Mary Nasiru reviews some top acts from across the decades who are still relevant today Pg. 4
Hello and welcome to this edition of the HNC Echo. This magazine is a result of the hard work of our students who participate in our journalism enrichment.
Our students have explored a huge diversity of topics, from the Israel Palestine conflict to questioning if reading a lost art. Their incredible talents have resulted in a great read, and I hope you enjoy this edition.
Hayley Doyle
Enrichment Lead – HNC Echo
Music is a universal language 9 XL bully dogs: but who’s the real bully? 12 Everything you need to know about mental health 14 Gaza: The unspoken 18 A taste of hate?
The HNC Echo is written for students, by students. It is a part of our enrichment offer, with our writers independently developing their own ideas and content. Please note therefore that the magazine contains the individual views of our young people, and any views expressed are not necessarily those of HNC. The College is not liable for any inaccuracies or incorrect content. We hope you enjoy the creative efforts of our students.
Music is a universal language a look at the most influential bands from across the decades
Mary Nasiru shares a review of her top artists through the decades, and looks at why some music is timeless, irrespective of the year or decade you were born.
Some people often underestimate the impact music has on people and just how important is it. Not only is music used as a means of enjoyment, it can also be provides a voice for change for social and political issues across the world; music is an easier way for some people to know what in going on in the world rather than watching the news. It can also be used by artists to tell their story, what makes them who they are and how they got to where they are now. Here we will go on a journey of the most influential bands of all time...
One of Britain’s most popular and influential bands hail from Liverpool. The Beatles’ music is so captivating and so timeless that every generation seem to have been impacted by their music, especially me. The uniqueness they brought to the world of rock music set a whole standard for other artists not only during their time but also generations to come. Rubber Soul is my favourite album, a clear example of their influence. The songs demonstrate the Beatles increasing maturity as lyricists, and in their incorporation of brighter guitar tones and new instrumentation such as the fuzz bass, the group strive for more expressive sounds and arrangements in their music. But also, John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s song writing had reached new heights of maturity and ambiguity, and it was the first Beatles’ album where each song seemed to exist in itself, and yet worked in alchemical harmony with everything around it: the emergence of the pop album as creative kaleidoscope. McCartney had told the New Musical Express that the band was banking on comedy being the next big thing.
After protest music, Rubber Soul could be considered a deeply funny album, the gender plays of ‘Drive My Car’ (and the beep-beep backing vocals), the cabaret of ‘Michelle’ (because nothing warms up the object of one’s desire like French), the way Lennon sucks deeply through his teeth before oozing the chorus to ‘Girl’. Even the album’s most earnest songs (‘Nowhere Man’, ‘In My Life’) were touched by a nursery-rhyme gentleness that made their themes (psychic alienation, the astonishing continuity of past and present) go down easily. This overall emphasis of the Beatles music intelligence.
A band, who aren’t British but rather from New York, The Velvet Underground, have also influenced the rock and roll world beyond their song ‘rock and roll’ from the Loaded album. From discovering them from their song ‘after hours’, my love for this band grew more and more each day, especially for Lou Reed. Although there is controversy surrounding Nico and Lou Reed, their music still hits (support the art, not the artist).
The Velvet Underground and Lou Reed
A career-long chronicler of New York streets, Lou Reed (born Lewis Allan Reed in Brooklyn in 1942), fleshed out the city’s fringes with serpentine tales of blurred genders and late-night misadventure. Musically, Reed maintained a chameleonic presence from album to album, dramatically changing his sound while continually staying ahead of the times. A young student of doo-wop and free jazz alike, he became an in-house songwriter (and occasional session player) for New York’s Pickwick Records in his early 20s, toying with unconventional guitar tunings and other avant-garde touches lifted from his cross-genre spectrum of influences. There he met Welshman John Cale, with whom he co-founded The Velvet Underground, before entering the orbit of cutting-edge pop artist Andy Warhol. The band’s first four albums before frontman Reed departed in 1970 have provided an undiminished north star for underground rock ever since. Even after scoring a crossover hit with 1972’s hummable urban postcard “Walk on the Wild Side”—produced by David Bowie and Bowie’s guitarist Mick Ronson—Reed didn’t stick to pop-friendly glam, but followed it with the throwback orchestral flair of ‘Berlin’. Further experiments included the industrial noise and drone of 1975’s Metal Machine Music as well as other ambitious concept albums and winding, suite-like structures, all guided by a grainy drawl that often swerves into streetwise talk-singing. Reed’s soaring piano ballad “Perfect Day” was repurposed to heart-breaking effect in 1996’s Trainspotting, and Reed remained relevant right up until his death in 2013, collaborating with Metallica, Gorillaz and his wife, Laurie Anderson. He remains an eternally cool spirit guide for new generations of misfits and outsiders.
Mia Andrew met our Principal Marcus Smith-Connor to find out more about the man behind the name students see, but may not know – and uncovered an interesting past.
Surprising secrets of the people who head up HNC
article by Mia Andrews
As a student at HNC, it occurred to me that I didn’t know who our Principal was. And I went on to find out that in fact, most students don’t know who he is as obviously with over 2300 students, it is impossible that all students will know him. But given he makes such big decisions that affect all students at College, I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to learn more about the man whose name we know, but many of us may not directly interact with.
Marcus Smith-Connor has been Principal for around two years, and with the Senior Leadership Team, has made some significant changes to HNC, from the values we live by as students to the less popular car parking permit scheme.
