The Citizen - Special Edition 2017

STUDENT MAGAZINE OF THE CITY OF LONDON SCHOOL

MARCH, 2017

BRAV ORLD www . cityoflondonschool . org . uk

FACELESS MASSES ARTWORK BY GIDON ROSALKI, 5TH FORM

MARCH, 2017

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Creativity in the Face of Adversity ZAK LAKOTA-BALDWIN

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Acting is Happy Agony

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VICTOR JACK

My East End Centenarian Great, Great Aunt NATAN BLANK

POLITICS

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Critical Thinking in a Trumpian Age

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Building New Pillars SAMI KARDOS-NYHEIM

ALEXANDER BRIDGE

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The Power of the Boycott

About The Citizen is a student-run magazine covering current affairs and School matters, produced by –and for– the City of London School.

ALEX KITSBERG

Editorial Team

ART

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Grime and Punishment

put the boot in

ELI MEYER

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Laughter Therapy CONRAD O’CALLAGHAN

19

Brexit, Trump and The Rhinoceros

Zak Lakota-Baldwin Victor Jack Charlie Pentol-Levy Shayon Mukherjee

23 Trump and Putin SASHA COLLETT-WHITE

24 Rhyme and Prejudice MICHAEL KAY

26 The Road to Brexit

JACK CURTIN & JAKE SIMMS

Sub-editors Cai Banks Seth Weisz Sami Kardos-Nyheim Eli Meyer Alex Kitsberg Conrad O’Callaghan

SAM KAUFMAN

20 Starving the Past SHAYON MUKHERJEE

CHARITY SUPPLEMENT

29 Charity Editorial

32 Youth Homelessness

ABE TOLLEY

30 Overcoming the

Challenges of fundraising

LEOPOLDO AMBROSIO

34 The Secret behind

CAI BANKS

31

What is Cit-ED?

Sam Kaufman Gidon Rosalki

ELI MEYER

35 The Necessity for Charity

ABE TOLLEY

31

Artists

CentrePoint’s success

ALEX KITSBERG

The Sponsored Sleepout ABE TOLLEY

City of London School Queen Victoria Street London EC4V 3AL

SCIENCE AND TECH

37

Google: The Big Friendly Tech Giant?

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Helping The Blind See JUDE HORSPOOL

ETHAN ANDREWS

cityoflondonschool.org.uk Tel: (020) 3680 6300 Twitter: @CityLondonBoys

ENVIRONMENT

39 Here Comes the Sun ZAK LAKOTA-BALDWIN

40 Waste Not, Want Not TOM DAVIES & JUDE HORSPOOL

SPORT

42 Colin Kaepernick –

A True American Hero CAI BANKS

43 Gianni Infantino – The man

restoring virtue to FIFA

Text: Tisa Pro 10.5/12.5pt

Titles: Poor Richard 16pt

Captions: Gotham 8pt

MISHAEL KUSI-YEBOAH

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PHOTOGRAPH BY RORY MCGREGOR SMITH, SECOND FORM

CANON EOS 100D, F5.6 1/100

EDITORIAL

CREATIVITY IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY

BY ZAK LAKOTA-BALDWIN, S6

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eft to its own devices, coal appears as an unremarkable black lump of rock. Apply enough heat and pressure, so the prevailing wisdom goes, and this mundane material transforms as if by miracle into a glittering diamond.

This popular little factoid has often been used as an analogy for the way people respond to a more metaphorical kind of pressure – when backed into a corner or faced with hardship, human ingenuity and spirit are capable of similarly remarkable things.

The only problem with this analogy, though compelling, is that if you squeeze a mass of coal and subject it to blistering temperatures, it will not in fact turn into a diamond.

While coal contains various impurities, which make up as much as 40 percent of its contents, a diamond consists only of the element carbon, and is formed from processes vastly different to those that deposit coal sediments.

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o why bust this seemingly harmless myth? Perhaps because this idea, that people become great only when forced into it, is at heart an unrealistic one, ignoring the brilliance that goes unrecognised only because it is never noticed, not because it isn’t there. The diamonds are in our minds already, and it is in dark times that we are able to see them shine. This is the theme that we wanted to explore and celebrate in this special edition of ‘The Citizen’ – the bold, creative, and at times,

provocative ways in which all people, from schoolchildren to CEOs, find answers to the obstacles that stand before them.

It can seem at times like each new day brings a new set of problems, while the looming spectres of climate change, poverty and world hunger continue to cast their shadow over the lives of millions, but every day brings new solutions too. Big companies like Google are championing technological education in developing countries and businesses and governments around the world are embracing renewable energy and modern environmental strategies.

Creativity and progress can be found on the smallest scale, too: community initiatives are tackling global issues with a local mindset, from food wastage to youth homelessness – the latter of which is explored in depth in our charity section, highlighting the work done by boys at this school to help young people just like them from less fortunate backgrounds.

In the arts, we find protest and resistance at its most thrilling and cutting-edge, whether it’s satirical commentary on Brexit or politically charged music railing against police brutality. The rise of Trump has seen a particularly fierce response from the art world, and gave the CLS student production of Rhinoceros, a 1959 play about fighting against conformity and fascism, an unexpected feeling of relevance to the present day.

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t a Creative Industries Event held in Central Saint Martins, Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry told his audience why the two much-maligned votes on both sides of the Atlantic may have been just the impetus we needed: “Voting for Brexit and for Trump is a big cry, it’s a big f*** you to us lot. Everyone talks about 2016 as an annus horribilis but I think it’s been fantastic as an artist. For me as an artist I love it when something comes along and makes me think ‘Wow that’s a bit shocking’. That’s what creativity is.

We can’t keep on peddling our same old comfortable ideas and preach to the already converted. No, let’s go out there and genuinely engage with the majority of the population.”

This is the way forward in our brave new world. Never has it been easier to make our voices heard, never have there been more opportunities for effecting change, and never has it been more urgent or necessary. Old models and methods must be swept aside, and new ideas boldly explored and enacted. Ours is a generation filled with hope and dread in equal measure, but we would be wrong to invoke Roosevelt in suggesting that the only thing we have to fear is, still, fear itself. Rather, it is apathy that we must shun – if our optimism and enthusiasm can be united with our concern for the state of the world around us, then we are truly capable of anything.

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ACTING IS HAPPY AGONY Recounting how adversity has shaped the flow and metamorphosis of philosophical ideas throughout history.

BY VICTOR JACK, S6

From this starting point, he went on to argue that the strict, rigid rules of Enlightenment philosophy had led to the atrocities of Nazism and we should reject them, therefore;,he believed our “existence precedes [our] essence” and we should be free to create our own morality, instead of conforming and appealing to authority. He went still further in this vein, arguing we should completely reject all moral standards – from the Church, the law and the opinions of others – to wholly invent our own.

Even though we may feel agony in the responsibility free action entails, the freedom accompanying it means his philosophy (as the quoted title suggests) is in reality optimistic. It was no secret that he was a strange character, living on a daily regime of two packets of cigarettes, several tobacco pipes, 200mg of amphetamines and much alcohol, his philosophy, created in direct antithesis to the Nazi ideology, had a profound impact on European thought-systems.

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rom the very first agricultural settlements in the Fertile Crescent aeons ago to the modern day, philosophical ideas have acted as the very tenets of ideologies, cultures and societies. From Diderot’s role in the French Revolution to Locke’s Social Contract at the heart of the American Constitution, the ubiquity of thought and reasoning have played a vital role in mutating, changing and forming countries as they are today. Yet, philosophers have always been most valuable, pertinent and radical in the face of adversity and at times of extreme strife. Although, undoubtedly, there are thousands of these philosophical endeavours, it would be impossible to summarise them all; therefore, it will be easier to analyse three such remarkable philosophers in particular.

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he first, who faced adversity through the horrors of World War Two, was the existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre. Born in 1905, Sartre spent his childhood isolated – his grandparents did not allow him to interact with other children until age ten and he was bullied at school thereafter.

He went on to study at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, and after being drafted to the army in 1939, was captured by the Germans in 1940 and spent 9 months as a prisoner of war in Nancy. It was here his fixation on freedom materialised fully: in fact, he famously said the French “were never freer than under the German occupation”. Seemingly paradoxical, he was emphasising that it was only when physical freedom was limited that you can truly consider the worth of ontological freedom, or freedom of the will.

nother extraordinary thinker, often termed the father of Western philosophy and one who faced a more political form of adversity, was Socrates. Living in Greece when the Athenian hegemony was dissolving, due to severe losses against the Spartans in the Peloponnesian War, Socrates stood up to the crumbling regime at a time when it was desperate and at its most virulent. Surprisingly, he severely opposed what many most value in the Ancient Greeks: democracy. Described by Plato in Book 6 of ‘The Republic’, he reasoned that given the choice between giving any person or a captain control over the boat, everyone would agree on the latter. Why, therefore, would we give control to an uninformed electorate over learned intellectuals in elections? He further insisted between

“the strict, rigid rules of Enlightenment philosophy had led to the atrocities of Nazism and we should reject them”

“religion and alcohol, what Nietzsche called the ‘two great narcotics in European civilisation’ ” the choice of a doctor (prescribing bitter medicine for a long term good) and a sweet shop owner (promising short-sighted solutions); people buy into the latter demagoguery. In fact, Socrates mentored such a populist – the rich Alsibiades, who pushed for the disastrous conquests in Sicily.

He also pushed against the ‘wise men’ of Athens; when the Oracle of Delphi named him the wisest man in Athens, not believing her, he went

around attempting to find a wiser man. However, the arrogance of all the Athenian elites he encountered – each believing himself to be the wisest – made him realise he was in the fact the wisest; it was due to the self-awareness of his own ignorance.

Due to his persistent questioning of the norm, he was put on trial in 399BCE for ‘impiety’ and ‘corruption of the youth’, and was sentenced to death by a jury of 500 Athenians (interestingly, by the same margin as in the Brexit vote last year – 52% to 48%). Yet, his ideas have remained vital and relevant to this day.

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he third and perhaps most radical philosopher, who experienced a more personal kind of adversity, was Friedrich Nietzsche. From a

young age, he encountered hardships all around him: his father died when he was only five; his two-year-old brother soon after; he had a turbulent relationship with his mother and wrote it was “painful for [him] to even hear [his] sister’s voice”; finally, at age 44, he had a mental breakdown, from which he never recovered, when he saw a coachman beating his horse: he ran up to it and shouted “I understand you!”. However, it was these misfortunes that inspired his nihilistic philosophy. Nietzsche realised the real purpose of life is ‘selbstüberwindung’ (self-overcoming) – that is, enduring tribulation and overcoming it in order to become the best you can be, an ‘übermensch’ (superman), in other words. His philosophy was grounded by two main pillars: the first was owning up to envy, which is not a sin as theists would have you believe but a way of aspiring and driving you towards fulfilling your potential. The second is a renunciation of religion and alcohol, what he called the “two great narcotics in European civilisation”; he held they only numb the pain of troubles and do not solve them, which served as fertile ground for the infamous phrase “God is dead”. Yet by this, he only meant that once the slave-morality accompanying Christianity is abandoned, all the rich aspects of culture, such as theatre and art fill the void. We should, further, seize such an opportunity to do so with the emerging mass democracy and atheism which are ideal catalysts.

In this way, Nietzsche shaped his own personal misery into a philosophy which, for many, tore down the last stone of constrictive absolutist morality.

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ven though these figures, amidst many, had a momentous impact on the status quos of their time with their philosophies, they could not have done it without facing adversity in some appearance.

Yet, they did not tremble, cower and despair in their respective situations, but in retaining optimism and channelling their creativity, their struggles morphed into ideologies which have permeated and dominated so many thought-systems since then.

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MY EAST END CENTENARIAN GREAT, GREAT AUNT …who experienced two world wars, four changes of Monarch, and protested against Black Shirts.

BY NATAN BLANK, 5TH FORM

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hat does ‘Creativity in the Face of Adversity’ mean to ordinary people? Can we imagine what it is like to walk ten miles a day to sell scraps of cloth to feed your family, or to work in a sweatshop?

