions. Finally, this prediction says, ‘They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.’ (Psalm 22:18) While Jesus was being crucified, soldiers gambled for his clothes by casting lots. The second line of defence was that Jesus might have fulfilled these prophecies by coincidence, but Doctor Stoner, a science professor working with 600 students, came up with their best estimate of the mathematical probability of just eight Old Testament prophecies being fulfilled in any person living down to the present time. Stoner calculated the probability of anyone fulfilling all eight would be one chance in a hundred million billion, proving there is a very high chance of it being a coincidence.

The fact that there is this evidence of Jesus’s crucifixion wounds and his life corresponding to the prophecies of the Messiah is truly astonishing and, with a little more authentication work on the Shroud of Turin, the religious group of Christianity’s believers might soar and many might find hope.

Still, even if Jesus did exist, it is still a mystery whether he was the actual Messiah or not. In Isiah 53 there are predictions of the Messiah, which Jesus matches perfectly, but there is the possibility that Jesus arranged his life to fulfil these prophecies. Again, there is an argument against this. First, regarding Jesus’s place of birth, the prophecy says, ‘But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel.’ (Micah 5:2) Jesus was born in Bethlehem, which he couldn’t arrange. Second, regarding his family tree, the prophecy says, "‘A new day is coming’

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d n Mi

Up

Lizzy Chippe rfield of JK S takes a good loo k at

problems,

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mental hea lth the causes and cures.

such When emotions ss as hopelessne ke ta r ai sp de and hold and just ay, will not go aw ve ha you may depression.

D

id you know that one in four people will experience a mental health issue of some kind each year? And one in six people experience a common mental health problem, like anxiety or depression.

Mental health problems can exacerbate physical illness, significantly affecting quality of life.

Mental health is a far-reaching issue.

Whether mild or severe, it has the ability to affect our daily lives in a big way. Presenting A survey by The King’s Fund showed that ongoing, daily challenges, it can alter how during the COVID-19 pandemic over twowe think and feel, how we eat and sleep, as thirds of adults and threewell as exerting its influence Research shows quarters of children developed on personal relationships. that learning mental health problems.

There are many different new skills can Another study showed that over types of mental health issues, also improve our half of people with experience including depression. mental health; it stimulates your of mental health issues had brain. worsening symptoms during Feeling down from time to the pandemic. These dramatic time is a normal part of life, statistics put a huge strain on the alreadybut when emotions such as hopelessness limited resources of the NHS. It is clear that and despair take hold and just will not go the restrictions, such as the rule of six, social away, you may have depression. Depression distancing and lockdown, have contributed. makes it tough to function and enjoy life like you once did; just trying to get through People assume that mental health is just the day can be overwhelming. However, no to do with your brain, but mental health matter how hopeless you feel, you can get problems can exacerbate physical illness, better. By understanding the cause of your significantly affecting quality of life. The depression and recognising the different effect of mental health on physical illnesses symptoms and types of depression, you is estimated to cost the NHS £8 billion a can take the first step to feeling better and year. overcoming the problem. Depression is a common and debilitating mood disorder.

We all live different lives, but we can all More than only normal sadness in response go through similar events that can affect to life’s struggles and setbacks, depression our mental health: for example, the social changes how you think, feel and function isolation caused by lockdown. These events in daily activities. It can interfere with can influence our mental wellbeing to the your ability to study, work, eat, sleep, and extent that it starts to change how we even live. The feelings of helplessness, feel, how we think and how we cope with hopelessness and worthlessness can be struggles and small, everyday problems in intense and unrelenting. Depression is a our lives. While these can be the long-term, common mental illness that can be treated it is the effect they can have on our daily if addressed as appropriate through lives that can turn worlds upside down. exercise, therapy, and even just telling someone.  t can be on mental illness tha Depression is a comm gh exercise, therapy, and even throu treated if addressed e. on me so g lin just tel Mind’s Eye Prep | 2022

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Poor mental health can lead to depression, anxiety and, in extreme circumstances, suicidal thoughts. It is really important to look after our mental health, just as much as our physical health.

Here are four main ways to do so: Connect with other people. Good relationships are important for our mental wellbeing; they can give us a sense of comfort and protection. Be physically active. Being active is not only great for our physical health, but it can also be extremely beneficial for our mental health. Learn new skills.

Research shows that learning new skills can also improve our mental health; it stimulates your brain, and the satisfaction afterwards makes your brain ‘happy’. Give to others. Research shows that the satisfaction of giving to others is extremely beneficial for ourselves.

Mental health is multifaceted and complex, but we can all help our own mental health daily by getting enough sleep, exercising regularly, eating healthily, and surrounding ourselves with good friends and family. Hopefully now that the COVID restrictions have been lifted, people’s mental health will improve because we can go out with good friends, see family abroad, and just have a good time. Everyone struggles with their mental health at some point and, if you are, there is plenty of help online. Even just talking to someone – a friend, a grown-up or someone else you trust – can make you feel much better. After all, a problem shared is a problem halved.

Just remember: sometimes the worst place you can be is in your head, so get out from time to time. g daily by gettin ‘Wouhry ow muenwtal health healthily, and n ar e yo lp he orl rry, ting iedeaab We can all out the va dexoer n’tcisi knng . ine becau owrewguhla d familycc at’sfrie an s nd in se yo it enough sleep, eatinve od w go h en h it g w yo s h o u t ’ve been hap u el d rs ogs and chic p ken nuggets surrounding ou all your life?’ ily

T

esla is one of the biggest electric car companies in the world and is run by a multi-billionaire, Elon Musk. His electric cars are thought to be the future as they are charged by a renewable energy source.

Dangerous Driving William de M. of Cumnor House considers whether cars should be allowed to drive themselves.

Recently, the newest Tesla (Model X) has a new function: autopilot mode. This means the car will drive while you could almost fall asleep. This function works using colour and ultrasonic sensors that can see the whole environment and study it to see the lines in roads and trees. And so your car can sense its surroundings and move accordingly.

Inevitably, of course, there have been complaints about the technology not working correctly, sometimes even resulting in death. There have been 23 recorded crashes, 11 of them fatal.

So should this autopilot function be allowed?

I think the answer is no. For all sorts of reasons the car could misjudge its

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environment and cause a crash. For example, the lines on the roads that the cars track could have faded away or the ground might be hotter than usual.

It should be said, of course, that this self-drive project has only been going for a short while and there is still much work that could be done to make it more reliable. Tesla uses ‘Laminar’ technology with motion cameras that can sense rain, snow and fog. The other option Musk looked at was ‘Lidar’, which he found unreliable, overpriced and unable to sense heavy rain or snow because it is white, like the paint on roads. The autopilot system on one car comes in at £12,000, which is a huge amount on top of the average £50,000 for the Telsa car itself.