As a young person, I always assumed that most people in education have always worked in education. But Marcus surprised me with some interesting facts about how he’d had his life threatened, how he’d taught in another country and why he feels some of the changes at HNC are so important
(even though students at HNC might not always like them).
Starting off, I asked him to give a fun fact about himself. I sat back, expecting some general fact about a favourite football team or hobby, but his answer made me sit up and take note when Marcus calmly stated: “I spent a year travelling around South America and at one point we were held up at gunpoint.”
This was not the answer I was expecting ten seconds in, and of course I left my planned questions behind and asked for more details about his dramatic statement. He explained:
“We were about 5 days into our trip and we stopped at this thermal pool and this nice guy came along. He was speaking in Spanish but our Spanish wasn’t great, so it was difficult to have a conversation and he was there for absolutely ages. As it started get to dark, it’s cold and it’s high in the mountains, and we start to indicate we will need to make a move.”
“This guy then tells us ‘it’s getting cold’ and ‘I’m going to need all of your stuff’, ‘I need all of your rucksacks”. But we said that we couldn’t do that because it’s ours and we need it. This went on for ages until he pulled out a gun and demanded our things.”
“It gets down to -5, and we’re five days from the nearest town – we know we won’t survive without our things.
One of the group says she is going to scream, I am thinking that doesn’t sound good, what if he is spooked? But she says there is no option and starts screaming for help. It was very odd, but he just put his gun away and walked off. This was in Bolivia.”
I thought this was all so interesting and made me invested in his journey - it led me to ask if anything else eventful happened whilst he was in south America, and apparently that wasn’t the only dramatic event.
“South America is an amazing place to travel. In Argentina you can do these long bus journeys which are up to 30 hours long. We were once stopped, and police came on and stopped next to me – I knew they were looking for a bribe.
They took me off the bus, they made the driver take my rucksack off as well and they pulled everything out of it. And I was thinking that they were definitely going to try and find something and then say unless you pay us, we’re going to arrest you. They tipped everything onto the side of the road, in the middle of the night and they looked through it all. But then they put it all back in, and I breathed a sigh of relief.”
Marcus went on to share more about some of the civil unrest he experienced in the country, and being trapped for three days while there were riots, with violence between the people and the government.
While Marcus clearly travelled before working, I did wonder if given his experiences he would recommend that students travel, or if he would ever consider returning to South America.
“Definitely, 100%! South America is amazing. It’s got everythingmountains, jungles, history, beautiful scenery! Bolivia is the least developed and the most remote, but it’s the most interesting for me because of that. I would recommend a Galapagos trip to anyone who ever gets to go.”
I could have spent more time covering this, but knowing I was here to find out about being a Principal, I switched my questioning, asking if becoming a Principal was something he always wanted to do. Marcus explained becoming a Principal was not a journey he initially planned.
“I studied an undergraduate degree in Politics and then I did a postgraduate degree in Political Theory, so I was at university for a long time. But no, I didn’t have a goal to be a Principal. When I was in year 11, our Geography teacher taught us how to use basic weather equipment, and the teacher asked me to show the year 10s how to use it. So that was the first time I had ever taught anyone anything and I really enjoyed it. Then between my year out and university, I taught for a year in Zimbabwe, in an orphanage. So, I applied to university, deferred for a year to go travelling, and came back and did that!”
I was curious as to if he ever had a moment where he
didn’t want to come back to England and go to university? Personally, if I had been travelling for all that time and gained all this experience, I don’t think I would want to come back to England and go into education again. Marcus shares what triggered this decision:
“In the first week of that year in South America, we went to angel falls in Venezuela – which is one of the highest waterfalls in the world. There was this German couple who were on the trip, however they were opposite to us as they were at the end of their travel after a long time. I remember it so vividly because this couple were so underwhelmed, I just thought that they must have spent far too long doing this because this is supposedly an amazing experience but they had become immune to it all. At that point I decided I wanted a routine, and a career.”
The rest, as they say is history, and as Marcus found, he was ‘better suited’ to working with older students, so he carved out his career in 6th forms, joining HNC in 2018 before becoming Principal in 2022.
I wanted to know more about some of the things he has or tried to change whilst being Principal at HNC and how he feels about them.
“I think we have made lots and lots of changes. For example, the timetable which changed this academic year from the last one, I know that some students were not keen on it and even some teachers were not keen on
it, but my take was that, from an education perspective, it was a better experience for young people and would enable them to achieve more. I know that students and even some staff think we’ve had lots of change, but we decided as a senior team that making all the changes we needed to see at once was a far better approach.”
“I know some students might not have liked having more lessons, or having to get an earlier bus. But more teaching, and better enrichment is only good for students. I hope that when students reflect on these changes, they acknowledge that they might not like them but they realise why it was done and that it was in their best interest to do. So hopefully if we achieve that I hope it is a very positive thing that we managed as a College.”
As a student, I am aware that the College did not proceed with a proposal for an earlier start time when a new timetable was proposed. Marcus clarified:
“This idea generated a lot of feedback, and in the end we thought that for 15 minutes it probably wasn’t worth it. The feedback that we got from students and staff was legitimate and we considered how for some people it would be a struggle to get into College for that time because of things like public transport. So, we listened to the feedback in order to get the best possible outcome, at the end of the day, it has all been done to try and improve the student experience”
It was nice to hear that the Principal does take student and staff opinion into consideration, and clearly Marcus understands why some students with part time jobs or difficult journeys may have found adapting to a simple change challenging.
Now, on to a current hot topic – car parking. Marcus explains why this was a decision to ensure student safety on campus.