Above all, how will we look back at our lives, if we were to live to a hundred?

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his month, having lived through two World Wars and numerous others, my great, great aunt will turn 100. She has lived close to the heart of the City of London her entire life and her life story reflects many of the concerns we still see today - immigration, poverty, strength of character, and genuine creativity in the face of adversity. What would it mean to have witnessed the aftermath of the First World War, the effects of the Second, and to have lived through the reign of four different monarchs?

Lily Meredeen lives in the East End of London, where she has spent her whole life, only a few streets away from where she was born. She lives within walking distance of City of London School but she could never have imagined she would one day have a great, great nephew attending such an institution. Her parents, Russian Jews, immigrated to England from Russia at the turn of the 20th Century, first her father, alone, and then only later did her mother make the trip by herself. Neither spoke a word of English when they arrived on English soil, and to their deaths, they only learnt broken English. For a considerable amount of time in their lives, her parents could not afford to rent a home to live in and were forced to share with relatives who also lived 8

THE CITIZEN, MARCH 18, 2017

in the East End. The area was full of immigrants and there was a close and thriving Jewish community.

Eventually the family were able to rent a house with only three rooms; a kitchen, where her two brothers slept, a parlour, where Lily slept, and a bedroom, where her parents slept.

It had no bathroom and the toilet was outside the house.

Her father had been a cavalryman in the Russian army, so had no profession when he arrived in England and he was forced to buy and sell unwanted scraps of fabric cuttings to earn a living at first, scraping together enough money to survive.

He would walk, every day, from their house in East London, to Oxford Street, a distance of five miles, with a wheelbarrow full of fabric, and come home at night drenched in sweat, having lugged the wheelbarrow around for hours, trying his hardest to provide for his family. Her mother did not work and by 1920, with three children, times were very tough. But despite all the hardship, Lily says she had a happy childhood, and still has many fond memories of it. She left school at 14, as had her siblings, to find work as a seamstress in a sweatshop; helping her family to get by, earning less than 50 shillings a month. She did not have much time for a social life, but occasionally in the evenings, she would go up to the West End to dance, with a close friend of hers.

One of her strongest memories, during her younger years, is when she and her friends joined other protesters, uniting in defiance, against Oswald Mosely’s Black Shirts (a fascist movement who demanded the removal of immigrants from the East

End) in what became known as the battle of Cable Street. During the Second World War, she worked in a factory, and often would sneak up on to the roof of the house at night and watch the bombs dropping across London, refusing to sleep in the bomb shelters. She lost both her parents and, with her older brothers married, found herself living alone, surviving on what little money she earnt from working as a seamstress. The 1950s and 1960s saw many other Jews leave the East End, and move out to the suburbs of North West London, including my great grandparents. But despite all her friends leaving, Lily chose to stay, to look after an elderly cousin of hers, who had an untreated curvature of the spine. Lily never married, but maintained an active social life, going to Bingo and to social clubs until relatively recently – well into her late nineties.

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ily’s life is very different to mine, but she is an inspiration to me. As she looks forward to her 100th birthday and her letter from the Queen, she awaits the birth of her first great, great, great niece or nephew this June, with a great deal of pride and excitement. She insists that she has lived a good life, at least compared to others that she knew and loved, for her parents always managed to ensure that their children were well fed, and healthy, despite the financial problems and struggles that they faced. Her story, is one of true creativity and she has an attitude towards adversity that we can all aspire to.

A woman is arrested for protesting against Oswald Mosley’s Black Shirts at the battle of Cable Street, 1936

POLITICS

CRITICAL THINKING IN A TRUMPIAN AGE The importance of seeing through fake news and political propaganda.

BY ALEXANDER BRIDGES, 3RD FORM

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ith the surge of Trumpthought, the right-wing, protectionist, anti-establishment movement, herd mentality is at an all-time high. Quick-thinking politicians have identified what the masses want – people believe ideas that sound nice and look pretty. As more and more people are duped into believing whatever looks like a plausible fact with an easy solution (Britain gives 350 million to the EU – we should leave and give the money to the NHS), more and more people start believing the first believers, on the grounds that if that many people believe something, it can’t possibly be a lie.

This is why critical thinking is so important in this day and age.

Without critical thinking, one simply accepts facts – with critical thinking, one questions them. The country needs to instil some basic cognitive facilities into a large percentage of the voting public, otherwise the Trumpist system works.

In some ways it is very clever – it is founded on the realisation that people are usually too tired or too ignorant to check facts and evaluate proposals. The politician spinning the lies in question can then reign unchallenged as the public distrust sources that do check proposals because the politician setting up the Trumpist scheme has warned them of ‘fake news’ and the biased media.

It is not the uneducated that are taken in by various false promises-we all are, to some extent. That was how Trump won the election.

People, desperate for a way to make their country ‘the greatest’, and unwilling to believe politicians who offered compromises or simply told 10

THE CITIZEN, MARCH 18, 2017

them that it couldn’t be done, were easy prey for the optimistic rhetoric of Trump that offered huge benefits to America (while skimping on hard facts). Some of the pledges made by the right-wing Republicans were so blatantly false I wanted to jump off Trump’s ego to his IQ, but I am a fairly disinterested party – a citizen from another country. People believe what they want – that is the strength of the Trumpists.

Critical thinking is the ability to disassociate yourself from your prejudices and look at things clearly. At CLS, a recent speaker gave a talk on just that. Dr Peter Vardy, an esteemed philosopher, told us about both the importance of critical thinking and the ability to execute it well. There are various rigorous methods used to examine statements critically – we

learned about RAVEN (the demands of its criteria mean that one must have a good Reputation, sufficient Access to relevant information, no Vested interest in the subject that would present a bias, Expertise and Neutrality to make a true statement), but we also talked about less rigid methods that are also important; a Catholic physicist was mocked and disbelieved when he asserted that the universe had a beginning and an end – he had a vested interest in the subject and was therefore by RAVEN standards in the wrong, but was later proved to be completely correct.

One has to use discretion and judgement when evaluating statements made by politicians-using RAVEN when appropriate, but also thinking what other factors will influence a statement, and whether

those invalidate it or not. What one must never do is simply believe in an idea because you have heard lots of other people say it – people need to think for themselves. If one simply ‘follows the herd’, then you get a surge of very powerful beliefs that, while blatantly untrue, have been accepted by many people and therefore are difficult to dislodge.

Dr Peter Vardy’s excellent talk was the stimulus of this article, but once I started writing it, I realised that the topic linked in with many of the recent events that have troubled the world. A lack of critical thinking is what is plaguing the world – we need to rectify this, otherwise people simply follow the idea that looks the most attractive. We have seen

the loss of critical thinking demonstrated by the victories of Trump and the Brexit camp.

Now, there is a chance that these events can be used to the advantage of both countries; Trump could

indeed make America stronger, while Brexit, if managed well, could benefit Britain. The point of this article, however, is not to evaluate the effect of Brexit and Trump; it is to wonder how these events came to be. Some of the lies told by the two ‘shock victors’ were so obviously false that with application of even a little critical thought they would have been discredited. As a country, we need to create an atmosphere that encourages individuals to challenge propositions and look askance at things-otherwise lies will keep slipping into the country’s system and individual thought will become a rarity, replaced by following the masses in whatever they believe, as that is the easier option.

POLITICS

THE POWER OF THE BOYCOTT Buses and biscuits: a comparison of boycotts past and present.

BY ALEX KITSBERG, J6

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n 1st December 1955, Rosa Parks was travelling on a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama. An African-American woman, Rosa was challenged by a white passenger to give up her seat. She refused.

As a result of her rebuttal she was arrested for violating segregation laws. Events such as this were not uncommon in America at the time but nonetheless this news soon reached a Baptist minister named Martin Luther King, Jr. Having called a meeting, King came to the conclusion that the best way to combat this injustice was to stage a bus boycott.

What followed became known as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the first major organised action against racial segregation in the United States. In Montgomery, African-American citizens represented approximately 44% of the population. Within this 44%,

at least 90% of the regular AfricanAmerican bus passengers refrained from travelling on the bus. King is quoted speaking of the effect of the boycott; “A few days after we started, the bus officials wanted to end segregation almost immediately because they were losing so much money a day.” The Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted for 381 days. It was concluded by the Supreme Court’s decision declaring that bus segregation was unconstitutional. The decree brought an end to segregation and marked the beginning of integration on public transport.

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any would argue that the story of Rosa Parks’ defiance and how it led to a successful boycott is a prime example of a boycott.

However, there is more to the story than appears at face value. Mrs. 11

Parks was no ordinary citizen; she was a knowledgeable and passionate member of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP). As part of that membership, she worked as a secretary to the president of the NAACP’s Montgomery chapter. Another factor to note is that the arrest of Mrs. Parks was not at all the first occasion that an African-American had been arrested in Montgomery for refusing to give up their bus seat. On all the previous occasions, it had not been deemed necessary to stage a boycott.

What made the situation different this time?

The refusal to give up their seat was a strategy that NAACP activists had in fact been cultivating for a long time. Upon the arrest of Rosa Parks, it was decided that she was the ideal person to move this strategy forward. It was the NAACP who provided legal defence for Rosa and Martin Luther King, Jr. and it was the NAACP that helped bring the legal case that ultimately made its way to the Supreme Court. It is noteworthy that the vast majority of boycotts that are staged today are very different to the example of the NAACP’s case. This is for the main reason that Rosa Parks’ case was fed into an established movement with many existing layers of activism and support. In Montgomery, AfricanAmericans made up over 44% of the population. This is a huge amount and thus, a well-coordinated boycott by these members of the population was certain to have a strong effect.

This point highlights the necessity of strength through numbers.

Commitment to the boycott was well supported in the African-American community. However, if only a few people had committed to the boycott then it surely would have had comparatively little effect.

Another factor to note about the Rosa Parks example was timing. The NAACP waited for what they felt was the correct opportunity in order to launch their boycott. Hence, good historical timing is highlighted as being key. The boycott occurred at a time when change was happening and society was rife with political unrest, reflecting the appetite for change at the time.

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t the other extreme, one will find boycotts that are not so much about causing change but rather gaining attention. Donald Trump was recorded saying, “Oreos. I love Oreos. I’ll never eat them again.

OK? I’ll never eat them again. No. Nabisco closes a plant – they just announced, a couple days ago – in Chicago. And they’re moving the plant to Mexico.” Straightaway, one can identify significant differences between Trump’s tirade and the boycott led by Luther King, Jr. The main variation is the amount of support. Trump is not attempting in this statement to explicitly drum up support and get others to join him in his campaign. This implies that it is Donald Trump alone who is refraining from purchasing Oreos.

The insignificant numbers of individuals apparently devoted to Trump’s cause immediately preludes a lack of success. Furthermore, the reasoning behind the ban lacks credibility.

Whereas the NAACP had good reason to protest the inequality in society, Trump’s claims that Nabisco (Oreo’s parent company) is ruining America are incorrect. Despite relocating one factory to Mexico, the company continues to make Oreos in the U.S. Even once Nabisco’s investment is fully completed in Mexico, there will still be significant Oreo production in the US with dedicated lines in those facilities focused upon Oreo production for the U.S. market.

At the end of 2014, the company was recorded as having 104,000 people

employed worldwide with about 13,000 of them in the U.S. Although Oreo biscuits may have originated in New York in 1912, they are now sold to consumers in more than 100 countries worldwide. Taking into account their global perspective, Trump surely cannot deem international production as being negative. With these thoughts in mind, it is unlikely that Trump’s boycott on Oreo consumption will receive significant public support.

The NAACP’s Montgomery Bus Boycott and Trump’s condemnation of Oreo are both good case studies of boycotts, and of which ones work for what reasons. With both examples, it is evident that significant importance lies in the cause that advocates are protesting for. Trump’s cause appears to lack true credibility whilst the NAACP’s cause appealed to a large number of individuals, as it was something they could relate to through their own experiences of oppression. Another factor to note is the importance of timing and thus the need to relate to people’s appetite for change or lack of desire for change. An example of such a situation is America’s borders and Donald Trump’s Muslim ban. Trump’s decrees are strongly opposed and lack public support. As a result, boycotts are emerging of the ban but also of all Trump products. Such a current example will certainly serve to prove whether or not boycotts still have any influence at all in modern society.