The Tesla autopilot could be a great function. It just needs to be finalized so everything works properly and they bring the price down but, for now, I think the autopilot mode should not be activated at all. 

Brain

Storm

:

es Manor tak e h t e s u Ho h t of Eaton e a safe pat n r s u e t o ia B t o e g in ne Alois d human bra e h t w o h lf. a look at g with itse in u g r a y b e though lif

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onc e rea cons c ma lise y ious and ny jo ou ha you you bs to ve do choos do the e to m.

H The amygdala and the frontal cortex are often in conflict, maintaining a unstable balance between total emotion and total logic.

ave you ever wondered why, when you wake up in the morning and you think that you want to go skiing, you never actually go that day? It could be that unconsciously you fancied skiing, which is why you dreamt of it, but once conscious you realise you have many jobs to do and you choose to do them over skiing. How does it work?

Let us start by exploring the physical or chemical part of it. Neuroscientists have worked out that there are two parts of the brain that contrast each other. The first one is the amygdala, part of the ancient brain, commonly referred to as the seat of emotions and unconscious thinking. As one of the parts that is working at lightning speed, the amygdala helps you sense that something is not right. Even more impressive, it does it before you’ve understood what the danger is. It's great for surviving instinctively

by controlling the fight/flight/freeze reaction system. For example, if you were to hear a roar the amygdala would say, ‘Run for your life!’ In contrast, the second is the frontal cortex, a much more recent evolution in the human brain, the part that does all of the conscious thinking and control.

This is the part of the brain that does the rational thinking: it puts together logical facts and comes up with conclusions. When you lie in your bed at night and the amygdala freezes you at every little noise the frontal cortex is the one that says, ‘I can feel that I’m afraid of the dark, but I know that there are no monsters in my cupboard.’ So the amygdala and the frontal cortex are often in conflict, maintaining a unstable balance between total emotion and total logic. However, as we have all experienced, it’s quite easy for things to fall out of order, and when they do it is usually the amygdala that wins the fight, messing up the rational frontal cortex and many other parts of the

The amygdala is great for sur viving instinctively by controlling the fight/ flight/freeze reaction system.

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ists scient Neuro rked out o have w here are that t rts of two pa in that a the br st each a r t n o c . other

ygdala freezes d at night and the am When you lie in your be the frontal cortex is the one that ise t I know that you at ever y little no afraid of the dark, bu I’m t tha says, ‘I can feel s in my cupboard.’ there are no monster

when imes t e m o go So ant t you w the more skiing al choice n ratio do your is to work! home

brain, damping down their activity. So, most of the time we end up not doing the logical thing but the emotional one.

If we now look at the psychological side of things, one interesting theory that matches amygdala/ frontal cortex findings could be the id, ego, and super-ego idea developed by Sigmund Freud.

He thought those three concepts could be used to explain the way the human mind works. It is a complex theory but in summary the id is the set of uncoordinated instinctual trends; the ego is the organized realistic part; and the superego plays the critical role. The ego, and to some extent the super-ego, is conscious or on the surface while the id remains unconscious. Freud believed that their interactions make up the personality or the human mind. Yet, be aware that even if they look to be working in a similar way, the id, ego and super-ego are functions of the mind, not parts of the brain, so they do not correspond one-to-one with the actual structures described in the previous paragraph.

In conclusion, both neuroscience and psychology describe the human mind as interactions between the conscious and the unconscious, which explains why sometimes when you want to go skiing the more rational choice is to do your homework!

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z z Bu Cars!

Despite a boom in their sales of la te, Sidd Moodley of Eaton House the Manor says electric cars are not the answer.

A

re electric cars the future? Well, the government says they are the best for the environment, they do leave a smaller carbon footprint than petrol and diesel cars, and they reduce carbon emissions, but is this the best for our world and will everyone open up to them?

Sadly, I believe electric cars may not be the solution. First, even though they help the environment, there are still a few problems which damage it: in mining for the lithium, the main component of an electric car battery, a huge carbon footprint is created, catastrophic for our world. There are also many issues in West Africa with child labour, where cobalt (another key component of the EV batteries) is mined.

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cars are disregarding the fact that may need to make them cheaper, like children have mined for cobalt. Second, Henry Ford’s ‘family affordable cars’. the production chain uses various high This solution doesn’t only help our carbon processes with atmosphere; it helps the every car that is made. developing world.

The developing Third, are electric cars world cannot a fashion statement or Unfortunately, not afford to use do people who drive everyone agrees with electricity, either, showing us they them actually care my ideas. There are about our environment cannot harness this about 11% of people into eco-friendly and conservation of our – according to Nextcars. world? Last, if all these green-car – who drive cars have to be driven electric cars in Britain. by 2050 in Britain and soon after that These people may disagree with me across the world, they need to be made because they believe that electric cheaper. The developing world cannot cars are good for the environment. afford to use electricity, either, showing They may not want to improve the us they cannot harness this into eco- technology and therefore choose to friendly cars. This is pointless if we are ignore the social and environmental trying to protect our environment. pitfalls. This may show they do not As a solution to this, the producers want to explore alternatives and may

In mining fo r the lithiu component of an electri m, the main c ca huge carbon footprint is r battery, a created.

think that the positives outweigh the negatives. Second, some of them may think that because they can afford it everyone can. This shows a lack of awareness not only of people but also of our atmosphere. Last, people who don’t know anything about carbon emissions or electric cars will always follow other people’s theories, for example the government’s policies. Will anyone ever see that they are doing the wrong thing?

My solution to this is to make hydrogenpowered cars. This solution is superior because, first, you do not have to mine for hydrogen, rapidly eradicating the use of child labour and limiting the increase of carbon emissions.

Hydrogen makes up 7% of our world’s atmosphere – according to scientist, David Dreyer – and it is in all water, which makes up 75% of the Earth.

This means hydrogen is extremely accessible throughout our atmosphere and it can be used in developing world countries. You may be thinking, ‘How will we change people’s minds about electric cars?’ We can achieve this by educating people and promoting the idea. We will also need to have this fully endorsed by governments. Although, at the end of the day, you can never change someone’s mind, you can make them believe your idea is excellent by proving it right. Third, we can make all of this affordable by reducing the price of the future hydrogen vehicle by improving the technology and

o als re n West a i re The issues child h y t i n ma rica w where key Af bour, ther EV o la the (an alt ent of mined. b o c pon s) is com terie bat

so widely ydrogen is gen can be h at th n Give hydro nergy from oes not require d available, e d n a re nywhe harnessed a . ion transportat

production chain. This will make it affordable for the developing world and less expensive to buy for the rest of us.