“Car parking used to be a free for all and we would get complaints about that all of the time, because students would have a permit, and they thought that the permit meant that they had a guaranteed parking space, but it didn’t, and there was lots of unsafe parking. By moving to a situation where a permit guarantees you a space, that’s great for those who have permits. It means that the permit actually means something, but it’s not ideal for those who couldn’t get the permits and I know students who choose to drive to College can find it difficult to park. Most students do understand why we need to take this approach, but this will always be a decision where we will never reach a consensus that pleases all and student safety come first.”
Going back to the beginning, I mentioned that most students including myself are not likely to have a chance to meet Marcus, so I thought it was important to ask him if there was anything in particular he wants students to know. He shared:
“Some Principals think that being visible to students is really important. However, my priority is to make sure we have a College that works for young people and ensures they have a positive experience. I think the biggest priority is that students have good connections with teachers, and those staff who they see on a regular basis. Knowing one person cannot deliver that, although I do always welcome feedback from students.”
I spent a year travelling around South America and at one point we were held at gunpoint.
The interviewee then turned the tables on the interviewer, asking me what I thought about it all. I had to share that my friends and I didn’t have a particular opinion on it – a bit like when we go to university, we don’t expect to know the leadership team at our university.
I felt like that was a good way to wrap up the interview. It was great to meet Marcus as a real person, not a name on something I have been given. Now I’m wondering if all the staff at HNC have such interesting pasts?
XL Bully dogs:but
who’s the real ‘bully?’
An opinion piece
by Erin Morrison
Thousands of American XL Bully owners have been warned by the RSPCA as they breach the new laws banning this breed of dog.
From February 1, in England and Wales, the Government has enabled police to seize unregistered XL Bullies, meaning owners could face a criminal record and unlimited fines.
The government states XL Bullies have been ‘disproportionately involved’ in the rising number of fatal dog attacks, and these new laws were sparked by dog attacks, such as the one suffered by Ian Price in September 2023. Price sadly died after being attacked by two suspected American Bully XL dogs in Stonnall, near Walsall. There was also, Jack Lis, a 10-yearold boy who was killed by an American XL Bully in Caerphilly in 2021.
A dog welfare expert for the RSPCA, Dr Sam Gaines said that the organisation did not want XL Bullies to be added to the banned list, saying she would rather see a clampdown on the irresponsible breeding and targeting of individual dogs and owners who put people at risk due to their behaviour.
She followed this with “There are definitely going to be owners of XL Bullies who will have not gone through the exemption process and obviously that is a concern. This is why we need to make sure resources are focused on individuals who are deliberately keeping dogs because they want to threaten people with them, frightening people and intimidating them.”
A resident from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, wants the government to stop the ban, describing her family XL Bully Reggie as “the softest thing”. They also said the responsibility should be on the owners to ensure their dogs are welltrained.
It has been illegal to keep an XL Bully off the lead or unmuzzled in public since 31 December 2023, as well as breeding, selling or abandoning them.
Scotland has vowed to introduce similar restrictions on XL Bullies, and this took effect from 23 February due to the influx of dogs being rehomed ahead of the English ban, with exemption certificates needed from 31 July. Northern Ireland announced on the 6 March that they will be muzzled on a lead in public, with new legislation requiring owners to get an exemption certificate for their XL Bully.
The Stormont agriculture and rural affairs minister has said that the selling and breeding of XL Bullies will be banned, making similar moves to those that have already been introduced in the rest of the UK.
Andrew Muir has also said the new scheme will be set up requiring owners to register their dog with the authorities.
The legislation was brought in as the government faced pressure to act after the breed was linked to a string of serious and sometimes fatal attacks.
The new rule will also make it illegal to abandon, rehome, sell, buy, or transfer ownership of an XL Bully.
Any dogs registered as exempt throughout the UK must be microchipped, kept on a lead and must be muzzled when in public, to comply with the exemption rules they will need to be neutered.
Any owners who missed the registration deadline on 31 January are encouraged to contact their local police force if they think their dog is an XL Bully.
Why Renaissance is Revolutionary
‘It’s not just an album, it’s an experience‘
In our second music themed piece, Esther Okoroba reviews one of the most revolutionary albums of our time.
What does Renaissance even mean, you may ask? Renaissance is a French word meaning rebirth, and that’s exactly what Beyonce created a rebirth in the music industry with her 7th studio album.
Renaissance is a celebration and a toast to the black and queer community. Beyonce conceived and recorded the Renaissance album during the pandemic, seeking to inspire joy and escapism in listeners who had experienced isolation, and to celebrate the club era. It wasn’t something we’d seen from Beyonce before, It was new, and it was fresh it was something we needed!
The first song on the album ‘I’m That Girl’ was one of the best openings to an album I’d ever heard, alongside with ‘Pray You Catch Me’ from Beyonce’s Lemonade album. It set the tone for the whole album and was the perfect opening, letting the audience know she can’t be stopped; she is unapologetically Beyonce, and she will never change for anyone. The album holds 16 songs and through each song, a new empowering affirmation is told. 16 songs of empowerment and celebration? Yes, please!
My top three songs on the album are Summer Renaissance, Alien Superstar and Heated. Summer Renaissance makes me feel celebrated, and every time I hear it, I can’t help but smile and dance. Alien Superstar helped me to embrace my differences and made me realise it’s okay to stand out and be proud of who you are, always. Lastly, Heated’s
instrumental is just insane and for the song itself? Just WOW.