POLITICS

BUILDING NEW PILLARS Creativity must be nurtured by education, not admonished.

BY SAMI KARDOS-NYHEIM, J6

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uman creativity is everywhere. Whether in the arts, medicine, thought, or money-making, petroleum extraction and warfare, there is scarcely an industry, science or profession which, throughout history, has not valued the capacity of humanity to innovate. Unsurprisingly, for better or for worse, the variety of creativity, and its range, have today put the world in a position where it does not know what to expect. In the midst of this ever more unpredictable and changing world, the importance of education in providing the skills for young people to grapple with emerging problems, is all the more important. Yet, the key principles of education have remained undisturbed since the origins of state education during the Industrial Revolution. In their obstinacy, these principles, aimed to ensure a workforce programmed for an industrial, advanced economy, have admonished creative thinking. Should this trend continue unchallenged, then in a world where challenges demand greater creative thinking than ever, there will be none to rise to face it.

Education holds a sacred place in most people’s hearts. In a TED talk in 2006, Ken Robinson, a leading educationalist, commented humorously: “if you’re at a dinner party, and you say you work in education — actually, you’re not often at dinner parties, frankly. If you work in education, you’re not asked. But if you are and you ask about someone else’s education, they pin you to the wall.” Many are quick to reminisce, often with great pride, about their education. Yet there are others to whom “education” has sounded the bell of squandered creativity and talent, replacing it instead with the unbending, overbearing figure of

standardised testing, prioritising the sciences and maths.

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his is not right. Creativity is as important in education as literacy, and should be taught with the same status. When education theorists argue for an increase in the presence of creativity within the school curriculum, almost all draw upon one famous anecdote “The Nativity Play.”

Three boys came in dressed as the Three Kings, all four year-olds with tea towels on their heads. Putting his “presents” on the ground, the first boy said, “I bring you gold.” The

second boy said, “I bring you myrrh.”

The third boy said, “Frank sent this.”

Ken Robinson, in discussing these seemingly nonsensical — real — episodes, points out the key elements they have in common: children are ready to take a chance. They are not afraid of being wrong. That is not to say that being wrong is the same thing as being creative. But what we do know is, if you’re not prepared to be wrong, you can never come up with anything original. Unfortunately our society, starting with our standardised system of education based on exam results stigmatises mistakes.

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Not surprisingly, these systems are educating young people out of their creative potential. This phenomenon is also reflected in how we run companies or manage institutions.

Ken Robinson suggests that virtually every education system on Earth has the same hierarchy of subjects.

At the top are mathematics, the sciences and languages, then the humanities — but at the bottom, are the arts. Then, even within the arts, there exists another hierarchy, with art and music normally given a higher status in schools than drama and dance.

There is not one education system on the planet that teaches dance everyday to children as they are taught mathematics, despite the numerous studies which have shown how switching from the left side of the brain (the analytical) to the right side (the creative) can actually enhance innovative thinking.

Our system of education is not a holistic one from the point of view of cultivating the mind-body relationship. We deal with the body through sports, in a compartmentalised fashion and the rest of the subjects focus on our heads, preparing children to become academics. Are we really considering the fast pace with which the world is changing and thus the necessity to come up with innovative processes which which will enable us to adapt, transform and re-invent.

Our education system is predicated on the idea of academic ability.

And there’s a reason. Around the world, there were no public, recog14

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nized systems of education before the 19th century. With this in mind, if one were to examine the origins of modern education, one would be forgiven for thinking that it emerged out of industrialism and a desire for subtlety effect a vision of society upon the population, because to an extent it must have. The “most useful” subjects for driving an industrial economy — mathematics and the sciences — have been placed at the top, by being given the highest academic esteem. What’s more, the array of public examinations exist only due to the influence of universities in the forming of the primary and secondary education systems in the 19th century. Designing the system in their own image, universities have made academic ability, which is, in the context of schooling, the capacity to abide by a set mark scheme, synonymous with being intelligent. Indeed, the stringency of mark schemes has extended far beyond the sciences or mathematics. In a report published in October 2016 by The Century Foundation, it was found that humanities subjects, classed as “abstract” by most education think tanks, are now being taught “almost wholly within the context and boundaries of mark schemes and not for their own merit or worth.” Subjects affected by this range from GCSE History to Classical Civilisation, to Philosophy and even Design and Visual Arts. The result of having a universalised and homogenized system of numbers determining one’s “ability” in certain abstract subjects and ways of thinking is, for all intensive purposes, a protracted process of university entrance, whereby individuals can be eliminated from admissions decisions based solely on a percentage or a grade boundary. The consequence is that many highly-talented, brilliant, creative people think they’re not, because what they were good at at school was either taught in gridded manner more befitting to mathematics, or indeed not at all and actually stigmatized.

I

n the next 30 years, according to UNESCO, more people worldwide will be graduating from university than ever before. A combination

of demography, an explosion in population and technology and its transformative effect on work has resulted in an unprecedented number of young people going to university.

In 2014, a study by LSE, found that 89% of 2,000 students interviewed answers “yes” to the question, “do you view graduation from university as essential to your fulfilment on the personal level?” This shows that going to university has becoming something of a “coming of age,” a “proof” of one’s intelligence and achievement.

But the effects of this will have perilous repercussions for the future of the West’s economy. With Britain facing one of its highest ever skill deficits, the country’s trade deficit has been fuelled, resulting in Britain falling behind many European countries in its ability to be self-sufficient or have a meaningful manufacturing base. Yet, with fewer and fewer people taking up trades, either due to the stigma surrounding their “unacademic” nature or based on the notion that the future holds other, more “modern” things in store, Britain’s skills deficit, inability to manufacture many goods and – consequently–trade deficit will only deepen.

What’s more, the siphoning off of creativity can only have negative effects for the future of the economy. In a world where fast-emerging economies, such as Brazil’s, China’s, Nigeria’s, Germany’s and Indonesia’s are flourishing at unprecedented levels, Britain must have creative minds to develop creative strategies to remain competitive. The ability to innovate is vital to the success of any institution or nation, and this cannot be sacrificed.

Yet for those young people who are entering the crowded systems of university education, there will be little to look forward to. As the number of those attending university multiplies, so too does the number of degrees upon graduation. The result is “academic inflation,” whereby an MA is the new BA, a PhD the new MA. Consequently, the jobs market will increase to even more unprecedented levels of competition. Life will, by no means, be made easier.

The reason behind this cycle,

however, is our flawed view of intelligence. We know three things about intelligence, Robinson states: firstly, it is diverse. We think about the world in all the ways we experience it.

Some think visually, others in sound, some in abstract terms, others kinaesthetically. There is no set way to think; it is human, irregular and not measurable only by a percentage.

Secondly, intelligence is dynamic. If one looks at the interactions of the human brain, intelligence is wonderfully interactive. Unlike the popular conception that the brain is “divided into compartments,” new studies in neuroscience are finding that creativity — the process of having original ideas that have value — more often

than not comes about through the interaction of different disciplinary ways of seeing things. Actually, this aspect has been picked up by universities around the world, where new art and science faculties have sprung up.

The third aspect of intelligence mentioned by Robinson is its distinctness. He recounts how Gillian Lynne, now a choreographer whose work includes “Cats” and “Phantom of the Opera” was taken as a child to a psychologist because she could not sit still in school. She would have been diagnosed with ADHD if that was “an available condition” at the time, Robinson jokes. The psychologist asked the mother to leave

Winterflood Theatre, City of London School

the girl alone in the waiting room, he turned the radio on with some music, closed the door and asked the mother to watch her daughter who soon started to dance. He then told the mother that her daughter was a dancer and she should take her to a dance school. What this incident shows is that we are all unique and thus a rigid system of education built on a hierarchy of set subjects most often than not does not do justice to our innate potential. Rather than.

This approach cannot serve us in the future. Instead, the fundamental pillars on which education is being based should be rethought.

Tickets available now from CLS Reception (£5 each)

DIRECTED BY JAC K C U R T I N a n d JA K E S I M M S S TA R R I N G JA M E S H A R K E R D AV I D B A R T O N F R E D D I E B A R T L E T T- E VA N S and MAXINE MAINELLI

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ARTS

GRIME AND PUNISHMENT A history of rap as a weapon against oppression.

BY ELI MEYER, J6

O

n the 9th August 2014, having left a convenience store with his friend Dorian Johnson, 18 year old Michael Brown was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson. Later, when the full 16

THE CITIZEN, MARCH 18, 2017

story was released, it emerged that Brown had stolen from the convenience store and Wilson claimed he had made an attempt for his gun.

Much of the public, however, both doubted the police officers’ claims

and saw this as yet another example of a white policeman killing a black, unarmed, young man; unfortunately, a seemingly common occurrence, with the police having fatally shot 963 citizens in 2016 alone.

The African-American community came out en-masse to protest (and ultimately riot) against this disproportionally white police force in a state consisting mainly of black people. They felt the police was biased in whom they chose to stop and search and would generally become much more aggressive and suspicious when dealing with people who were not white. They further felt let down by a state where much of the African-American population found themselves forced to live in squalid housing estates with both gang violence and drugs, yet very few opportunities for employment and education.

These issues are clearly shown in the movie “Straight Outta Compton”.

Although by many this movie was just seen as the story behind the formation of NWA, it is much more than that; it shows how a group of rappers, destined for lives of crime and poverty, broke the barriers put in front of them by society in order to become one of the most successful hip-hop groups of their time. Most importantly, it’s about how they used their creativity and talent to become not only successful, but also to show the public the marginalised position much of the African-American communities found themselves in. In their songs, they described both the abuse they often received from the police and the difficulties of everyday life as a young black teenager. “Got it bad cause I’m brown, and not the other colour so the police think they have the authority to kill a minority”.

These lyrics had an even stronger meaning when, in 1991, a video of the police maliciously beating taxi driver Rodney King surfaced online.

To many, singing these songs and making these lyrics was an outlet for their anger. They had had enough of the police brutality constantly displayed against them. They wanted equal opportunities in terms of jobs, council housing and safety.

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he history of rap itself tells similar tales of oppression and captivity. Rap is characterised by its rhythms and beats, and can be traced back to African tribal communities.

It was a method for storytellers to orally pass down history to younger

people and also just a simple pastime.

Its role, however, grew in importance because of the slave trade. Although the tribes may have broken apart and had much of their history forgotten, these beats and rhythms were still a means for the slaves to both communicate with each other and keep their spirits high. During this period, it was even described by one writer as “a social glue, binding the people together as a group”. When slaves were brought to America, since nearly none of them would have been granted access to instruments like drums, song alone seemed to be the only outlet for their daily aggravations - it could even be used as a means of communication that a slave master would not understand.

Fleeing slaves could plan their escape through rap, and could even tell each other when to run.

Even after the end of the slave trade, this rap culture continued to live on in African-American communities, due to the many who had heard stories and songs from that era (often conveyed through rap) passed down from their ancestors.

It regained popularity when, in the 1980’s, many African Americans were “denied opportunity for more formal music training and access to instruments due to Reagan-era budget cuts in education and school music programs, turntables became instruments and lyrical acrobatics became a cultural outlet”. This, combined with their frustrations at the time, led rap to become as popular as it did (and to the formation of NWA). Many teenagers at the time also enjoyed playing a game called ‘The Dozens’. This consisted of two competitors trying to ‘wreck’ each

other through rhymes by making insults about the others mother.

The winner of this would be judged by the reactions of the crowd around them, who would often go wild. This is exactly the same as the rap battles seen today.

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ore recently, in England, grime has joined the arsenal as a means of protest against the police.

In 2014, grime artist Skepta launched one of the most popular grime singles of the time - ‘Shutdown’. Whilst most teenagers enjoy listening, singing and moshing to this song, few know of the deeper meaning behind it. The music video is filmed in the Barbican, the place where Skepta’s brother JME had been banned by the police from performing at a venue.