Hydrogen is freely available, so over time it should become a cheaper source of energy. Given that hydrogen is so widely available, energy from hydrogen can be harnessed anywhere and does not require transportation, thereby further reducing our carbon footprint. Other components used in the production of hydrogen-sourced energy are becoming easier to transport, further increasing the availability of hydrogen energy.

For example, in September 2020 Saudi Arabia became the first country to export ammonia – an easily transportable way of storing hydrogen to Japan.

Ultimately, I still think that electric cars aren’t the best for the environment.

There are other countries, like Saudi Arabia, who are thinking of using hydrogen instead of electricity as a source of energy. This means some parts of the world are aligned with my stance, that electricity is not the best solution for the environment in the long term.

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d oo G Times

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Heather Chur ch of Newton Prep hankers cultural expe after riences that

demanded som trouble befor e time and e sharing their magic.

I

t seems now that everyone is attached to their screens every hour of every day. Brands, items and gadgets that used to be cool, revolutionary and imaginative just aren’t cutting it anymore. People are creating products just to keep up with the current trends from social media, and they just aren’t as creative and are more basic than they used to be.

I sometimes feel very much like a person who is ‘born in the wrong era’, as people would say, as I believe old is better than new. There are lots of nostalgic items, gadgets and trends that used to be the ‘hottest newest things’ and the ‘best of the best' that now people regard as basic, old and retro. I am going to share some of my top ones.

The first item I would like to revive, all the way from the 1870s, are record players. I realise that record players are slowly making a comeback but I think they are so cool and trendy. They come in so many different designs and are really aesthetically pleasing. Additionally, the album covers and vinyls have some really colourful and eyecatching designs and pictures. In addition to the sound quality being amazing, the actual process of putting the vinyl on and putting the arm down is satisfying and something we don’t get to do anymore when using Spotify. Having a record player myself, I think they are one of most simple and yet effective gadgets.

On the theme of music, mixtapes were a cassette tape on which you recorded your own selection of songs.

They were a really meaningful and great gift to 

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Ever yone wo uld store in order rush to their nearest B lock would be ther to rent one of the ten co buster e, and if you pies that d you didn’t ge t to rent it th idn’t get there in time at night.

local shops and had the best selection of movies as well. I believe these shops should still exist today.

Today, audiences can choose from a vast array of films from the flick of a button on streaming services.

give your loved ones, a way of making a These are just a few examples of amazing gift really personal and sweet as you could things from the past that enhanced people’s record a message or songs that meant a lives and made them more interesting. lot to the person you were giving them to.

They were all great experiences and really They are really thoughtful and highlight how far we have Mixed tapes you can play them over and come. Even though everything were a really over again, as well as being has evolved and moved so far meaningful and pretty inexpensive. great gift to give it really illustrates how life has to your loved been sped up by these new ones, a way of Today, audiences can choose gadgets we have and maybe making a gift from a vast array of films really personal. now we don’t have the time from the flick of a button on to appreciate and experience streaming services such as Netflix, Disney how amazing the old things we had really Plus and Prime Video. Most popular in were. We just take them for granted. the 1990s, Blockbuster video stores were a movie and video game rental service, I would like to go back to a past time when where you could go and rent movies to things took longer and everyone had more watch and return the next day. These of a physical and emotional connection with revolutionised the world of movies and what they were doing, instead of today’s made it way more exciting to rent them new world of instant gratification. as movies wouldn’t come out for a long time after they were shown in the cinemas.

When they did come out, everyone would rush to their nearest Blockbuster store in order to rent one of the ten copies that would be there, and if you didn’t get there in time you didn’t get to rent it that night.

They had more variety than any other small

go to me e k i ti l ld past ok u o a to I w k to gs ad of f n i c h a b n t nste d o whe er... i worl ion. g w at lon y’s ne atific a r d to ant g inst

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True Bl ue s Alexander Leadbeater

of Holmewood House School explains why the coolest genre in pop is unique.

One of the most famous music genres is R&B, which is known for its vocals and mixture of jazz and soul backing. Have you ever wondered why it is so popular?

Well, for a start it is pleasing to hear and the singers are interactive with their fans.

Much of R&B is borrowed from other areas of music.

Have you ever wondered why the R&B drums sound so familiar? It’s because their 16th note groove sometimes comes from jazz. Then the chords are made to sound very bluesy and familiar with their two-five-one chord progression. In case you do not know what this is: in the key C Major the chord progression would be Dm, G, and C. This might just seem like another music genre, but R&B has lots of features that are unique. In most songs the lyrics, instead of being random, tell a story that you can follow. This allows the listener to have a more interactive experience. Second, the lyrics and words have no form of sexism and this is reassuring to hear because women are just as involved as men. There are also some amazing, soulful vocal moments when the singer produces massive high notes. And the backing band is always flexible and capable.

The beautiful bluesy chords come from a wide variety of instruments, each special in its own way. The saxophones create long bluesy chord sounds with a special jazz/blues feel. Brass instruments are also used, but with mutes attached that lower the volume and alter the tonal quality. Also, and this may sound odd, acoustic and electric guitars are strummed behind the singer like in a rock band. Then there is Dixieland Drumkit, which is the extra percussion provided to suit the singer's vocals. Finally, there is a double bass which helps to emphasise the chords with its walking (staccato) bass line. This bass line is the low notes you

hear in a song, but in more modern times this is done electronically.

This genre of music is always up there in the charts because it is the third most popular music in the world behind Pop and Rock, which are a lot less authentic and more electronic. So, to keep to keep the realism R&B artists do a lot the realism R&B artists do a lot of performances live, of performances live, and connect with their and connect with their fans. fans.

Finally, unlike other genres, this one is known around the world and around the world people love doing shows and listening to their idols.

And what should a budding fan give a listen to first? First, there is ‘Pony’ by Ginuwine, a soulful song with one of the smoothest voices I have ever heard. Second, there is ‘Poison’ by Bell Biv Devoe, which is a good song for fans of Rap and Hip-Hop. Then there is 'R-E-S-P-E-C-T' by Aretha Franklin, which is a very upbeat song with lots of amazing high notes that will blow your mind.

And finally there is ‘No Diggity’ by Blackstreetm which is a combination of Rap and vocals.

R&B is my favourite music genre, and I think it will continue to dominate the world of music in the future. So you’d better start listening.

esy blu m l u tif fro eau ome b of c ty The rds rie ch cho ide va ts, ea way. a w umen own r s inst l in it ia c e sp

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The

n a i r a t e

VegOption

Arthur Mitchell-Clark of

s why the Solefield School explain n. future must be vegetaria

F

rom the origins of humanity to the modern day, people have consumed meat. However, technology has evolved immensely since then. The question is, can we afford to eat it any more?