For me, Renaissance isn’t just an album. As a black woman, it makes me believe I can truly do anything I put my mind to in this life. There’s no limit in the world when I listen to this album; I feel heard and I feel seen through each song, each beat and each lyric. It’s important to feel loved and the Renaissance album makes me feel just that. Renaissance will never be just an album to me, it will forever be an experience that I will never forget and something that will stick with me for a lifetime. Keep streaming Renaissance and remember, ‘you’re that girl’.
m e n t a l h e a l t h
Everything you need to know about mental health
Yuliia Malinova investigates why the value of mental health is not always fully realised, and catches up with our Student Wellbeing Manager at HNC for advice and top tips to help you to enhance and protect your mental health.
Mental health is a broad concept: it combines both our health and mental state. I have asked Rebecca, who is the Student Wellbeing Manager at HNC, a few questions about mental health.
Mental health is a state of happiness in which a person is able to work productively, withstand life stresses and realise their creativity. Mental health combines a healthy spirit and psyche with a social component. Unfortunately, some of us
do have poor mental health. When we struggle with our mental health it can have a negative impact on our day to day lives. It is often difficult to carry out routines, such as making breakfast in the morning, focusing on studies, or being motivated to work. It can even seem difficult to do the things we enjoy. For some people, mental health can worsen to the point of developing a clinical disorder like depression or clinical anxiety disorder. However, this happens in severe cases and only a medical professional can diagnose this.
I asked Rebecca why young people might experience poor mental health, and what her advice would be for any student that believed they were.
Rebecca believes that one of the biggest factors that has a negative impact on mental health is social media. She says “social media sets high expectations to look the part or achieve unrealistic things in your life. Often young people want to be like the people on Instagram or TikTok videos. There are also lots of uneducated and misinformed
accounts and influencers that list “symptoms” and that if you have any of these, you are prone to depression or anxiety. It can be quite dangerous because impressionable people may believe what they say and think they have an underlying condition, when they don’t.”
Rebecca talked about an interesting thing called co-morbidity. Co-morbidity is when symptoms of one condition can be symptoms of another. For example, having difficulty getting out of bed can be a symptom of clinical depression, but it is more commonly a symptom of low mood. Rebecca advises to anyone watching these videos or reading these posts would be do so with an open mind - don’t panic that your symptoms are the worstcase scenario, but if you are worried, you should speak to someone.
There’s also a concept that adolescents are the most vulnerable with regards to poor mental health. However, this is not necessarily true. Based on statistics, one in six children aged 5 to 16 were identified as having a probable mental health
problem in July 2021. For adults it is around one in four experiencing a mental health difficulty during their lifetime (Mind UK).
However, adolescents may be vulnerable because their brain cells are not fully developed until their late 20s. This means that their brain cells, nervous system, and hormonal system are still developing and changing. This is why smoking vapes is quite dangerous at a young age, as the chemicals in vapes can physically inhibit brain development. At a young age, we form our personality, so the content we consume, thoughts, actions, and people around us can strongly influence our subconscious.
So, what are the different types of mental health problems and how can we deal with them? There are so many different emotional and mental health issues that it is impossible to list them all. However, from her own experience, Rebecca advises that the most common problems students face are anxiousness and low mood.
She comments: “It is important to understand that there is a huge difference between anxiety and clinical anxiety disorder. Anxiety is a natural response to stressful situations. Usually, anxiety reduces with age, when we are used to being independent and dealing with different life situations. However, to avoid anxiety, there are many different things we can do, such as breathing in a box, distracting
our minds (e.g. the 5,4,3,2,1 method), or stimulating our senses (e.g. having something nice or smelling good to relax us).”
It’s important not to let it get to a crisis point, but to act immediately. If you are in a bad mood, you need to do something enjoyable for you, focus on things that you like. Sometimes it seems that everything is not going according to plan, and the world is against you, but it isn’t. Rebecca offers an interesting tip that can cheer people up she says, “At the end of the day, take a piece of paper, analyse your day and on one side write down all the good things that happened to you (it can be something very easy, like not missing your alarm clock, getting to college on time). On the other side, write down all the bad things that happened to you. Then take the negative things that happened to you and tear them into small pieces. This way you physically get rid of your negative feelings. Also, throughout the week, you can collect notes with positive things that happened to you and put them in a container. At the end of the week, you will see that many positive things do happen to you.”
Rebecca, though often people don’t like to hear this, advises everyone to exercise because it is the number one way to improve and maintain good psychological well-being. When people hear about exercise, they immediately think of serious training in the gym, but this is not the case. Exercise can be
relaxing, such as yoga, cycling or walking. The main thing is that it is physical activity.
I concluded our interview by asking Rebecca for her advice about the number one thing she thinks young people should know about mental health?
“First of all, you need to take care of your mental health and if you realise that you need help, go, and get it. It is important to get help from qualified professionals because if you do nothing, nothing will improve!”
Want to read more? These resources are incredibly useful:
www.youngminds.org.uk/
Article by Mia Andrews
Gaza: The
“Everything that gets to world news is all part of a tactic – you need to remember that” Can we trust the media on the current conflict in Israel-Palestine?
On the 29 February I was lucky enough to be in a room with people from many different backgrounds, but we all had one thing in common, learning the facts. We sat together listening to a talk from people who have experienced the impact of the Israel-Palestine conflict first hand, and this is what I took from it. The talk was conducted by an educational programme called Solutions Not Sides (SNS) which aims to promote ‘critical thinking tools in order to empower young people with the knowledge, empathy and skills to promote dialogue and conflict resolution, and to challenge prejudice in the UK.’ – Solutionsnotsides.co.uk
There are two main groups of people who have been impacted by this conflict,
Palestinians and Israelis. The conflict is taking place in their home country and has ultimately changed their lives and forced them to adapt to their new living situations.