As a sort of vengeance for this, the release of ‘Shutdown’ was in a car park in Shoreditch; another location for illegal raves constantly shut down by the police. By encouraging the fans to repeatedly exclaim “F*** the police” he invoked vivid memories of the NWA concert back in 1988 - one of the most powerful moments for rap ever. It was found to have the power to rile up crowds and the public in support of equality and against police brutality.

Especially to the older demographic of the population, grime and rap may have been viewed as vulgar, rude and an excuse for music. To many, however, it is the story of how their ancestors survived periods as terrible as the slave trade and acts as outlet for modern frustrations.

As well as being both fun to listen to and sing, it has the ability to anger crowds and make one’s voice heard.

It is a truly expressive art.

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ARTS

LAUGHTER THERAPY A look at satire, slapstick and sarcasm in the face of adversity.

BY CONRAD O’CALLAGHAN, J6

W

ith Comic Relief taking place in March this year once again, everyone is anticipating a night full of hilarious moments filled with comedic gold. Distinguished comedians in the past such as James Corden and Lenny Henry have all written sketches and presented the televised show on the night. It is the comedy highlight of every two years.

However, behind the fun and the laughter generated on this night, at the core of it is a charity determined to end famine and poverty internationally. The charity’s inception was in July 1985 and since then billions of pounds have been raised to tackle world issues and ultimately reduce inequality. With such a serious topic that has devastating consequences for millions of children, surely one would expect a sobering night where everyone recounts stories and unites against these big world issues.

There is still unity and a sombre atmosphere as demonstrated in serious videos displaying tragic stories that young people have got to go through, but through the use of comedy and positivity, not only has it become even more ingrained in our culture, but it has inspired more people to fundraise for the charity.

There is a greater sense of anticipation leading up to the night. This use of comedy and almost laughing in the face of such hardship is evident throughout TV history.

ing as the war claimed ten million lives. Although the series makes fun of names of private soldiers such as Captain Kevin Darling and farcical situations being at the forefront of each episode, there are some more serious undertones. Private Baldrick is forced to make coffee from mud and cook rats and so the series does touch on the harsh deprivations that occurred in the trenches. In the last episode, famously Blackadder and his colleagues “go over the top” into no man’s land to die. The last image we get is a picture full of poppies in Flanders field. The premise of the series and situations are of course exaggerated, but there are some very serious and poignant moments spread throughout the series as well.

By having these farcical moments coupled with more serious ones, they make the two stand out and give us a far more rounded view of life in the trenches. Humorous interplay is depicted between the sergeants with funny situations involving creating plays for the troops intertwined with hardships and suffering. As a result of this, Blackadder goes Forth (especially its last episode “Goodbyee”) is regarded as the most memorable, and often voted the best, series of Blackadder. This shows that the public in general prefer it when television series offer a different slant on such serious events even when war and suffering are the backdrop.

B

O

lackadder, a popular comedy series starring Rowan Atkinson, aired for four series over the course of the 1980’s. The series is first set in 1485 and progresses in time until the final series is set in 1917 on the Western Front (Blackadder goes Forth). The tone of the programme is once more light-hearted, which would at first be unexpected seem-

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n the subject of warfare, many companies organise entertainers to fly to places of conflict and entertain the troops with music, drama and comedy. The Entertainment National Services Association was an organisation set up to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during the Second World War. It

included recitations from noted actors at the time such as Sir Laurence Olivier and big variety concerts which were broadcasted on the BBC. At the end of the Second World War, this was superseded by the Combined Services Entertainment which is the live entertainment arm of the Services Sound and Vision Corporation - a registered British Charity. By setting up these charities and sending distinguished comedians and musicians alike to lighten the mood, soldiers can still enjoy themselves somewhat during major national festivals such as Christmas.

It is fitting that the state gives back to these men and women who have so selflessly sacrificed their lives for their country. Morale is raised and soldiers for once can enjoy their lives beyond their basic mission. By laughing, they can forget the horrors that they have experienced and their psychological wellbeing at that moment is improved.

A

dversity can come in many forms. It can refer to global conflicts and problems that have torn apart mankind for years or it can simply refer to the inner conflicts and struggles that ordinary people face in day to day life. A significant percentage of comedians had or have depression like Spike Milligan or Peter Sellers, but are still inspired to come up with brilliant comedy material. Others come from poor or disadvantaged backgrounds and they turn to comedy to not only brighten up their life but the lives of many others. Comedy is strongly ingrained not only in British culture, but in cultures all over the world. Through comedy we can see the world in a different light instead of looking over the same tragedies. In addition, comedy offers us the opportunity to stop being bogged down by normal life and reading about bad news and disasters in our world. It lightens our mood and for many people it is their silver lining. Having said that, serious issues lie at the heart of comedy and as Peter Ustinov said, “comedy is just a funny way of being serious.”

PHOTO: JOHN HARRISON

ARTS

BREXIT, TRUMP AND THE RHINOCEROS Absurdity and adversity: avoiding conformity in a time of uncertainty.

BY JACK CURTIN & JAKE SIMMS, S6

W

hen, in October 2016, it came to choosing a play to direct for our student production, it seemed impossible to ignore the growing political turmoil of Brexit as a stimulus. Little did we know that halfway through rehearsals, Donald Trump would be elected to the presidency. A mixed blessing indeed. Initially, however, as keen students of both History and Politics, our observation of the unfolding events in British politics got us debating in such a way that the stage seemed to be the only way to make sense of and present our view of the situation. Enter Rhinoceros by Eugene Ionesco.

This timeless piece of drama, written in 1959, follows Berenger, a lazy and slovenly man who can’t quite seem to find purpose in his

life. One day, when meeting with his eminently practical friend Jean, they are both interrupted by a Rhinoceros charging through the town square.

Soon, more and more rhinoceroses begin appearing and more and more people become utterly encapsulated by them. There is still no apparent reason for this until a worrying conclusion presents itself. All the townspeople who become fascinated with rhinoceroses, seem to become rhinoceroses themselves.

As should be apparent, this is not a realistic or naturalistic play. It is Theatre of the Absurd, a genre born out of the Second World War concerned with the meaninglessness of existence, the isolation of mankind and the uncertainty we live in. In Rhinoceros, the characters fail to find meaning, with communication

being reduced to endless circles of cliche, and the spoken words itself being rendered useless. A lack of progress is central to the plot: in Waiting for Godot, another absurdist play, the characters wait for a man who never arrives, and in Rhinoceros the townspeople fail to talk about the danger of the rhinoceros, being reduced to debates as to how many horns they had. To us budding directors, the style seemed a perfect medium with which to explore the shift in the political climate. The debates in the Brexit campaigns and the US Presidential election also seemed to run in endless circles. Fear mongering and outright lies replaced reason, debate and argument. Many words were spoken, but little was said – something which we hoped to highlight on the stage.

Of course, the play wasn’t originally intended to apply to Brexit or Trump. Back in 1959, those two terms were, perhaps blissfully, unknown. However, the echoes of Nazism were still very much felt, not least by Ionesco himself. Born in Romania in 1909, he witnessed the rise of extreme ideologies on his doorstep; the Nazi occupation of France, and the rise of the orthodox far right in Romania, of which his 19

father was a member, influenced him greatly as he saw many of his friends and colleagues sympathising with and even joining the fascists. Ionesco thus rallied against group-think, ideology and political slogans, seeing the dangers of conformity to all ideologies, left and right.

It is probably sensible to note at this point that we are by no means calling President Trump or members of the Leave campaigns Nazis.

Indeed, one of Jean-Paul Sartre’s criticisms of Rhinoceros was that what the rhinoceroses themselves represented was so vague that it could be applied to anything. As time has gone on, however, we have come to realise that this is not a fault of the play, but one of its greatest strengths. The play explores the dangers of unquestioning conformity on all sides of the political spectrum.

T

he characters in Rhinoceros fail to demonstrate independent thought, agreeing with whatever others happen to be thinking, and this group mentality means they fail to question and challenge the destructive nature of the rhinoceroses, which threatens to bring down mankind. Berenger, our protagonist, is the exception to this rule: he doesn’t understand all the fuss about the rhinoceroses initially but becomes increasingly shocked by them, finally deciding to take action to halt them. Berenger represents what Ionesco was and what we all must be: someone who stands up to and challenges authority, refusing to accept something because it is deemed normal and refusing to support authoritarianism simply because it is attractive or powerful.

These themes are designed to be

universal. Our political system has become increasingly fragmented: the EU referendum brought out stark differences in world views but what worried us the most was the way in which the blatant lies of both the Remain and Leave campaigns were accepted and repeated by so many. As already mentioned, Donald Trump’s election, halfway through rehearsals, made the play even more relevant.

His authoritarianism has concerned us but the process by which many have started to justify, sympathise with and even support him closely resembles what happens in the play.

Rhinoceros asks the questions: are you too a member of the herd? Are you able to resist when others follow?

Do you stand up to injustice when you see it or do you make excuses and do nothing?

PHOTO: JOHN HARRISON

ARTS

STARVING THE PAST “Rehearsal did not take place. Srabian is dead. Petrov is sick. Borishev is dead. Orchestra not working.”

BY SHAYON MUKHERJEE, S6

T

he siege of Leningrad by Nazi German forces has, for a long time, been regarded as one of the most devastating losses for the Russian people, lasting for over 900 days, after which a third of the city’s former population were to be found dead. Yet, despite the sickness and starvation that had already swept throughout the city, Shostakovich’s 20

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seventh symphony fought through ice and hunger to premiere in the Grand Philharmonia Hall of the be-sieged city on 9th August 1942.

Despite the fact that the original 40-member Leningrad Radio Orchestra had been whittled down to 15 by conscription and death, despite the fact that conductor Karl Eliasberg had to be dragged to

rehearsals on a sledge because he was too weak to walk alone, despite the fact that the first rehearsal had to be called off after 15 minutes because the emaciated orchestra could not muster the strength to continue playing, the performance went ahead and the music of the two-hundred-handed ensemble sang out over loudspeakers across the city and to

the German troops outside the city walls. The musicians, having played through the whole symphony only once before, reinvigorated the spirits of all within those walls, whilst crushing the morale of those outside – history had never seen classical music used in such a way before. This concert alone is demonstrative of the power of classical music to show emotion, strength, unity – so why is it that such music no longer enjoys its past popularity?

Such a question cannot be resolved without first attempting the impossible task of defining the true nature of classical music itself. Anyone can, of course, point to Beethoven’s fifth symphony or Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture and confidently declare that these works are classical, though they are left spluttering when asked why. Length, age and sophistication are the most common words that spring to mind when asked for a definition, none of which tackle the very nature of classical music itself. Even when turning to the nation’s beloved Oxford English Dictionary, one will not find any more than the words: ‘serious music following long-established principles rather than a folk, jazz or popular tradition’. Again, it is impossible to define anything by simply saying it is not something else and what is more, it is wholly unfair to use the word ‘serious’ in defining this genre of music. Are Led Zeppelin or Adele not serious? Or on the other hand, were Haydn or Liszt always serious? Since its inception, there has been a perceived distinction between ‘pop’ and ‘classical’ in which classical music is reserved for haute-couture only and perhaps, in part, this very opinion has led to classical music becoming increasingly unpopular in recent years.

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onetheless, that is not to say that the world of classical music is not full of bizarre antiquated traditions and artsy pretention that some may find off-putting. Picture this: a 14-year old boy is sitting in the Barbican, taking in Tchaikovsky’s ‘Hamlet’ Fantasia for the first time, when the music comes to a glorious, sweeping finish with a flourish, leading to this very same child performing a solo standing ovation,

surrounded by the disapproving glares of the elderly, about to discover that only the first movement had ended. Sinking sheepishly back into my seat afterwards, this experience may have been enough of a deterrent for most, but fortunately, I returned. And after that, I never stopped going back.

“But where are the words?”

“At the end of Beethoven’s Ninth.

Listen to it, it’s marvellous.”

“But only old people listen to classical music.”

“Lucky them.”

“But I just can’t afford it!”