Life was perilous for a primitive human. Death could occur at any moment. We were no different from every other animal on the food chain. When we needed food, we had to hunt and eat animals or forage for inferior fruit, and we were just as vulnerable as the other creatures. This fair balance of nature meant that we needed to kill for food, but we were simply playing our role in the eco-system.

including the melting of glacial ice which goes into the ocean and raises the sea level. This leads to myriad threatening problems. If 14.5% doesn’t seem significant to you, then think of it this way. Climate change is such a crisis that just a 10% decrease would prevent millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide from poisoning the world.

Another major issue caused by factory farming is the production of feed and the extreme cruelty visited on the livestock. A factory-farmed cow is crammed in a caged area with three others. It eats feed made from soya and injected with chemicals from birth that makes it grow faster. It may never see the sun.

Its existence is a living hell that ends in execution. No creature deserves this torture.

Many years later, advanced civilisations arose, such as the Ancient Greeks. These new powers still ate meat because, with the invention of agriculture, Finally, I will address the meat industry's effect on obtaining it was far easier than before. However, the rainforests. These locations are the most varied agriculture also introduced the farming clusters of nature, with millions of By halting the and harvesting of crops like wheat distinct species, every single one of meat industry, we and beans, which provided nutrients could regain many them having unique relationships with just as well. This meant that humans each other. Environments like this take acres of poorly used land. could have thrived without consuming hundreds of years to grow and the meat. However, this did not affect power of plants within them absorbs the environment because humans were not as millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. They numerous, so much less food had to be produced. are vital to us, yet hundreds of acres are demolished daily to make room for farmland used to raise cattle.

Now, fast-forward to the present day. There are We are destroying one of our most important assets nearly eight billion people on the planet and 87% of just to produce something that is not needed. We them eat meat. This is a huge problem. During the would gain more energy from eating the crops we Industrial Revolution, two things began to skyrocket grow than eating meat from animals that we feed – the human population and technology: more with said crops. Moreover, the meat industry uses mouths had to be fed with more advanced systems more space raising animals and growing the crops to to do so. Selective breeding was created to maximise feed them, which is incredibly inefficient. By halting the products one could acquire from livestock. the meat industry, we could regain many acres of Machines were created to process animals. These poorly used land. systems came together to form factory farming.

Factory farming is effective but comes at a cost; the So we do not need to eat meat any more and carrying cost is the environment. Factory farming and the on will cause irreversible environmental damage. meat industry are responsible for 14.5% of the carbon We now have access to many foods which are easy dioxide that enters the atmosphere and raises the substitutes for meat. The meat industry destroys Earth’s temperature via the greenhouse effect. This more than it provides. We have a future – and it is temperature increase causes uncountable problems, vegetarian.

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Say it

r e d Lou Why do we bother spendin g thousands of hours le arning each other’s languages wh en we could all speak the same one? asks Eloise Bark er of Broomwood Hall.

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a ntit nve un i e bon nĉita k iujn tis ĉ a e o esestis l ataŭigi ita fin t n era o, kiu e anst nvent ranto p s I E ingv u e ro d onde. j, Esp udo, ki l o m spe j la e jn tut-aj jar polavo de o.

70 ling la 18 entita n Rusi de is inv ivis e are v you est , s i th o! ead rant an rg Espe c u o in If y read

!

Studying a language at school means sitting four exams: reading, writing, listening and speaking.

H

ola! Buongiorno! Nĭn hăo!

Shikamo!

Zdravstvuyte!

Hello!

How many languages do you know? Can you recognise these? Well done, if all, but now there are seven thousand more to learn. Wouldn’t it be easier to have one or a few universal languages to learn worldwide? If so, which language would we choose, or would we invent a new one? On the other hand, languages are culturally important and they are worth saving. On a globalised planet would one worldwide language be a step too far?

Studying a language at school means sitting four exams: reading, writing, listening and speaking, as well as a load of vocabulary learning, homework and stress. Learning another language is satisfying at times and very useful, but it is very time-consuming. I have calculated that, by the end of the academic year, I will have done roughly forty-seven eight-hour-solid working days of French, and this doesn’t even count revision or homework. Currently,

Learning a no and very use ther language is sati sfy ful, but it is very time-c ing at times onsuming.

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while at school, I spend five hours a week learning French, Spanish and Latin, while only doing three hours of Biology, Chemistry and Physics. I suppose if I win a Nobel Prize in Physics, I can always give the acceptance speech in Italian.

As a massive time-consumer, languages are all about practice. Therefore, your Portuguese teacher will never forget to remind you to do your five minutes a day. However, in my very long, almost thirteen years, I still haven’t found those five minutes. I’ve looked all over my house, even dug a hole in the garden, but those precious five minutes have evaded me. Doing your repetitive language homework means you cannot practise your violin and might have to skip after-school hockey. Learning languages is stressful and often isn’t necessary. Many expectations weigh down on students so wouldn’t it be fair to lighten the load?

os with g all lingv ranto, in c la p re t tha Espe n proven ey say in It has bee al language, as th rs one unive cult. fi if d ry e is v

“

Many expectations weigh down on students so wouldn’t it be fair to lighten the load?

However, finding which universal language to learn wouldn’t be easy.

Ninety-one languages have over ten million speakers. That is why we should probably stick to one, but which language would it be? English, being easy to learn and widely spoken, would be a good choice. Spanish, with its growing popularity and beautiful accent, would be another option. Mandarin, with over a billion speakers, would be a more sensible choice. However, it would probably be easier to invent a new language, like Esperanto. Despite this, managing to get a new universal language accessible to all and getting it to gain popularity would be difficult. Also, many would be resistant to putting immense effort into something that doesn’t even seem like a problem. People would much rather focus on their jobs and the environment than learn something new that would only work if everyone else did the same.

Esperanto was launched in the hope of replacing all languages worldwide.

Invented in the late 1870s, Esperanto was created by a Polish Jew who lived in Russia. There were four hostile communities in the area, all of which spoke their own language. Basing his new

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langague on Latin, Mr. Zamenhof hoped that having one communal language would ease hostilities in his town. He also realised that one worldwide language would be useful and hoped that it could be successful. Unfortunately, Esperanto was not publicised well enough to snowball into a reality. However, it is the best attempt so far and currently has two million speakers.

If one language was put in the place of the thousands worldwide, it could become redundant. All the different accents and ways of talking across the globe would mean that, eventually, we would have seven thousand languages again. It has been proven that replacing all lingvos with one universal language, as they say in Esperanto, is very difficult. Therefore, until further notice I think we should continue doing our German homework.