The most recent attack was on October 7, when Hamas gunmen forced their way past the border, into Israel. This sadly led to the death of around 1,200 people, making this attack the biggest in Israel’s history. This then led to more attacks on both sides as Israel and Hamas’s conflict became the deadliest it’s ever been.
The reason I have chosen to talk about this topic is that it is a massive issue, and even though it is taking place in a completely different part of the world, it still impacts students at HNC. When it comes to a conflict such as this one, it can be difficult to find unbiased news outlets that will help you to see both sides, as well as being difficult to figure out what is real or fake news. Solutions not Sides aims to tackle the
misinformation and help young people to have a better understanding of the conflict, without the influence from platforms such as TikTok, or Instagram.
During the Q&A, I interviewed two people together. I refer to them as speaker 1 (who offers a Palestinian perspective) and speaker 2 (who offers an Israeli perspective).
Please note, both asked to remain anonymous due to the heightened sensitivities surrounding the conflict.
Speaker 1: “I believe both sides need is so much pressure hostage families want to bring their home. In a few weeks Ramadan, so I hope will be peace for so much pressure Both sides need and I pray this happens.”
Speaker 2: “I really that there will be it currently seems going in a good direction. But you need to that everything that to world news is tactic, hopefully are saying is true aligns with actually ceasefire, sadly I will be permanent.”
One of the burning questions you may have is - will there ever be a ceasefire? I asked our two guests for their views. Please be aware this interview was conducted in February, therefore is based on their views at that time.
I thought what they interesting, but I they didn’t go into detail as to why be a ceasefire and something that is of people’s minds moment, so I decided ask why they don’t there would be a ceasefire.
Where is this taking place?
Gaza is located in Palestine, and shares a boarder with Egypt and Israel. It is on the coast on the Mediterranean Sea.
The Unspoken
believe that peace - there pressure from who just their children weeks it is hope that there this. There is pressure on Hamas. this peace, happens.” really hope be a ceasefire, seems like it is direction. remember that gets part of a what they true and it actually getting a don’t think it permanent.” they said was realised into a lot of there won’t and this is is on a lot minds at the decided to don’t think a permanent
Speaker 2 comments: “Israel sees the destruction of Hamas as something they have to do. To the Israelis, there is only one goal to the war, and it’s non-negotiable that Hamas needs to leave Gaza. It seems like the Heads of Hamas, are hiding in tunnels under Rafah, so unless they leave Gaza, I don’t think the war will end.”
Speaker 1 adds: “I will add 2 extra things that I believe to be important. Firstly, the current Israeli government know that if there is an end to the war, there will be the question of how will that be justified? This applies to the Israeli community and state of Israel as they are responsible for the October attacks and the effects they had. So this is one of the main reasons why the Prime Minister Netanyahu is actively trying to not have a ceasefire or an end to the war, because he may end up in jail for corruption. On the other side, the Israeli Government know they cannot destroy Hamas, as it is an idea, not just an organisation, and you can’t destroy an idea.”
Speaker 2: “So I’m going to add two things to that, the first is that the Israeli electorate does not forgive these kinds of security breaches. So I believe they will be voted out at the next opportunity and the government that follows will look very different. Then, second of all, Hamas is an idea and therefore it will continue to exist. But I think getting rid off the tunnels, and the ability to create rockets, is a goal all Israelis agree on.”
Speaker 1: “You’re talking about a goal that you know that you will never achieve. It will be a war that will never end.”
During the talk that I listened before this interview, Speaker 2 mentioned that when they were younger, they had an extremely, closed mind and opinions, but they have changed as they have got older, so I asked an important question. Do you think the majority of people have such strong opinions that it difficult to change their views despite everything that has happened recently?
Speaker 2: “Yes, I think most people do. On the Israeli side, they are emotionally exhausted from just holding their own pain, so they don’t have the capacity to empathise for the other side too. Most people don’t even read what’s happening in their own country, they just check the names of the dead soldiers, because they are people they know and reading any more information than that hurts them. It’s so not like they go around hating intentionally, they’re are just done with the war and cant handle it anymore.
Speaker 1: “Yes, if you look, there is a propaganda that you can hear in the media and at the same time, there are purposeful governmental plans to not let people reach that point. The government don’t allow for people to sympathise with the other side due to things such as the wall separating them. So, if you stop people from meeting there will be no more
discussions or relationships between the two, therefore preventing peace from happening, and the only communication between both sides will be via the government. And they don’t want peace.
When speaker 1 mentioned ‘there is a propaganda that you can hear in the media’, I thought this was interesting, and wanted to know more about what they thought towards the media coverage of the war. Is there anything big that the media ignores? Is there anything that has been over dramatised to convince people to take a side?
Speaker 1: “If you look at the Israeli side, you will see that they are trying as much as they can to put out what they want people to see. And it focuses on one thing, them being victorious. They promote that more than even rescuing the hostages, because that’s the message that they want to get across to people. The head off the Israeli police’s opinions are very right wing and he talks about people who are still alive who have the possibility to come home by saying ‘There are things more important than your children’. He is one of the most powerful people in the current government and he
said that clearly for sure to keep up the narrative that they will be victorious no matter what it takes.”