“If you can afford to dish out £20 on a ticket for ‘Cars 2’ with a medium popcorn and a small drink, I’m sure you can find about half of that to at least go and give it a shot.”

“But none of my friends like it!”

“Ah.” And therein lies the problem.

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t is quite absurd that the Associated Boards of the Royal Schools of Music found in 2014 that seven out of every ten children in the country currently play a musical instrument, most of whom have been classically trained, yet there is still a massive disparity between how much classical music is played and listened to in concert. In fact, the same study found that for adults, the number of people who still play instruments drops down to only a third of people, with the main reasons for stopping to learn being the high prices of lessons, a lack of time and of course, simply losing interest in the instrument itself. But the fault of the declining popularity of music lessons does not lie solely with the learner; over 50 percent of teachers claimed that unsupportive parents and unhelpful school systems were a notable hindrance to young people in their study of music; so if the study of music faces so much adversity at every level in every age group, how can we ever expect music as an art

form to thrive and blossom again?

I

t has become so unfortunately commonplace to put classical music into its own niche; reserved for the few, inaccessible to the many. Yet the classical genre has already persevered through harsher conditions than this brief cadenza of unpopularity – consider the efforts of Petrov, Srabian and Borishev, who died in service to ‘Earth’s Poetry’, as was suggested by conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein in his Norton Lecture series at Harvard. Consider the journey that music has travelled so far, from the churches of the medieval era, in which the calming harmonies of choral voices resounded in unison around stony cloisters in praise of a higher force, through to Italy, the birthplace of antiphony, where the Renaissance sees the ‘orchestra’ take centre-stage and Italian becomes the language of music – follow on, to when the baroque era witnesses the popularity of instrumentalism scaled up to never before seen heights, as the likes of Bach, Handel, Vivaldi introduce order to music through key and modulation – watch, as a four-year-old Mozart plays ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ for the first time, before Chopin’s hands start to dance lightly over the black and white keys that are later crushed

by Rachmaninov’s enormous fists, which could supposedly stretch thirteen notes apart – then see how the violinist Victor Novacek, under the watchful eye of Sibelius, crumbles under the pressure of the technically testing third movement of his Violin Concerto in D Minor, just before the oboe screams at the beginning of Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ and the gates of Leningrad close shut, imprisoning Shostakovich’s players within the besieged city. It was Charles Ives who asked the question ‘whither music?’, and neither I nor anyone else can ever pretend to know the answer; both music and society are constantly changing, shifting subtly to meet the needs of the other. From all this, the most I can hope for is that no one ever forgets people like Shostakovich, who have forever changed the story of music with little more than a pen, an ear and an orchestra.

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Trump and Putin Put the Boot In

BY SASHA COLLETT-WHITE, YEAR 6 It’s time I wrote a poem about two thousand and sixteen, Though I’ve not quite decided which was worse, between Donald Trump, a president who abuses and spreads hate, or Brexit in Britain, which has clouded the nation’s fate.

And let’s not forget that scary Marine Le Pen; Not another nationalist rising up again!

The world is filling up with intolerant leaders, Let’s keep them as honest as we can, dear readers!

Now back to the disaster in our home sweet home.

Yes, because of Brexit, I fear we’re very much alone.

Lots of people think it will end up for the best, And, while I hope they’re right, I’m feeling a tad depressed.

Adding to the gloom we’ve got big-shot mister Trump, Whose first few days in office put me deeper in the dumps.

“Build a wall! Build a wall!”, is all he seems to say, And to make it even worse, he wants the Mexicans to pay!

Closer to home is Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Did he help Trump win and really put the boot in?

His eyes also on Ukraine, it seems he craves more power, He’s in charge of the big one, Russia; are we in our darkest hour?

So what do we do, when we look at this mess?

Stick up for what counts, look out for others, be on our best Behaviour, and remember that, despite all of the above, In the immortal words of the Beatles: “All you need is love!”

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ARTS

RHYME AND PREJUDICE The power of the poet against personal adversity.

BY MICHAEL KAY, 5TH FORM

H

ow to introduce this? I could speak perhaps about the rich and expansive history of poetry over millennia. The rhymes, the stanzas, the sonnets, and even the wordplay.

But, at the end of the day, poetry is truly only about one thing; emotion.

To write is to speak, and poetry is possibly the purest form of expressing oneself, as it responds to and speaks of only one thing: the human experience. Love, frustration, grief, anger, despair, protest, contemplation – poetry spans all areas because it is a manifestation of the human experience that does so also. It is this that makes poetry so profound, but also so beautiful; so honest, and so approachable. A poet is not so much someone who has published pamphlets of workings, but simply a human who has scribbled down some thoughts on a piece of paper, if only as a means to state or explore what it is they are feeling. Poetry is the area between a poem’s writer and its reader, where the two interact, and a poet tries to impart their views, or their way of seeing, purely for the sake of it to the reader. The balance and variation of poetry as a response to individual or political strife is what makes it so vital, and as ever-immediate, and relevant at all times.

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Poetry as a response to individual adversity essentially permeates all writing of poetry. Shakespeare’s sonnets where he writes of the pain of unrequited love, or the grief that comes across in Bronte’s “Cold In The Earth”, as well as most poetry really emerges because the writer has felt the need to write, and put something down. Of course, the classic question then remains. Why poetry?

The thing is that there is something unique, and ironically indescribable about poetry. To write, is to breathe.

It is to let words fall from your lips to lines on the page; to capture the myriad of confusing thoughts with the simple bow tie of rhymes in the perfect metaphor. If anything, poetry is beautiful because it is an open space for writers to think and write whatever they wish. It is also because of this, that poetry has such a rich and vast history in response to adversity. Nothing creates more emotion, and in turn the desire to write, than the need to respond to trials and barriers.

It is also why throughout history there have been so much work in response or in objection to contemporary issues. Wilfred Owen, horrified and shocked at the tragedy of the Second World War wrote his iconic poems- “Dulce et decorum est”

and “Anthem for Doomed Youth” on the harsh reality of war, and are still studied today. These came in with a tide of other post-war works challenging the pre-war notion that it was “sweet and honourable” to die for one’s country, and were key to changing and shifting public perspective, as men returned from the terrors of war. Another famous example of poetry as a form of remonstration was Percy Bysshe Shelley’s classic work “The Masque Of Anarchy”, written in response to the Peterloo Massacre, and called for non-violent resistance against authorities.

Though, like Owen, this was not published during his lifetime, for these poets, this was their way to respond to the injustices of their times, and it resulted in moving and renowned

“spoken poetry has largely become a more subtle and rhythmic form of protest and challenging the establishment and societal norms”

poetry. This is still happening today, with creative collective Nothing In The Rulebook running a campaign in which they wrote and distributed haikus in support of Junior Doctors and the NHS, with the very aim of using the poems as “a form of protest and resistance” against the ongoing (at the time of writing) stalemate between the Government and the NHS. In this way, we see how poetry, especially haikus where every word is impactful, yet short enough to be easily accessed and remembered can be used to have an impact. This is also a trend seen in the rise of spoken word and performance poetry around the world, which are revitalising poetry, and bringing it into a new era of interaction with people.

Spoken word poetry, as the title suggests, involves poets reading out loud or performing poetry. But the most interesting aspect of this today is its tendency to be startlingly honest and open book, whilst raising and analysing complex issues. A perfect example of this comes from the Get Lit program in Los Angeles, where teenagers are challenged to perform a response to a classic poem.

America, as we know, is a complicated country, with issues such as race, discrimination, politics and feminism constantly being debated and considered from all sides. It is these and other issues including the colonial history of areas; racism and sexism in today’s America, and mental health and eating disorders issues that are reflected in the poems performed by these teenagers. Other interesting examples include a girl discussing her fractured relationship with her father in response to Sylvia Plath’s Daddy; and a boy with Asperger’s Syndrome responding to Edgar Allan Poe’s Alone by discussing his own difficulties in communicating with people. Oh, and a really witty one on cats. The effects are clearly two way, with the teenagers generating discussion and attention around important issues that have been neglected (collectively, the program’s videos have received more than 100 million views online), but also visibly giving the teenagers with troubling experiences a chance to empower themselves and confront difficult personal experiences.

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hese are all very current discussions, and spoken word allows people of all backgrounds to add their voice and views precisely because it is so vibrant and alive. It helps bring poetry from a passive role of being read, to an active and eloquent presentation that combine both looking within and to the outside world to consider things in different lights.

Usually the performances are emotionally charged, and come across as an almost intimate portrayal of the writer’s own thoughts, especially on topics where things are so grey and uncertain.

Another benefit of this poetry brings is to help to reduce stigma around these issues, especially mental illness which has in recent years seen an increase both nationally and globally. This is because it is sadly this stigma that causes people to have a sense of embarrassment or shame around these problems, and in some cases discourages them from seeking out support. Poems on these issues, like Sabrina Benaim’s “Explaining Depression To My Mother”, or Neil Hilborn’s “OCD” have gone viral, received millions of views, and reduce such stigma, as well as actively encouraging those who it might reach, to seek out help.

For these reasons, spoken poetry has largely become a more subtle and rhythmic form of protest and challenging the establishment and societal norms. Though it has not been so much in the UK, in the US spoken word poetry has become a cultural trend that combines typical and traditional poetic forms with modern voices and debate; truly creating a sea of change as people, not just politicians, (thanks to the digital platforms of today) speak out on matters to a national audience. The reach of this of course also runs in great comparison to Owen’s or Shelley’s poems during their own time.

Yet, the relationship between personal strife and creativity that so often defines poetry still remains even in protest or politically charged writing, and beyond. The Sylvia Plath effect is used to describe the phenomenon whereby poets, especially female ones, are more susceptible to mental illness than any other type of

writer or profession generally. The phrase was coined by psychologist James C Kaufman in 2001 after the famous poet Sylvia Plath who committed suicide in 1963. However, it is also worth bearing in mind that it is more likely to be the proven therapeutic and psychological benefits derived from writing and self-expression that attract those with such emotional instability to poetry, than the sensationalist and popular idea in media that those more creative are more likely to become unstable as result of such fierce introspection.

W

atch any of these spoken word performances and you’ll often hear a catch in a performer’s voice as they perform something clearly personal to them, or the same too is frequently clear in written poetry all throughout time, where writers can often seem exposed or purposefully vulnerable and surprisingly honest in their writing. It is the fulfilment of the adage to “to speak is to find relief”. Poetry is littered with intimate and personal references, and ultimately seeks for a reader and writer to unite and share in the moment of a poem. Of course, we return to review the original question- why write? Considering and putting aside stated and well known benefits and joy one might find in writing poetry, there is also something unique about poetry, especially for when one wants to write something challenging or protesting to society as a whole. Unlike any other literary form, poetry demands your attention. The balance between words and blank space, the freedom and dynamics of form, pattern, meter, rhyme; the multitudes said often in the sparseness and smallest of words. Poetry is rich with meaning, but most of all, poetry is rich with feeling. Poetry is the expression of emotion, and more importantly, the expression of the human experience- in all its manifestations and variations. Considering the struggles of all of us in our lives, and the beauty and poignancy often born out from that in poetry, the question is perhaps not “why write”, but “why not?”.

25

THE ROAD TO BREXIT

BY SAM KAUFMAN, S6

CHARITY SUPPLEMENT

In this section‌ p.29 Charity Editorial

Abe Tolley, J6 p.30 Overcoming the Challenges of Fundraising

Cai Banks, J6 p.31 Cit-ED Talks

Abe Tolley, J6 p.31 The CLS Sponsored Sleepout

Abe Tolley, J6 p.32 Youth Homelessness

Leopoldo Ambrosio, J6 p.33 The Secret behind CentrePoint’s Success

Eli Meyer, J6 p.39 The Necessity for Charity

Alex Kitsberg, J6

CHARITY SUPPLEMENT

CHARITY EDITORIAL

BY ABE TOLLEY, J6

A

s Chairman of this year’s charity appeal at CLS, it is my job to create and maintain enthusiasm for the School’s chosen charity. Whilst charity is an essential part of life at CLS, it would be easy for it to become unremarkable and interest and donations to suffer as a result. I was therefore delighted that the announcement of the chosen charity, Centrepoint, was greeted with genuine cheers.