All that remains to be said is: so long; farewell; auf weidersehen; adieu.

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says of Vinehall e e G the y t n Mo truth about p to the we faced u plastic. horrors of l ta n e m n o ir env

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in the there Pacific Oce an is an millio a n kilo rea 1.6 metre squar s cram e which is med f plast ull of ic.

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very day eight million pieces of plastic make their way into the ocean. This means that by 2050 there will be more pieces of plastic in the ocean than fish. But how does this plastic get there?

When did this start? How can we stop the rising tide of plastic in our oceans?

Plastic only appeared in our world during the last century. Belgian chemist and clever marketeer, Leo Baekeland, pioneered the first fully synthetic plastic in 1907. Since then, plastic production has increased massively and now we churn out over 380 million tons of plastic every year, and some reports indicate that up to 50% of that is for single use. This means that half of our plastic fulfils its purpose in just a few moments then remains on our planet for at least several hundred years.

Even if you just drop a little bit of plastic in the street, as soon as it starts to rain the rainwater will pick up that little piece of plastic and take it down the drains into the ocean. So we must stop dropping litter, no matter how far we are from the sea, because it will all end up in the ocean.

There are many other things that can have terrible repercussions for marine life when left in the sea, for example fishing equipment such as nets, or any other sort of trap, which can be lethal.

Imagine being a fish and swimming through the calm ocean when suddenly a net that looks as if it stretches on for miles engulfs you and you are left on your own unable to get free but struggling even so. This is how 100,000 marine mammals and turtles and one million sea birds die every year, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

Some facts about marine wildlife and plastic pollution in the ocean are shocking. For example, did you know that an estimated 100% of baby sea turtles have plastic in their stomachs? One of the most horrifying facts is that in the Pacific Ocean there is an area 1.6 million kilometres square which is crammed full of plastic.

The weight of all this plastic is probably more than

80,000 tonnes, about 500 jumbo jets, and these figures continue to grow.

All these facts show that more than half our oceans are full of plastic pollution. To be precise, 88% of the sea surface is polluted by plastic waste. And if we do not stop or even slow down it will take only a few years for 100% of our oceans to be infected. At the turn of this century, the world’s output of plastic waste had risen more in a single decade than it had in the previous 40 years.

Further worrying facts are still emerging. For example, since the 1950s the rate of plastic production has grown faster than that of any other material. We have also seen a shift away from the production of durable plastic towards plastics that are meant to be thrown away after a single use.

What can we do to stop this crisis and who is to take responsibility for a gigantic clean-up? If we are to save our planet from being polluted by single-use plastic, we must start to reuse, recycle, and reduce. This means that if you have to buy a plastic bottle of water for just one use, instead of putting it into the bin when you are finished with it you should try and reuse it for another occasion. Even better, try to stop buying plastic bottles and instead buy a reusable water bottle that can be used time and time again. Did you know that every day the equivalent of a plastic bottle pile half the height of the Eiffel Tower is sold around the world? Isn’t that shocking?

How did you feel when you read all these facts?

Guilty? Worried? Alarmed? I hope you will now finally understand that if our world is to have a future we must act fast and take responsibility for our planet before it is too late.

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e v Lo

Birds Lili Sayers of JKS goe s bird watching.

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Not only is birdwatching your beneficial for and n io at concentr s ha it t bu , y or mem ur yo r fo benefits soul. body, mind and

A

ll my life I’ve enjoyed birdwatching.

It’s amazing how many benefits there are, and the costs are few.

People have been watching birds for centuries – for food and game – but the hobby we now know as birdwatching only started in the early 1900s. Ornithologists, or birdwatchers, study and watch birds for recreation and conservation.

Birds are essential seed dispersers that help to provide us with food, medicine, timber and enjoyment

is birdwatching beneficial for your concentration and memory, but it has benefits for your body, mind and soul. Additionally, getting outside and birdwatching helps you to develop strong bones and muscles, since sunshine is also a great source of vitamin D.

Birds are some of the most incredible, diverse creatures on Earth. They are also However, birdwatching indoors is satisfying important for the world’s health. Birds too. The advantage of this is you can see the are essential seed dispersers birds without them noticing that help to provide us with you. Having a feeder visible If you don’t have many birds food, medicine, timber and from inside is a good option. in your area, you enjoyment and they assist The process of looking at could put up germination when they eat birds and identifying them bird feeders in fruit, removing the pulp of can be interesting, as well as your garden or locally. plants and scratching the seed learning about their songs coat. They are also some of the and characteristics. Birdsong best flyers in the world, covering very long can be soothing, and studies have shown distances every year when most of them that birdwatching can help reduce anxiety migrate. and depression. Spending time with nature is often very enjoyable. Not only does it Anyone can take up birdwatching, anywhere offer mental health benefits, but there are in the world. If you don’t have many birds in also the physical ones. Going on a walk to your area, you could put up bird feeders in watch birds is great for your physical health. your garden or locally. If you don’t have a Ornithology provides a change of scenery, garden, it doesn’t take much to start. Find a which is interesting and often beautiful. place where you could put food out for the Birds really help you to connect with the birds; they are attracted to food and safety natural world, and birdwatching also takes nearby, such as a bush, for cover. For garden your mind off worries and helps you to feel birds, I would recommend a seed mix or in the moment as you focus on the life of protein, but it depends on the species. You our feathered friends. Birds are friendly don’t need expensive binoculars, although I and delightful creatures and it’s really would advise buying a basic pair so you can important we notice them. Birdwatching is see the birds clearly. a way we can make sure we appreciate the birds that are alive today. We could help the Getting outdoors and birdwatching is next generation of birds. In the springtime, great for your mental health. Not only it’s very important to continue the feeding The process of lookin g at birds and identifyi ng be interesting, as we ll as learning about the them can ir songs and characteristics.

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process when the birds will mate and have chicks.

Probably the main reason why I birdwatch as a hobby is because it really makes me marvel, wonder and learn from the birds I see. There are many bird species (over 11,000), and you could watch a large variety of birds, and gain satisfaction from seeing them every day.

To start birdwatching, you will need to recognise the very common species first. For example: Robins are birds that you will be likely to see in your garden whilst birdwatching. These relatively

small garden birds are common in the UK and throughout Europe. Robins are easy to spot because of the red colouration around their chests. Robins sing all year round, male and female.

They are ground feeders that eat small worms or seed, although they can also be seen on bird feeders. Robins are known for their eye contact and interest in people. If you remain still, this brightly coloured bird may come close. The robin’s other, more scientific, name is Erithacus Rubecla.

Birdwatching makes you notice the birds that other people will ignore. Use your eyes to see amazing birds today!