Speaker 2: “I will talk more about the British and international media to give you a wider view. According to Jon Stewart ’The problem with the media is not that it lies, is that it sensationalises’. That means, what you get is only the things that get to the top of the agenda. So the smaller things often don’t get attention from the media, compared to the larger things such as negotiations, attacks and deaths. For example, with the October 7 attack, a lot of people thought what happened was out of nowhere – but it wasn’t at all. It doesn’t justify the attack, but what happened has been building for a while, the media just didn’t cover the lead up to a big attack, so it appears to be out of the blue because of that, but just remember its not.
As someone who has been born and raised in England, I understand that sometimes wars that happen overseas can still impact the mental health of young people who live here. It can be a worrying time for everyone, so I wanted some help on what to say to people struggling, not
just in England but all around the world, by asking our two speakers for advice.
There is a propaganda that you can hear on the media
Speaker 1: “I’ll start with my people, as I have said previously, it all starts with their education. At the moment my biggest fear is people who are thinking about seeking revenge, and we have to stop that. We need to bring them together now whilst the memories are still fresh so people don’t have as much of a chance to build up their anger and resentment. People can go years and years without ever meeting an Israeli or a Palestinian because off the wall that separates the two. Our main goal as an organisation is to help people find a solution, not take a side. People need to realise that they all deserve equal rights and to stop saying that only my people are important, because everyone is important.
Speaker 2: “I will for the British youth believe that you allow the violence region to seep into lives. And most importantly don’t ostracise people because they have opinions. It doesn’t anyone if people separated here because the war that is happening in Israel and Palestine. need to sit with of helplessness and with it – don’t convert helplessness into hatred. But sometimes just sitting with the sometimes things than you and that’s it’s just horrible.”
“Everything that news is all part of you need to remember This particular quote out to me because we are very quick everything we see or in the news. Sometimes stories get manipulated we hear what the us to know, rather truth. This could story false and can referred to as fake sometimes the news media can over exaggerate whatever has happened make it bigger than Because of this it difficult to find something that is 100% accurate
will answer youth here. I shouldn’t violence from our into your daily importantly people have different doesn’t help people are getting because of happening Palestine. You the feeling and be okay convert that into anger or sometimes it’s the fact that things are bigger that’s okay and horrible.” gets to world of a tactic –remember that” quote stood because sometimes quick to believe see online Sometimes manipulated so the news wants rather than the make the can then be fake news, and news and exaggerate happened to it actually is. it can be something accurate and this
can cause lots of issues for the audience as they believe in something that is incorrect.
Unfortunately, it is increasingly difficult to find unbiased news sources, so it is understandable that a lot of people are unable to see the bigger picture. Here is some factual information on what has been done over the years to try and bring peace and resolve to the conflict:
1) Numerous talks were carried out in Norway, during the early 1990s. This resulted in a ceremony that was conducted at the White House. Bill Clinton oversaw the Oslo accords, and a self- governing Palestinian Authority was established and agreed upon by both sides.
2) A decade later, several world powers aided the idea of a two-state solution, however this never came into force.
3) There was a suggestion from President Trump which outlined the possibility of a peace plan, but this was disregarded by Palestinians as they believed it to be biased and nothing came of it because of this.
All of these peace-making attempts where diminished when either side retaliated or didn’t agree during the long conflict has been going on for decades, and despite a multitude of other countries and world leaders trying to help the two sides come to a civil agreement, it has sadly never materialised. Nobody Is sure if or when these longlasting series of conflicts will come to an end, but we must not lose hope that one day there will be a civil agreement between the two governments so the civilians can finally know what it feels like to live in society which is at peace.
Going into this talk, I thought that I knew a significant amount about the conflict, and everything that is currently happening in Gaza. But as it turns out, I knew pretty much nothing. A lot of the information I learned during both the talk at the start of the session, and the interview was completely new to me, and I was shocked. For the most part I was shocked about how long this conflict has been going on, and how deep rooted it is into the lives of both Palestinians and Israelis. It is almost impossible for them to escape from it. From their homes being attacked and lives destroyed, to learning about it as a child
where their schools push certain views and beliefs on them, this is an issue that never leaves the people of Israel and Palestine.
Coming out of the talk, I felt compelled to do my research into what has been done to try and stop the war over the years, as I felt saddened by the fact nothing has worked out to end the war. I unfortunately believe speaker 1, when I repeat “It will be a war that will never end” due to the fact it appears to be getting worse, and no matter how many innocent lives are destroyed or lost in the fighting, the governments won’t stop until they get what they each individually want –victory.
“Don’t ostracise people because they have different opinions”
A t a s t e o f h a t e?
Opinion piece
In this opinion piece, Imran Patel investigates allegations regarding big business support for the Israel-Palestine conflict, and delves deeper into why some individuals are choosing to boycott these brands.
There are a number of business which are alleged to have supported Israel during the current conflict. Starbucks and McDonalds are two major brands which have lost revenue – but is this fair or accurate? Imran Patel investigates.
McDonalds is one of several Western corporations that has seen boycotts due to its perceived support of the current Israel-Palestine conflict, with the Chief Executive Chris Kempczinski reporting at pressure from anti-Israel protesters had “meaningfully impacted” performance in some overseas markets in the fourth quarter of 2023.
McDonald’s relies on a franchise system in which thousands of independent businesses own and operate most of its 40,000 stores around the world. About
5% of its outlets are located in the Middle East. The chain hit headlines and saw pressure when its Israel based franchise said it had given away thousands of free meals to members of the Israeli military, sparking calls to boycott the brand by those angered by Israel’s military response in Gaza.
It also prompted franchise owners in Muslim-majority countries such as Kuwait, Malaysia and Pakistan to put out statements distancing themselves from the firm.