The charity each year is voted for by boys and staff out of a choice of four: Centrepoint won by a massive margin to kick start another charity year at CLS. Charity is one of the many factors that differentiates City from a lot of other British Schools. The annual charity appeal is the most successful in the country and has raised over £60,000 for the charity of choice in the last three years. Giving, voluntary work and charity are key aspects of what it means to be a CLS boy. This can been seen in all aspects of school life, from the relentless enthusiasm and drive boys showcase when run-

ning their events for charity, to the way older boys regularly volunteer their time to mentor younger boys and run societies for them, a virtuous cycle of learning and enrichment.

The annual charity appeal is the core of this environment and every year, the successes of previous years continue to motivate boys from strength to strength. I very much hope we can emulate the tremendous fundraising efforts this year.

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he choice of charity is also particularly pertinent to us, going to school in the City. Boys may see homeless men and women on their daily commute, and I myself admit my first reaction was to skirt to the other side of the pavement, eyes downcast. Meanwhile the scale of the problem is only increasing, with estimates of rough sleepers having risen by 134% since 2010, and 700 of them in London alone.

25,000 young people face homelessness, and Centrepoint is the leading charity in trying to combat this problem. Through supporting

them this year, it is a chance for us to make a difference in the City of London, where we go to school every day, and raise awareness and funds for Centrepoint. This year has also seen the introduction of the homeless helpline, where Centrepoint have collaborated with the Evening Standard to provide help to those at risk of homelessness when they need it most. We hope that our fundraising efforts can play a small part this year in the continuing fight against youth homelessness.

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he following collection of articles attempts to give the reader an idea of the issues surrounding youth homelessness and Centrepoint’s work in combating that, in addition to charity here at CLS. The innovative ways in which the microcosm that is CLS helps raise money for charity are mirrored on the macro-scale, as Centrepoint deals with the serious issues surrounding youth homelessness in enterprising and highly successful ways.

29

OVERCOMING THE CHALLENGES OF FUNDRAISING

BY CAI BANKS, J6

T

here are many challenges faced when trying to fundraise, which are, to an extent, representative of wider society. The following article points out many of the key issues, and how here at CLS we manage to combat them. With over £60,000 raised last year for Farm Africa, we like to think we overcome these problems successfully!

1. TIME A major problem faced is that many simply do not have the time, whether it is because students are revising for A-Levels or finishing off class projects and in many instances, work takes priority. However, here at CLS, despite the workload the devotion of boys and staff alike shines through. We have developed a unique approach to this problem, whether it be through early morning talks held by teachers (CitED – below for more details), after school football tournaments or break time pizza sales run by different forms, we are able to fundraise successfully despite the difficulties of work.

also been pioneered by the assistant head at the school, where teams of teachers who attended the same universities have been brought together and are battling it out in a series of quiz rounds; despite the £2 charge to spectate, large attendances are case in point of how new events lead to strong support from the student body. Nor will it stop here, with several more events in the pipeline, from ex-world scrabble champion Jack Durand planning to take on 8 teachers in continuous scrabble, to a wine and cheese evening led by a biology teacher at the school. Through many hours of planning, and time commitment from boys and staff, fundraising at CLS is a fine example of how difficulties can be overcome.

2. LACK OF ENTHUSIASM Another problem that affects many Charity Committees 4. INVOLVING PARENTS around the country is a lack of enthusiasm among student It is crucial for the busy parents to get behind the school’s bodies. However, here at CLS – one of the most multiculfundraising efforts. However, due to CLS’s unique location tural schools in the country – we understand the challenges in London, we have found numerous clever ways to get faced by so many in our society, and realise the privileged parents involved. For the first time last year we held our position that we are in to help. There is a buzz in school now annual cocktail evening which managed to raise over around the charity, perhaps due to our innovative fund£16,000 due to a stunningly successful auction at the end raising events, such as the 48hr Sponsored Row (where of the night.This year, the Cit-Ed Talks have attracted old students keep a rowing machine going for 48 hours without boys and parents alike, as well as current students. In pause), the sponsored sleepout this year, the vibrant addition, weekly newsletters written by members of our posters around the school or the charity events that have own team highlight the week’s charity events, ensuring become enshrined in the school calendar; the annual that parents are always in the know and can easily donate. mufti days (£2 to wear your own clothes) and the 12 mile sponsored walk are examples of where charity and school 5. SUPPORT FROM THE TEACHERS life are one and the same. Events like these motivate pupils The final piece of the puzzle for successful fundraising of all ages to get involved, while the realisation of the real is the teachers. Without their backing, organisation and benefits our efforts have towards people’s lives gives all planning can prove impossibe, and with their significant involved motivation to take part. time commitments, this is understandable. However, at CLS we have a dedicated and motivated group of teachers 3. NEW IDEAS who constantly help organise and run various events – Often, schools find that it is hard to continuously come up from the constant devotion of Alice Low, the teacher in with new ideas to ensure that pupils stay engaged, avoiding charge of charity at the School, helping and enabling every apathy. Here at CLS, the Charity Committee of 40 members aspect of the charity appeal, to the form tutors who allow works hard every week to think up new ingenious ideas. their forms to run such regular events. The fact that four This year alone we’ve held the first Sponsored Sleepout in teachers agreed to give up their Saturday night and take aid of Centrepoint and we’ve introduced the new CitED part in the school sleepout is case in point. Whatever it is, talks – which bring the brightest of the CLS teaching body the teachers within school go above and beyond to make together to hold short educational talks with pupils and the CLS charity appeal so successful. Without them, the parents alike. Not only these but UniverCity Challenge has success of the appeal would not be possible.

T

his year’s appeal at CLS seems to be even more creative than the last. With a record number of events taking place, and a wide range of challenging activities, we hope that the fantastic sum of £60,000 raised last year can be equaled.

30

THE CITIZEN, MARCH 18, 2017

BY ABE TOLLEY, J6

T

he Cit-ed programme has kicked off in the last fews weeks with enormous success. Launched by the Charity Committee in aid of Centrepoint, eight teachers agreed to give talks on a subject of their choice for parents, old boys, teachers and pupils alike to attend. Mr Norman began with a superb account of Romantic poets, their work and how they espoused the metaphysical in defiance of the increasingly industrialising society of the nineteenth century. Tuesday the 28th saw Mr Emerson deliver the first breakfast-time talk on the subject of Martin Luther and his influences on modern day life encompassing German linguistics, culture and religion, while the following week, Mr Norman returned to address the subject of the William Shakespeare, ‘The

CHARITY SUPPLEMENT

CIT-ED TALKS

Bard’. This fascinating talk outlined Shakespeare’s highs and lows, and the enduring impact he had on English language, culture and literature. The Charity Committee would like to sincerely thank Mr Norman and Mr Emerson for the tremendous work they put into their talks, as well the 6 other teachers whose talks are forthcoming. This Tuesday sees Miss Murphy address the subject of “The French Revolution.” The talks are open to anyone affiliated with the school, and have attracted ex-pupils, parents, students and teachers alike.

They are not only highly enjoyable and educational experiences, but a great way of raising money for Centrepoint, CLS’ charity appeal, and hopefully the idea can be carried through into future years.

31

NEW THIS YEAR: SPONSORED SLEEPOUT

BY ABE TOLLEY, J6

E

arlier this year, I asked the student body the question what can each of us do, personally, to raise money for Centrepoint.

Of course you would raise money for Centrepoint if you could, in order to combat the rising problem of youth homelessness. But the difficulty comes when you don’t have any means to this end – you feel like there isn’t anything you, yourself, are able to do, to raise money. So to provide a means to this end, the charity committee organised a sponsored sleepout.

On the 18th of March, over 100 boys swapped their beds for sleeping basg, in a massive effort to give young homeless people a future.

The event took place in the School Courtyard, a risk-free environment.

And as a small reward for completing the sleepout, there was be complimentary breakfast, very generously provided by the coffee chain, Benugo.

Although the sleepout of course did not come close to simulating homelessness, and the terrible daily ordeal it brings - the danger, the insecurity, psychological issues and fear, but, it was still a challenge for us. The sleepout was a chance for us to understand what it can be like, to have to sleep outside as well as an opportunity to raise sponsorship for 32

THE CITIZEN, MARCH 18, 2017

Centrepoint. For me personally, I wanted to be able to empathise, to see even to a small extent what the reality of sleeping rough entails. It was disturbing to consider that people my age go through this every night. I could return to the warmth and comfort of home and family. Thousands don’t have this basic need.

The sleepout was a platform to galvanise fundraising efforts for this year’s charity appeal. It was inspiring to see the massive support from the student body at the sleepout, not to mention the four selfless teachers who joined us. We raised a fantastic £5,000 and the sleepout was an unprecedented success. Not only that, but also through the awareness the sleepout raised. With empathy for the problem comes a desire to bring about change and together, I believe we can effect change.

If you had asked me last year, if I thought 100 boys would forgo their saturday night to sleep outside in the school courtyard, I would have been sceptical. Now, through efforts of boys and staff, we have made the Sleepout a reality, and although it is just a tiny stepping stone in the wider context of the battle against youth homelessness, it shows what we, and by extension anyone, can do in order to raise money for charity.

BY LEOPOLDO AMBROSIO, J6

T

he same old stubborn and narrowminded comments come to mind such as, ‘it was their own fault!’ or ‘drugs!’ when talking about homelessness. However, this is clearly not the case for 95% of homeless people as most of youth homelessness has come about through family related issues. One such issue is physical and verbal abuse from parents happens due to reasons like parental drug and alcohol misuse or even family disregard and prejudice towards issues such as sexual orientation.

This perpetual display of abuse from parents often causes the defender to seek an opportunity for the pain to be resolved and in most circumstances, results in them leaving home in search for a more hospitable environment, even if it means sleeping on the streets. Another cause of youth homelessness is a long period of unemployment which can result in increasing debt and a lot of uncertainty. In today’s competitive world, men and women are faced with increasing amounts of pressure to obtain the skills needed to perform to the best of their firm’s ability and in this respect a college or university degree seems to be increasingly important. Unprivileged men and women seem most at risk in regards to university attendance, which means many are faced with unemployment and so consequently homelessness.

The harsh and unforgiving environment faced by these young adults causes them to be exposed to dangerous activities and which often makes them vulnerable and scared. Firstly, there is a serious concern towards the mental health of young homeless people as due to them being young they are far less adapted towards undergoing serious changes in their lifestyle, and as a result an average young homeless person is nine times more likely to commit suicide. The reasons for this are clear, loneliness and their lack of confidence means they are more likely to ‘give up’. An account recently published

on the Evening Standard describes Christmas day for a homeless girl named Tori Taiwo. She beautifully describes the contrast of once eating, ‘Turkey trimmings, more than [she] could eat in a month’ to the ‘99p tin of pilchards…and some rice’.

She then goes on to explain the reasons for her loneliness saying that, ‘it was having no one around you to tell them what you are feeling...not having anyone to talk to’. This clearly demonstrates the mental hardship and instability which young homeless people like Tori undergo and so explains as to why so many end up ‘giving up’.

An obvious difficulty, is the inaccessibility of food for homeless people and the University of Toronto have conducted several studies on the matter; their research makes clear that young people who are homeless are not getting enough food, and the food they eat is not sufficiently nutritious: ‘On average, the level of energy (i.e., calories) in their diets approximates to the amount required to support a very sedentary lifestyle, but falls well below the level of energy needed for someone engaged in more physical activity’.

In addition, homeless people are often encumbered by discrimination, with very few restaurants or shops allowing them access. In a more broader sense homeless people often experience restricted access to many of the spaces and places that domiciled individuals typically enjoy, including public parks and streets.