We could help the next generation of birds. In the springtime, it’s very important to continue the feeding process when the birds will mate and have chicks.

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Aboard Space tourism is a great way to develop our space technolgy, says Max Nolting of Newton Prep, and we may need that one day to leave the Earth for good.

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‘Why are you worried abo u don’t know what’s in it t the vaccine because yo he future of leisure is up ea fortigrabs Origin’s w new rocket produces only u ng hot doBlue gs an chicke hen you’ve been happil y n nuggeand as holidays in space become a waterd as exhaust, Elon Musk has ts all your life ?’ reality. On 8th September 2000, said that the fuel cycle will be carbonthe first major space tourism company, neutral and methane-based. Think of an Blue Origin, was founded, but the main aeroplane. It releases 2.1% of all humancompanies now leading this industry induced carbon dioxide emissions when are also SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, Boeing, flying, but this surely won’t be as bad Axiom Space and Space Perspective. as a whole spaceship taking off. When there are 100,000 passenger flights a Now I’m sure that if you have heard of day, a spaceship doesn't seem so bad. space tourism you will have definitely heard of the negatives, such as ludicrous One of the main issues with space cost, negative environmental impact tourism is the cost. One ticket, sold in and much more. But there are lots of an auction, cost $28 million. Eventually positives not to be overlooked. For a costs will go down, of course, but it will start, imagine the feeling of launching off still be a luxury for the super-wealthy. into outer space. In more than 300,000 Offers of $250,000 are now being taken years of human existence, only around but, to put this in perspective, a week in 500 of us have ever been there. Imagine a seven-star hotel in Abu-Dhabi costs how much that statistic will increase $24,500, a tenth of the price. By 2031, once space tourism is embedded in the space tourism industry is estimated our culture. Richard Branson (founder to cost $396.6 million. of Virgin Galactic) said, after his space trip, ‘I have dreamt about this since I was I think space tourism will be a fantastic a child, but going to space was more addition to our society for people who magical than I ever imagined.’ don’t have to train for years to become an astronaut. Also, if humans are going Today a human reaching Mars seems a to survive, we will need to get off challenge but, if space tourism is taken Planet Earth. If we are going to achieve seriously, imagine the improvement this, then we need to develop our in space technology. Also, despite technology. I think this will be a perfect concerns for the environment, such opportunity to do so, and allow our travel may not be as bad as it seems. space technology to rapidly advance.

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l e u r C Master A

Molly Burden of Skippershill explores Frankenstein and asks whether creator or creation is the real monster.

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reckon most people would say that didn't even want to tear himself away from Frankenstein’s creation is obviously the his studies until he had fully given up on monster in Mary Shelley’s gothic novel: them. Does this sound like the act of a selfless it kills many, including a young boy, person? Putting their own studies over their and is a hideous and grotesque abomination. father lying on his deathbed, their mother’s But if you think about it you will dying wish and a sister who is in see that, without a doubt, Victor need of help? its creator, with Frankenstein is the monster. a heart of stone, So, don't be fooled by threw it onto the streets after First, the young Frankenstein Frankenstein's false personality only seeing its decides to dig up dead bodies masking his true and ugly soul, looks. to experiment on. In my opinion, for he is a creature deserving this is morally erroneous. This is a no mercy. Frankenstein is the horrific thing to do and, incidentally, it is illegal real monster: he doesn't think of the ethical in most places and they treat it as a felony or implications of his creature and the process to misdemeanour. It’s also a civil offence. Would make it; he doesn't love his own creation; and you side with a man who was able to dig up he won't return to a family in desperate need dead bodies and experiment on them without of him. caring at all? Would you say it was okay if you knew he was digging up your relatives? Would In my opinion that is the definition of you agree this is an immoral and frankly a monster: a loveless, self-centred and inhumane thing to do? insensitive abomination of humankind. After doing all that and sinking below the ideas of usual evil into terrifyingly horrific, this desperately demonic human didn't even care for his creation that he had brought into this world through devilish acts of evil. The only reason the creation is portrayed as a monster is that it had never felt love because its creator, with a heart of stone, threw it onto the streets after only seeing its looks and not caring about the love and friendship within. If he cannot love something that he spent six years of his sad and lonely life making then that shows what a monstrous disgrace this man is.

If you are still not convinced that Herr Frankenstein is the real monster (though we have been led to believe otherwise) then think about his family and the way he left them after his mother died to go to university and how he didn’t bother to write back to letters informing him of his father's deteriorating health. He

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use of Holmewood Ho t of R, soccer’s equivalen wonders whether VA meet its goals.

Hawkeye, is able to

Oscar

Sanders

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There have been mixed feelings about the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) since its introduction. It was created and tested first in the 2012/13 season, and then was introduced into the Premier League in the 2018/19 campaign. Referees do not make many mistakes, but sometimes they could miss a foul which may be obvious when you look back at the replay. VAR replays the past passage of play for three-or-so officials to look at, and they decide using that. It can clarify whether a player is offside, or whether they touched the ball with their arm in the penalty area and so on. However, the referees didn’t have this technology before, and, after being tested in other leagues, it was an easy decision to use VAR in competitive matches in all the top leagues. It’s a fantastic addition to the game. But when it was introduced there were more problems than expected. Even after trying to fix them, it is still incredibly controversial.

Since it was brought to the Premier League, the inconsistency of VAR has been frustrating. For example, one incident in a match is a red card, and when a similar incident occurs soon after, it’s not even a foul. The truth is that, even with replays to help an official, they don’t always make the right decision because it isn’t always obvious. The worst thing is they seem to just make up all the rules on the spot.

Although it influences some decisions correctly, it complicates others and damages the flow of the game. After every goal there is a VAR check for an infringement. Some goals are disallowed correctly but many others are so agonisingly tight that there can be outrage afterwards. Just because someone’s shoulder is a centimetre offside does not mean that the goal should be disallowed.

It’s so frustrating that the game is stopped for five or six minutes, and then, finally, the referee makes a decision that is unfair and kills everyone’s hopes. So some people

say that the game was much better without VAR, with fewer stoppages and less controversy.

However, imagine if we had VAR when Maradona scored against England with his hand, or when Frank Lampard scored against Germany, and it was disallowed wrongly. Both were pivotal moments in English World Cup history, and we might have won another World Cup if VAR technology, even in the slightest, was available then. Not only does VAR influence many correct decisions, but it can also help build up tension in a game as well. In the Champions League quarter final, Man City needed to win against Tottenham by two goals to stay in the competition, and, when they were 4-2 up, Tottenham found a way in the 70th minute. It was clarified as a goal with VAR correctly, but in the final three minutes Man City scored to make it 5-3. Tottenham had been on such a great run as the underdogs, but now they were almost definitely out.