McDonalds is a globally recognised brand, for whom franchisees represent the brand by default. The question remains what can it do to ensure that all franchisees remain neutral? And how can they address this damage to their reputation?
Starbucks is another brand that has been called into disrepute and was forced into legal action due to ‘misrepresentation’. Starbucks has seen boycott campaigns on social media due to the current conflict and a union dispute in the US – both of which have seen vandalism to stores. The CEO has been forced to release a statement
to clarify they ‘stand with humanity’. The debate was sparked when the union working to organise baristas in the US posted a message on social media expressing “solidarity” with Palestine, shortly after the 7 October attack by Hamas.
The post, which the union said was not authorised by leaders, spread rapidly despite being taken down, and sparked backlash against the firm. But it was too little too late for both firms as the damage of these boycotts hit.
The impact of boycotts:
Statistics for the problems the two businesses have experienced:
• Starbucks (07/12/23) - $11 billion value loss, 9.4% decline, shares decreased by 8.96% due to global boycott tweets.
• #boycottstarbucks still trending on social media, used 16,000 times, with a combined 167 million views.
• McDonald’s (15/3/24) - $7 billion value loss, shares declined over 3%, stocks fallen by 3.37%, loss of $6.87 billion for the business.
• The main countries which have boycotted McDonald’s and Starbucks was Kuwait, Malaysia, and Pakistan. Boycotts have also affected stores in France and Indonesia. The Middle East have also seen a decrease in the number of sales.
McDonalds and Starbucks are undoubtedly familiar brands to us all. Their experience demonstrates the importance of ensuring we research the facts from trusted sources – to seek truth about who they are as brands.
Myths about body image
Keira Stocks takes a look at body image, and why positive body image and not denying ourselves ‘bad’ foods is so important.
What are some of the myths surrounding body image?
Many people believe that there are “good” and “bad” foods and to an extent, this is true, however only in the biological context. What you eat is your choice and eating sugary or fatty foods doesn’t make you unhealthy, in fact there can be health benefits to them. For example, sugar is brilliant to digest when we are ill due to the electrolytes.
That being overweight is “unhealthy”. Many factors can cause people to become overweight. Factors ranging from health disorders to genetics.
That you have to make a “change” to feel body positive. Making changes to yourself such as your hair length and colour, losing weight, changing your style are all examples of temporary happiness, and these things may not make you feel satisfied in the long-run, and instead, may become a habit in order for you to feel that rush of dopamine again.
Using “willpower” to describe avoiding the urge to eat certain foods. When we tell ourselves to avoid the urge by describing it as our ‘willpower’, we are making negative associations with food, and restraining our body from what we crave or want to eat, which adds specific emotions such as shame and guilt towards specific
foods. This creates negative relationships with food, which your body needs to survive, thrive and grow.
That how we see ourselves is how others also view us. No matter what, you will always shine a negative light upon yourself, but that doesn’t mean that those around us do too. Instead, other people see us in a way that we couldn’t imagine.
What alters our body image?
There are multiple factors leading to why we think or feel a certain way about our body. These factors can range from the pressure to look a certain way due to beauty ideals and how people appear or look on our screens on social media, to how our friends and family talk about bodies either in a positive light or a negative one.
Research suggests that children as young as 3 years old can have body image issues. There are many things that influence how children see themselves. Parents can play a critical role in helping children to develop a positive body image and self-esteem.
Low self-esteem is one of the largest causes for why we see ourselves in a certain way. Without confidence, we target ourselves until we achieve our schema of perfection. However, perfection comes from within yourself. If you are confident and happy for what you have rather than what you don’t, you are perfect, just like everyone else.
Facts and figures:
A survey by a mental health charity found that while 21% of adults (23% of men and 19% of women) felt satisfied because of their body image in the last year, 20% (15% of men and 25% of women) felt shame, 34% (25% of men and 43% of women) felt down or low, and 19% (12% of men and 26% of women) felt disgusted in the last year because of their body image. Source: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/
Some cases of negative body image are people whom are deemed as overweight or obese. I believe this is because the media encourages people to create stigma around certain images. I believe people should be themselves, and not feel pressurised because the media promotes a certain look or image.
Welfare Warrior
Advocate Adrian calls for reform in the welfare system.
Rising financial struggles, as the dependency on the welfare system increases, continues to be an issue for many
Haseeba Imaan investigates
The UK has been facing its worst crisis in over a decade with inflation rates soaring and everyday items becoming more and more expensive. I decided to find out more about this in my local area by interviewing Adrian Lee who runs the local branch of the Salvation Army, about how the costof-living crisis has affected the local Salvation Army and what they have done to help the community out. He starts off by saying that the local branch have helped families out by providing them with £20 to £30 of gas and electric top-ups.
Delivering food parcels to people who need them the most; they also send referrals to the local food bank called the ‘Welcome Centre Food Bank’ and setting money aside for parents to buy their children school uniforms, as parents struggle to buy school uniforms just as much as they battle with the increase in food and household bills. He says that it gets particularly busy in wintertime as people have to use gas and electricity more frequently to warm themselves up or to have
some hot food. However, he then goes on to say that people often have to choose between food or keeping warm as they just do not have the means or funds to choose both and that is when the Salvation Army steps in to help.