One negative consequence is that many homeless people are forced, then, to live in dangerous and undesirable environments, which further impairs their ability to move forward with their lives. This negative spiral further shows the difficulty and pressures imposed on the inexperienced homeless teenagers Further still, sexual health and fertility seems to be a growing problem among homeless people as sex in exchange for food, shelter, drugs and money is often a tempting route for

CHARITY SUPPLEMENT

YOUTH HOMELESSNESS

young and uneducated men or women. Many are unaware of sexually transmitted diseases, for example HIV, and further complications which are caused through unprotected sex, such as pregnancies which can add extra pressure to young homeless women. Tests conducted by the sexual health department in the NHS on homeless men and women show that of the 96-people tested a staggering 59 tested positive for at least one STD. Finally, as a result of all the difficulties faced by the youth homeless one such activity that is used as a ‘getaway’ from the horrors of reality is substance (alcohol and drugs) abuse. Recent studies on homeless and runaway adolescents have shown that this population is at high risk for illicit drug use. Based on interviews with 361 female homeless and runaway adolescents in four Midwestern states, the current study revealed a high prevalence of drug use, especially use of cocaine among youths with sexual abuse histories. Drugs are used by homeless people with untreated mental issues including depression as an inappropriate form of self-medication. Homeless people with both substance disorders and mental illness experience additional obstacles to recovery, such as increased risk for violence and victimization and frequent cycling between the streets, jails, and emergency rooms.

Sadly, these people are often unable to find treatment facilities that will help them. Yet another form of discrimination can be seen by the fact that many programs for homeless people with mental illnesses do not accept people with substance abuse disorders, and many programs for homeless substance abusers do not treat people with mental illnesses.

The hardship and the dreadful environment which young homeless men and women undergo every single day further emphasises the enormity of Centrepoint’s task and the genuine hardships of youth homelessness.

Having just read this don’t turn a blind eye, however, but act now and prove your generosity and kindness!

33

THE SECRET BEHIND CENTREPOINT’S SUCCESS

BY ELI MEYER, J6

I

t is easy to understand, why earlier this year, the students voted for Centrepoint to be the school charity.

One cannot help but be impressed by both their purpose and what they have achieved. Furthermore, it is very relatable to City of London School boys, considering that many of those helped by Centrepoint are as young as, or even younger than sixth formers.

Centrepoint has proven vital in changing the stigma surrounding youth homelessness, the awareness of it, and the response to it. Whilst most of society tries to ignore any signs of homelessness they see, and often view them as drunkards and drug abusers, this is exactly the image that Centrepoint wants to erase.

Through the use of YouTube videos, billboards, and adverts all over Transport for London among other things, Centrepoint shows the tragic circumstances often leading up to youth homelessness. Furthermore, by sharing individual stories with the public, Centrepoint invokes sympathy towards their cause.

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s important as public opinion is however, Centrepoint is able to differentiate itself from other charities with their creative yet effective four-pronged approach to getting a young adult back on his 34

THE CITIZEN, MARCH 18, 2017

feet. Looking for effective long and short-term solutions, the first step in this recovery process is finding someone temporary, safe accommodation. At any moment, Centrepoint is providing more than 1200 beds to people in their hostels around the UK. Here, the residents are both safe and warm, two things they wouldn’t have experienced in a very long time.

Furthermore they are able to sleep well, comfortably and have nutritious meals. It is the beginning of a fresh start for them.

This leads on very nicely, to the next stage of the process. Recovering from the physical and mental injuries sustained due to extended periods on the streets. Within a month of moving in with Centrepoint, a resident can expect a full health assessment. After which, one can expect treatment for their physical injuries, counselling for their mental injuries and one to one support from a designated mentor. One girl, when looking back on her time with Centrepoint, said “The best thing was the therapist. I had a lot of issues then, I’m sure a lot of other young people do. But the therapist was the best I’ve ever had.”

When they are physically healthy, and their confidence has been rebuilt, they are able to start catching up on a missed education and learn valuable

life skills. 40% of people who come into Centrepoint, have no qualifications when they arrive. During a troubled earlier life and time on the streets, most of them will have had at best a disrupted education. For others, it will be non-existent. After a brief assessment, Centrepoint are made aware of how much help a particular person will need, and then will provide it for them. This not only makes the residents more employable and able to live by themselves, it also dramatically increases their chances of getting university or job offers. One of the best examples of this, is called workwise. It is a sixweek workshop, focusing on giving both one to one support and work experience. Whatever the barriers between a young person and working are, Workwise will offer the support to overcome it. Furthermore, in order to extend the positive impact of Centrepoint, Workwise is also available to vulnerable young people who have not experienced homelessness.

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he final stage of the process, is helping the homeless young people to live independently. All the previous training to build their confidence and skills help them adapt during this extremely challenging time. This is the ultimate goal however, to enable previously homeless young people to live independent and sustainable lives. To further help them, for six months after they have left Centrepoint, they are still offered support. This includes budgeting classes, how to pay household bills, and finding suitable accommodation.

Since being founded in 1969, Centrepoint has helped more than 169,000 young homeless people transform their lives, with over 90% of people moving on from Centrepoint positively. Helping over 9000 people aged 16-25 a year, and operating 53 centres across the UK, it is clearly remarkable what Centrepoint have achieved in their 45 years. Although Youth homelessness is a growing problem, it is charities with innovative and creative methods like Centrepoint who can help overcome these crises.

BY ALEX KITSBERG, J6

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oday’s world is imbalanced.

Over half of the world’s wealth lies in the hands of the top 1% whilst at the other end of the spectrum, there are over 3 billion people living on less than $2.50 a day. A further 1.3 billion people are currently living in extreme poverty – less than $1.25 a day. Many of us purchase coffees costing more than these amounts.

The disparity in living standards is certainly a cause for concern and a problem that requires a solution.

Several problems stem from this dire financial situation. Famine, drought, illness and rising crime levels are all predicaments that are apparent in our world today. Many of whom find themselves in this situation had little choice in their circumstances. They are either born into intense poverty and its problems or possibly are consumed by it through events outside of their control. We live in a world where we state that we are all equal but in reality some are more equal than others. Charity must arise as a solution to this injustice.

Students at the City of London School are incredibly privileged in both the opportunities provided and the resources available to them with the stellar education that boys receive placing them in a truly fortunate position. Grateful for their “luck”, boys at the City of London School are eager to help those in a less fortunate position than themselves. The annual charity appeal is a great opportunity for boys to put this desire into action. Centrepoint, a UK-based charity, actively working to reduce youth homelessness, has

particularly resonated with boys due to it being a problem close to home.

The individuals that Centrepoint helps in particular are those aged between 16 and 25 years old and it is this age range that has encouraged this year’s extraordinary efforts to raise funds for Centrepoint. The upper half of boys in the school would find themselves being helped

by Centrepoint if they were ever in such an unfortunate position to find themselves homeless.

It is realisations such as this that make charity especially meaningful to certain philanthropists. The well-known proverb, “Treat your neighbour as you would like to be treated yourself” encompasses this idea. It is perhaps the fear that boys at CLS can imagine what being homeless would be like that makes them all the more eager to raise funds for this cause. In essence, they are emulating the actions that they hope someone else would take if they found themselves homeless.

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entrepoint has many emotional success stories. One that personally stuck with me was the account of John who had a troubled and unstable childhood. His father had schizophrenia and left when John was merely 4 years old. John’s mother struggled to raise the family alone and would often exercise her frustrations through abusing her children and, as her only son, John was usually the main victim of these attacks. John’s earliest memory is being kicked hard in the stomach by his mother - he was just five at the time. At 15, John was homeless, having run away from the violence in his home, instead sleeping on benches or in derelict flats. The potential dangers of living rough are truly frightening and the state of constant fear was incredibly detrimental to John. By 19, John’s physical and mental health was in a terrible state.

He turned to drink, self-harming and even became suicidal.

The deterioration in John’s health culminated in his admittance to hospital and, in turn, his arrival at Centrepoint. Immediately, Centrepoint provided John with his a shower, a luxury he had not experienced in many years. Being at

CHARITY SUPPLEMENT

THE NECESSITY FOR CHARITY

Centrepoint meant that he finally had a warm, safe room, which John took great delight in keeping clean. He describes it as ‘perfect’.

Not only has Centrepoint provided John with security and a place to sleep, it is also aiding him in nurturing the things he is passionate about. John has access to counsellors who will be instrumental in helping him overcome his personal and mental issues and he has taken advantage of life skills classes, which have helped him learn about budgeting, paying bills and cooking. John’s biggest love has been reading, with his topics of interest including economics, marketing, physics, philosophy and theology.

John dreams of one day becoming an International Communication and Security Analyst, so he is studying hard to gain A levels in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. Not only has Centrepoint rescued John and many others like him from equally desperate situations, it is also providing them with the opportunities so that they have an equal chance of success to those who are lucky enough to be born into the top percentiles.

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here are various reasons why people give to charity and the reasons’ subjective nature renders it truly impossible to define the reasons behind charity. However, if one were to consider a particular cause and a select group supporting that cause, then it is easier to identify the reasoning behind a charity’s support. In the case of Centrepoint and City of London, students are privy to the problem of youth homelessness as the problem is poignant in the area surrounding the school.

Furthermore, the cause is relatable to the students. They are able to envisage themselves in the situation of those whom they are helping and thus they can more easily identify the importance of their support through charity. It is these particular reasons that appear to have made this year’s charity appeal incredibly active and (so far) increasingly successful than prior campaigns.

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CENTREPOINT.ORG.UK

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GOOGLE: THE BIG FRIENDLY TECH GIANT? Google are trying to prove that business and philanthropy can go hand in hand.

BY ETHAN ANDREWS, J6

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ndia has one of the biggest digital gender gaps in the world even though every second 3 more people are experiencing the internet for the first time in India, only half as many women as men are online, and that figure drops to 12% in rural areas. Google have taken active steps towards becoming part of the solution, and are working towards a more connected, and more equal, India.

Their answer to the aforementioned problem is called the Internet Saathi project, and it is Google’s way of increasing global connectivity, while empowering Indian women.

Google, in partnership with Tata Trusts, train a selection of women in digital literacy and provides these women with a bicycle and a bank of smartphones, all connected to the internet.

These women, the ‘Internet Saathis’, then travel to different villages to teach the women of that community how to use the internet to help them in their everyday tasks - be it new recipes for dinner, different designs for dresses or healthcare tips.

This is the sort of work one would expect from a small charity, not one of the world’s leading tech companies who, alongside Facebook, Apple and Amazon, essentially ‘control’ the internet. The fact Google are taking such steps is a sign of their philanthropic efforts towards creating a more positive future (at a time when positive and future are two words not often found in the same sentence) and sets a precedent for the other tech giants to follow.

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ndia is the world’s fastest-growing major economy, and will soon become one of the largest mobile markets - an asset Google will be keen to control. By taking steps such as these (small and charity-based as they are), Google are putting a significant stake in the ground, seeking to maintain and grow their global influence (especially after the growth of strong local rivals in China, dominating the mobile market in the world’s largest country). Google’s work shows that philanthropy and business can go hand in hand, especially in times as political as these.

In 2015, we saw the start of a crisis that would trigger a distinct change in Western politics. The refugee crisis saw thousands of migrants seeking asylum on European shores, with hundreds dying on the journey over 37

the Mediterranean sea. The world reacted in a variety of ways - it led to calls for much stricter immigration policy, an increase in support for Eurosceptic politicians and a shift in many’s view of Britain’s global role.

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owever, Google’s response was a timely one - the Google Creative Labs pitched an idea for an open source, mobile-friendly website that gave vital information to refugees (most of whom carried smartphones) in a variety of languages. Within 36 hours the project had been signed off - while policy makers were no closer to reaching an agreement on any form of a response, a small team from Google

went to Lesvos to create the website.

The website, called Crisis Info Hub, is a simple website run by Google’s NGO partners that saves battery and shares critical information for refugees: lodging, transportation and medical facilities, all hyperlocal and up to date. Google saw there had been a 5x increase in Arabic translations in Germany in 2015, and worked on making instant photo translation available for Arabic text. On top of this, Google have matched donations of $5.5 million from Google users to support high-impact solutions that help refugees in practical ways - be it increasing connectivity speeds in refugee camps or providing emergency cash transfers to refugees in Jordan

and Lebanon.