Watching the replays back of the goal, however, you could see that Aguero was offside in the build-up, and, with the help of VAR, the referee overturned his initial decision and Tottenham made it to the semi-finals. The tension was unreal, and if VAR wasn’t in play then there would be outrage across the country. Offsides like this are difficult to see in the moment by officials, but it is much easier to make correct decisions with the help of VAR. I hope VAR will improve but the main problem now is that the official makes the wrong decision: the rules are too inconsistent. If they are made more consistent, then decisions such as offsides, red cards, and penalties, will be clarified even better, and there shouldn’t be as much negativity towards VAR as there is now. Also, people only remember the bad things, and VAR has generally been particularly good. That is why I do not think that VAR is as bad as everyone says it is. Technologically astute VAR will improve the future of football.

“

The tension was unreal, and if VAR wasn’t in play then there would be outrage across the country.

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e l b a i R A V

Ser v ic e

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d e l g n i S Out

D

d Hall Sofia Skjott of Broomwoo ly

rare argues that the only child orth calls experiences what Wordsw the ‘bliss of solitude’.

o you have siblings? Most people I know do. are very independent and spend a lot of the time on Actually 82% of people in the world have at our own, being in teams or groups is not our strong least one sibling. Every only child I’ve ever point. Some people, like myself, don’t know how to met has one dream: to have a sibling. But if you were express what we’re thinking and how to show our to speak to someone with a sibling they’d argue they ideas to others. Everyone has funny stories about would be very happy as an only child. It certainly isn't their siblings and what they have done or do but true that all siblings get along all of we don’t have that. We're unlikely to Being an only child the time. Of course there will be times means you are more have many stories about our family likely to grow up when you love your sibling and you that are funny. Being an only child lonely and, unless would protect them or lay down your means you are more likely to grow up you live in an area life for them, but most of the time you lonely and, unless you live in an area full of young find them annoying. Does that sound full of young families, you may find it families, you may find it hard to make familiar? There could be some only hard to make friends. Only children friends. children in the world who love being can find that, because their parents by themselves but the majority of us hate it. There only have one child, they will pressurize them to do are positives and negatives to being an only child well in activities or things they enjoy. Pressure can but, I would argue, the disadvantages outweigh the lead to anxiety or depression. As your parents get benefits. older and if they had you quite late, you would be the only one taking care of them and you could be Imagine how it would feel to get all the attention quite young and not know quite how to take care of from your parents. You’re their baby, their golden elders. child; they love you with all their heart. You will get all the money from their will, unless they give it to Not having siblings, especially older ones, means charity, of course. Your parents pay you full attention that you won’t be able to get away with things that and you don’t have to have some silly sibling ruining they probably would have done. If you had older your time. Also, being an only child will boost your siblings and they were able to get away with, for independence as you spend most of your time on example, sneaking out or staying up late at night, your own. You would be able to fend for yourself and, they would be able to ease the pressure on your when put in situations requiring independence, you parents and they might let you do it, whereas as an would be the star of the show. Being an only child only child you would be the first and you may not be obviously means that your parents have only you to so successful. spend their money on so you will not have to share anything with other siblings. At a young age, you will So, when your time comes think of your children probably have more toys than those children with and don't just have one. It is not fun being an only siblings. You would also not be expected to live up child. While there are benefits, the downsides are to the standards of older siblings. Being by yourself, many. If you’re the kind of person who loves to be you may become more comfortable talking to adults by themselves then being an only child will be because you may only talk to your parents. enjoyable for you, but otherwise a sibling is what you want. If you have a sibling, be grateful. You But only children can get lonely at times. If there is definitely do not want to be an only child. When and something you don’t want to talk to an adult about, if you have a sibling, get along with them. Don’t fight an older sibling would be nice to have. Because we and don't take them for granted.

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Na Primrendr a Ind e Mini Modi, ste ia, a ro fro f m lso str a po came ver icke n fa tymily .

Educatlfe Yourse

or celebrates Idhant Gupta of Eaton House the Man re for education to provide a bright futu

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the power of poverty. those born into the darkness of

here are millions of people on the streets without their basic needs being met: without a comfortable place to sleep, shelter, warm clothes or food and water. In poorer and less developed countries like Afghanistan, India, Bangladesh and several countries in Africa, the streets are filled with people with malnutrition and vulnerable shelters barely hanging up, easily broken by the rain and wind. In such places children quarrel over a crumb lying on the road. Each of them is yearning for a way out, a bright future and a better life.

With education everyone has the ability to make a living.

With even the most basic education, people on the streets could have a big impact not only on themselves but also on their family and also on their society. There are several examples of people from poor backgrounds who have proven that education paves the way towards realising their dreams.

For instance, James is fifteen years old, and was born in the centre of Bangalore, India. His family consists of parents and two siblings. When he was just a child, his father had a terrible accident and was left bedridden. His mother, who was a housemaid at the time, did not earn enough money to feed the whole family. That forced both James’s siblings to drop out of school and find a job. His brother works long hours as a carpenter, from eight in the morning until late at night every day. His sister works in a clothing factory and is also responsible for all the housework when she returns home late in the evenings. Fortunately for James, he was given the opportunity to study at Shanti Bhavan, a residential education charity. Here he understood the value of education and is now working hard to graduate in Business Studies and aspires to start his own business some day. He is looking forward to supporting and uplifting his family. This is a far cry from the life James would have led had he not been given the opportunity to have an education.

Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, also came from a poverty-stricken family. He grew up with five siblings and worked with his father on a tea stall near a railway station and later went on to build his own stall, along with his brother, to fund his education. He achieved a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Delhi and a Master's degree in the same from the University of Gujarat. He built his political career on the back of his education and is now one of the most admired leaders in the world.

Another exceptional political personality who came from a humble background is Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States. He had the opportunity to study in Indonesia and the USA at Columbia University then at Harvard Law School, where he became the first black president of the prestigious Harvard Law Review. He built his political career on his solid educational foundation and eventually became one of the most popular leaders in the world.

Education is empowering. It can lead to reduction in crime and a flourishing economy by creating more jobs that can be filled by well-qualified individuals. Education has a lasting impact, can help overcome generational poverty, help realise dreams and have a positive influence on families, communities and the world as a whole.

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r e h not

A

Strength If you want to perf orm as an athlete, says Maddie Lander of Holmewood House School, you ne ed to keep your mind in tu ne as well as your body.