Adrian then goes on to recall two shocking cases where people had to choose between keeping warm or having food on the table. The first case was about a mum and her daughter who lived in a council house. They had no heating or food, and the lights were off because they could not afford the utility bills. To keep themselves warm they had to cover themselves with a duvet and had a torch next to them to see. Adrian and the Salvation Army helped them out by topping up the pre-payment meter and giving them a food parcel. The second case was about a 70-year-old man who was helping out a young woman with mental health issues yet when he went home, he only had a packet of biscuits to eat.
Adrian and the Salvation Army helped him out by making sure he received a food parcel to make sure he would not be hungry. He says that the local council could help by prosecuting or deterring people who abuse and commit fraud against the social welfare system as genuine cases then do not receive the necessary support that they are entitled to. He also explained that the social welfare system needs to stop sanctioning people for not turning up to appointments if they had genuine reasons as this has a knock-on effect of whether they can afford the weekly shop and utility bills.
He finishes off by saying that MPs are becoming out-of-touch, even the ones who come from poorer backgrounds. They forget where they came from and lose their authenticity in the process, which means that they do not understand the full extent of the cost-of-living crisis. He also adds on that more needs to be done to ensure the most vulnerable in our society are protected and safeguarded. After this interview I decided to delve deeper into the statistics and found out that since 2015 inflation rates have rocketed from 0.4% to a staggering 7.9% in 2022. Since then, the inflation rate has gone down to a minor 6.8%, (correct at time of writing) according to the office for national statistics, but the question is will it keep going down or will it continue to turn people’s lives upside down? I went out to my local community to test this out and found out that 76% percent of people in Huddersfield say that they have been affected by the cost-of-living crisis while only 24% percent of people say they have not struggled during the cost of living crisis.
To read or not to
read?
As an avid book worm, if the answer is that books are consigned to history, it is an answer that I don’t want to hear.
For me, books are a form or art. From Dickens to Christie to Stephen King, books have a magical ability to transport you to a multitude of magical worlds. For many, books act as a form of escapism enabling people to live vicariously through the sharp wit and mind of estimable authors, inspiring the reader beyond their everyday lives. One of my favourite things about reading is being able to experience a new world from the point of view of new and intriguing characters, whilst imagining what they sound like, what they look like and how they interact with other characters.
Books come in many different genres, serving a multitude of purposes. Some people read for adventure, solace, escape, and knowledge. I see books as a gateway, a portal to different viewpoints especially when reading texts from
That is the question Is reading a dying pastime? Erin Morrison, an avid bookworm, investigates if books are a relic of the past, or continue to be an important part of our culture.
other periods, so you can see how history shaped the world, or you can see how in these captivating portals through time, place and space, authors are able to subtly weave in their societal views.
Take 1984, for instance. An introspective fable of totalitarianism (a dictatorial government), written by Orwell in order to express his fears that totalitarianism would encompass society, having witnessed the rise of Hitler and Stalin, he feared that Britain could easily fall under an authoritarian rule. 1984 is a cautionary tale where society is governed by ‘The Party’ who used mass surveillance as a way of monitoring how subservient their citizens were. The prominent symbol for surveillance in Orwell’s story world is ‘Big Brother’. So not only does this book give an insight into societal views it has also been used as inspiration for one of the biggest reality TV shows in UK TV industry.
While interviewing students at HNC, the consensus seemed to be that books are a dying art form.
Ruby Stocks, 17, stated that “no one likes to read anymore” but followed
it with the fact she does enjoy reading. She also feels that reading is more of a generational hobby, stating that “reading was promoted more when I was younger” continuing “we had reading class and reading time in primary school, but now it is more technology-based, children are more focused on video games and computers.”
This opinion was shared by many.
Another student stated that “yes reading is dying as there aren’t as many interesting books”, continuing “it is more of an educational task as opposed to a hobby.” They then followed this with “people don’t read anymore as they want pictures, not long-winded stories, they want stories that cut to the point but also people can now watch the movie version of books instead of reading which is faster.”
I asked the same student if they think it is generational, and their response was “Yes, older people tend to read more. I think it is mainly that they don’t understand new technology so they go back to something that they can rely on.”
When asked how much they read, they said that they only read if it’s educational as they never really read when they were young. They continue “I never really read when I was young, I can’t read black on white. It is a medical condition that I never felt was catered for in the book community, so I never read.”
I spoke to another student Seb Cashman, 17, who when asked was ‘reading dying’ responded with ‘No, I think it is the writing industry that is dying - all the greats and classics are from years ago. There are no modern classic books, there are phases but the results aren’t solidified as a classic.’ When asked if it was generational, they responded “I think now we have more options with technology, most people choose tech but some people still choose reading, but technology also helps books because lots of movies and TV shows are based on books, for example, the Percy Jackson series on Disney+. I grew up on these books
and thoroughly enjoyed the series, and this enabled more people to be exposed to this world and maybe they will now go and read the books.”
Harvey Taylor, 17, stated “Yes, I think to an extent physically reading books and magazines are starting to lose popularity, but virtual reading is still fairly popular.” Following that, he mentions that he reads “a book a month”, and when asked if it was generational, he responded that “with new technology comes a new generation that only knows the new gadgets and doesn’t necessarily feel the need to regress in terms of technology.”
I for one hope that reading makes a comeback. The school system should not be discouraging this reading as joyous activity by forcing children and adolescents to read. Reading should be leisurely, used as an alternative to staring at screens. It should be a way of relaxing, forgetting about the outside world’s troubles, and experiencing a different world or viewpoint. I have always seen reading in a magical light, as storytelling is something that is entirely human; it strengthens connections between others, increases our empathy as a society and expands our understanding of the world. Storytelling is an activity that has occurred long before the written word, so why should we take it for granted?