E

very athlete naturally focuses body. This is because being stressed on the physical side of sport, or depressed can cause physical whether they are running, lifting disruptions such as muscle tightening and shaking, which weights, hitting a ball, being stressed can cause injuries and or swimming, which or depressed can ruin an athlete’s career. of course will improve cause physical an athlete’s their form, strength disruptions such as When mental health is not and agility. But not muscle tightening and shaking, which reaching the minimum many athletes focus as can cause injuries level required, their level much on the mental and ruin an athlete’s of focus and confidence side. Besides training career. decrease, which creates hard and practising for hours each week, a good athlete a break in the athlete’s performance should take breaks to focus on mental level. That is why most professional health and wellbeing so that they athletes have a psychiatrist. can perform at their best. Athletes with good mental health enjoy many Our minds are complicated things important qualities that improve their that control our lives. Having the right confidence, determination, self-belief mindset allows athletes to accomplish their goals and targets and helps them and organization. succeed. For example, think of the Scientists have proven that the mind England women’s field hockey team’s in sport is just as important as the striker and captain, Alex Danson, when 104 Mind’s Eye Prep | 2022

she has the ball and is looking to score.

Her mind controls where she places the ball, which is essentially the key part to beating the goalie. If Danson sets her mind to scoring in the top left corner and believes that she can (knowing that’s the goalie's weak spot) she is almost definitely going to score but if her mind can’t decide where to play the ball she will either be tackled or will place the ball in a spot which is easy for the goalie to reach just because her mind was too slow and wasn’t thinking straight. This shows how having a strong mind, self-belief, and the ability to deal with pressure can help sportsmen achieve great things.

Have you ever heard someone say, ‘They didn’t play as well as they could because they were nervous.’? This means that the person they’re talking about didn’t play well because they weren’t in the right state of mind and

’s hlete an at h is not n e h W alt imum al he ment ing the mintheir h , reac required and level of focus ease. level nce decr ide conf

couldn’t handle the pressure, which shows how training yourself to be confident will make you perform much better than being nervous.

Also, when athletes train to improve, they need to have the right mindset for them to train properly and take in what their coaches are teaching them. All athletes should have lots of motivation to work harder and make room for improvement. Without motivation athletes wouldn’t improve and slowly they would be overtaken by people with more motivation and determination.

However, the most important mental thing an athlete has to do is to train themselves to be able to cope with injuries. When an athlete has a bad injury, it can take years to fully recover

and build their strength, so they need get back up and motivate themselves to do better.

Not only do athletes need to be able to cope with injuries, but they also need to be able to cope with going backwards and also losing. After all, there’s only one winner and it won’t always be the same person. If an athlete loses a title or reputation, it usually makes them frustrated and want to quit but this is completely the wrong approach. Instead, sportsmen should use their downfalls as building blocks to climb back up. As Banksy says, ‘When you get tired, learn to rest, not quit.’ 

As Ba nk ‘When sy says, tired, you get l rest, earn to not q uit.’

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d r i e W but l o o C he top Prep lists t n o t w e N f ola o Oliver Akin isit in 2022. places to v

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nted a unique ave you ever wa l stay with you experience that wil weird but cool e ar forever? Here From the thermal places to explore. s, the land of whisker pools in Turkey to your of t ou u yo ke this guide will ta help you discover comfort zone and in ought were real things you only th dreams. u places to visit if yo These are all great rite ou fav My e. ur nt ve want a bit of an ad y because the scener is Socotra Island nt re fe dif e th d r an there is spectacula e so fascinating. It ar s ee tr d an ts an pl s w the Pamukkale date was really cool ho is e ur pt ul sc e Th . es back to Roman tim ers its message very powerful as it deliv its setting and the clearly because of like it’s sinking into ok way it’s made to lo g d it quite interestin the sand. I also foun ish bb ru d an s as gl e how over time all th s o little shining rock int ed rm fo en be s ha a of re mo I’m though by the ocean. Even to ve lo d ul wo ill st I dog person myself, ls d see how the loca visit Cat Island an by ed nd ou rr su lives live their everyday cats.

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, island a r t o Soc

Yemen

e re, du ut the limate, o s n fi fa ot c ny sciand h ees here For a isolation r t and se in to the f plants re el the e h w y o n e a ik s l t d k lo un it loo ot fo ra is are n rld, making vie. Socot in o fi mo lands the w a sci- f four is o. The f o ag set t o chipel ping arges the l ocotra Ar major ship S r . a ne the emen ory is t of Y territ and is par s is route land ra is r birds t o c o S fo Fact: a paradise different Fun + d 0 e 0 r 1 e consid s around a and h . s ie c e sp

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The Hand Chile

of

the

Desert,

of an o wants more erto si For anyone wh De the Mano de is is artistic trip, Th n. io at in st t de bal za is the perfec ra ar Mario Ir man hu sculpture by th wi do is to whose theme pposed sculpture is su e Th g. in er ff it is su So s. es lin lone ing th to represent no th e desert wi all alone in th nearby. erto was Mano Del Desi d by the Fun Fact: s and unveile 92. It built in the 1980 ic in March 19 bl pu e local city to th e financed by th acion was said to be or rp Co , nisation booster orga a.

Pro Antofagast

PAmukkale, Turkey tern Turkey known Pamukkale is a town in Wes rmal waters flowing for the mineral-rich the races on a nearby ter e tin down white traver rapolis, an ancient hillside. It neighbours Hie und 190BC. Ruins aro d nde Roman spa city fou erved theatre and there include a well-pres hagi that stretch cop sar h a necropolis wit l is famous for its for 2km. The Antique Poo s, the result of umn col submerged Roman fect place for an an earthquake. The per h. bat amazingly relaxing it The Cotton Castle Fun Fact: The Turkish call s that these white nce bla em due to the res cotton plantations terraces have with the . key Tur l tra Cen cultivated in

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Glas

s Bea ch, C alifo rn fo

Now r a ia Beac glimm h is e r of d ing e a f u tran mping g illed w xperienc ith sfor lass year e. Glass med shinin into s g t in h p t e oc ’ worth e o glist ean, beau ening bbles co tiful very now verin in t littl by te popular he sunsh g the be e in is dis ns of th tourist d e. This ach and is o now truly couraged usands estinatio a n year rema b ly. Co visited rkab y state l l le ex p perie ark rang ecting Fun F nce. ers. a c A the r t: Oran turq arest co ge beach uoise lour s, al glass is . ong with one of red and

Cat island, Aoshima cat lovers can enjo y a cuddly experienc e with these furry cr eatures on Aoshima , also known as Ca t Island! There ar e more than 120 cats , which is about six times the human po pulation on the islan d.

The cats were origin ally brought to th e island to kill mice that hung around th e fishing boats. But as the human population dwindled from 1,000 to 16, the cats staye d on and multiplied, wh ile they continued to be fed by the remainin g locals.

Fun Fact: Only 34 vis itors are allowed to visit Cat Island each day.

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