There is no business incentive for Google to be providing a free service like this, yet Google are still committed to such philanthropic acts. Both this website and the Internet Saathi project are examples of Google using their considerable wealth and resources to make a positive impact in the world around them, be it responding to a humanitarian crisis or empowering Indian women and connecting them to the internet.

When profits are placed secondary to charitable endeavours, Google ensure they are enacting positive social change in the turbulent world around them, leaving a legacy far greater than a share price.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

HELPING THE BLIND SEE A potentially life-changing new app that showcases human ingenuity and goodwill at its best.

BY JUDE HORSPOOL, 3RD FORM

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orldwide, there are almost 285 million people who are blind, some with better eyesight than others, but they all share the same struggle with even the simplest of daily tasks - pouring milk, finding food in a cupboard, putting the right clothes on - and some feel embarrassed to ask friends and family to help them. Many blind people have learnt to cope with-

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out their sight but even then they do need help sometimes. This is where the new app for the iPhone, Be My Eyes, comes in. The Danish professor Hans Jørgen Wiberg, visually impaired himself, decided to create an app that would give a Skype-style connection to sighted volunteers around the world and could show blind people the sell-by date on some milk for example,

or help with objects which involve colour. It works in conjunction with Apple’s accessibility features to help the blind navigate through the app easily. There are measures in place to make sure volunteers are not notified in the night, and since the app works in different time zones, people who are awake can answer calls in their daytime. And if the volunteer is busy, someone else is able to step in without a fuss.

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here are some issues with the app, for example there are more sighted volunteers than blind people, and there is only an IOS version at the moment, but an Android version is currently in the pipeline. A very promising and clever app, and well worth volunteering for.

ENVIRONMENT

HERE COMES THE SUN From roadways to rooftops, solar solutions for the modern age.

BY ZAK LAKOTA-BALDWIN, S6

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ith every passing year, renewable energy is taking root in an increasing number of cities and companies across the world, as more and more organisations seek to free themselves from fossil fuel reliance – and for the solar power industry in particular, the future has never looked brighter. In no other energy sector is there such a strong sense of entrepreneurial optimism, as new ideas continue to spring forth in myriad different forms, from viral crowdfunding campaigns to multinational initiatives with big-name backing.

Though acceptance is still far from universal, and integration into the increasingly antiquated business model for providing electricity presents a substantial challenge, all the right targets are being set and look ever more likely to be met.

So who are the solar champions of tomorrow? One name may come

as something of a surprise: Aliaume Damala Badara Akon Thiam, better known by his mononym as the platinum-selling pop star Akon. In 2014, he joined forces with Malian entrepreneur Samba Bathily and Senegalese community leader Thione Niang to launch a project called Akon Lighting Africa which, as per its mission statement, now provides electricity in 14 African countries and employs some 5000 young people in the installation and maintenance of its solar equipment.

Operating at a grassroots level, the project has brought electricity to many schools, health centres and indeed entire villages for the first time ever, through small-scale solutions such as solar street lights. Its simple but effective B2G (business to government) financing model, which offers attractive and affordable repayment terms for those looking to invest in solar energy, belies the

massive scope and ambition of the project – Akon and his co-founders have set their sights on expanding this project to provide electricity for all of the 600 million Africans who are still without it. The addition of the Solektra Solar Academy in 2015, an institute founded to train future African engineers, technicians and businesspeople in the solar sector, demonstrates the forward-thinking mentality of the whole project, one that is focused on empowering those it seeks to aid by giving them the means to support themselves.

If Akon Lighting Africa is an example of a relatively simple and straightforward solar model writ large, what does the alternative look like? One grabbing all the headlines several years back was Solar Roadways, a startup company based in Idaho with a futuristic and perhaps, in the eyes of some, sensationalist vision of how to power America. A viral success when they launched their crowdfunding campaign in 2014, Solar Roadways raised an unprecedented 2.2 million dollars from backers thrilled by the idea of a seemingly science-fiction concept becoming reality. That concept?

Exactly what the company’s name would suggest – replacing asphalt road surfaces with solar panels engineered to withstand vehicular traffic, and fitted with a great many other high-tech features, including self-cleaning glass, internal heating to prevent snow and ice accumulation, and LEDs to illuminate roads and display changeable messages. If this sounds a little ambitious to you, you’re not alone – the idea has met criticism regarding its feasibility, with doubts raised over whether the kind of material required even exists, and concerns over the cost (estimated at $56 trillion) and political practicality of installing these road panels on a national scale. At present, Solar Roadways have yet to spread beyond their base in Sandpoint, Idaho, opening their first public installation as recently as September 30, 2016.

For now, this looks like the future of the solar road – not a nationwide gamechanger, but a fascinating and 39

innovative option for local governments and communities to pursue.

More and more, people are coming to embrace the idea that with solar power, bigger isn’t necessarily better. The rise of community-driven energy is symptomatic of a growing desire to know where our energy comes from, have a greater degree of self-reliance, and keep any profits from selling the surplus. In Australia, such projects are particularly popular, with solar panels finding their way onto everything from breweries to bowling clubs. For the latter, an investment of $119,800 from 19 members of the Repower Shoalhaven community group was all it took to pay for the installation of 400 solar panels on the bowling club roof. The investors earn revenue from selling the energy to the club, the club gets cheaper energy that it can purchase at flexible rates (reportedly saving

$4000 just in the first month), and at the end of a ten-year contract period the solar power system will be gifted to the club permanently. Projects like this are empowering communities to take control of their energy, and an increase government subsidies provides further financial incentive.

This isn’t to say that the fate of solar energy is to forever remain on the small scale – for an example of just how big solar can go, one need look no further than the announcement from the Dubai Water and Electricity Authority in June of last year that they would be launching the world’s largest solar plant to date. Set to be completed by 2021 at latest, it will generate 1000 megawatts of power at the time of its opening, and there are further plans to scale this up to 5000 megawatts by 2030. The implications are staggering – an increase in solar power of

this magnitude is expected to reduce Dubai’s carbon emissions by 6.5 million tons each year, and comes as part of a larger plan for the emirate to generate 75 percent of its power from clean energy by 2050.

The road to full divestment from fossil fuels is a long one, and filled with political blockades and potholes, but attitudes are changing for the better – as nations and communities alike embrace the endless possibilities of solar power, it will only get harder to justify clinging to the archaic energy systems of bygone era with oil and coal as its despotic kings. Solar energy represents an opportunity for wealth, and a wealth of opportunities, for all who are bold enough to claim it – citizen or government, big business or small, the sky is no longer the limit.

ENVIRONMENT

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT The food waste fiasco - how can it be solved?

BY TOM DAVIES & JUDE HORSPOOL, 3RD FORM

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n the UK, we throw away an estimated ten million tonnes of food a year, every tonne of which is responsible for four and a half tonnes of CO2 emissions. Half of this waste comes from families, who waste nearly £60 worth of food a month, the equivalent of 24 meals. The situation is continuing to deteriorate, but charities, communities and organisations are getting together to help. Projects all around the UK are attempting to tackle the problem.

These not only relieve food waste issues but also improve the food poverty situation. This is becoming even more essential, with the world population expected to rise to 9.7 billion by 2050. It is a disgrace that the number of bread slices wasted every day is equivalent to the population of Australia, and that is just in household waste.

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oundations and community projects are appearing everywhere around the UK, attempting to cut the amount of food that we waste. These include the Community Fridge, recently featured on Channel Four’s “Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast”, which aims to cut food waste in the small town of Frome. It works extremely simply: locals put food which would otherwise go to waste into a communal fridge. Those who are in need of food or simply happen to stop by are able to take and use it. Importantly, the scheme is entirely self-sustaining (bar the 2 or 3 volunteers who check everything is in order), and works to bring the community together. Moreover, The Fridge can be a place for socialising and meeting new people.

It is the same story with The Real Junk Food Project. Originally set up in Leeds, it now operates around 125 Real Junk Food cafes not just in Britain but worldwide. Cafes already exist in Israel and Australia and 16 are planned for launch in America.

Operating pay-as-you-feel cafés and supermarkets around the UK. Last year they demonstrated how easy it is to use food waste to our advantage by feeding some 10,000 schoolchildren in Leeds entirely in ‘waste’ food. There is no place to which this organization cannot extend: communities all around the UK want to help

join the movement in order to halt and eventually stop food waste, and because it is us who cause the problem it should be us that can solve it too.

Projects in London, arguably the place with the least community feel, are also helping to combat the food waste issue, in addition to giving food to poverty stricken families.

The Evening Standard-endorsed Felix Project is one such initiative.

They work with charities and supermarkets by taking their food, storing it at their West London depot (more will open across London), and donating it to charities free of charge. This puts to use the huge amounts of perfectly edible food that is thrown out as its sell-by date has expired, as well as contributing food to poorer families who need it. FoodCycle is another organisation which has hubs in many local boroughs across the capital. Volunteers are trained to collect surplus food and serve it up in a kitchen environment to those in poverty, or other groups in need including mental health sufferers and refugees.

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here are simple things consumers can do to help. The use of compost and food preservation techniques such as pickling can put excess food to good use. Tinned food can last for decades provided it is properly sealed, and as many chefs and food experts tell us that freezing food (as long as it is safe) can mean

it lasts for up to twelve months at a time.

Supermarkets have to do more too – much of their packaging is grossly oversized, some is unrecycleable, and lots of plastic from the wrapping is put into landfill, which creates yet more of a global warming issue.

Pictures of deliveries have gone viral - some online groceries using excessive amounts of plastic bags for meagre numbers of products is a scandal considering the companies claim to be cutting down on emissions. Sainsbury’s CEO, Mike Coupe has said: “Food waste is an issue where Sainsbury’s wants to continue to make an impact. We have been working hard over the past few years to tackle food waste in our business and ensure as much food as possible is redistributed to those who need it.” They have launched a £10 million campaign, “Waste less, save more”, which aims to give tips to people about how to cut down on food waste and sets up community projects centered on Sainsbury’s.

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f a quarter of worldwide food waste is saved, it could feed up to 820 million hungry people for a day.

Measures such as those described above are simple but effective. We all contribute to the problem: we can all contribute to mitigating it.

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SPORT

COLIN KAEPERNICK – A TRUE AMERICAN HERO

BY CAI BANKS, J6

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owadays there is an acceptable way to speak out against injustice, a pre-determined ‘proper’ way to call for social change. There is a code by which athletes are allowed to express themselves, a ‘permissible’ way that gets them plenty of instant acclaim and acknowledgement.

However, on a warm Friday night in San Francisco last August, Colin Kaepernick chose a different way, he chose a politically irreverent way.

When the national anthem played before his 49ers’ preseason game against the Green Bay Packers, the quarterback remained seated, an overt personal protest to a flag and anthem in which he no longer believes.

The story of his emergence as a symbol of protest is a well-timed snapshot of a world in which reasoned debate has dissolved into a screeching band saw of argument and discord. We’re constantly told we live in polarizing times, but it’s not the poles that are in dispute. We

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need a word that describes the complete absence of middle ground.

As soon as Kaepernick’s intentions were revealed - nobody noticed until he had sat through at least two preseason anthems - an entire ideology was ascribed to him. He was anti-American, anti-military, and in the most pustular of the internet’s lower intestines, it was suggested he was radicalized by a Muslim girlfriend. The issue, it seems, was never the issue; it was his suitability to be the one addressing it. He grew up as

an adopted, biracial son of a wealthy white family. He had every advantage. He went from being a Super Bowl quarterback to a $12 million backup, and that word - backup - was fired with malice, meant to sting, as if the worth of a message can be gauged by playing time.

But then teammate Eric Reid knelt beside him in the final preseason game in San Diego. Soon, high school teams knelt. A high school band knelt - while playing the anthem.

Peaceful protesters in Charlotte, North Carolina, facing police in riot gear, took a knee to link their cause with a quarterback who hasn’t taken a meaningful snap in nearly a year.

A gesture began to feel like a movement, and soon backup lost its sting.

It was a powerful and weighty political statement, a kind that we have never seen from any celebrities or athletes over a year overflowing with racial statements.

In that moment – and the moments to follow – Kaepernick dared to be polarizing, disrespecting the national anthem and the American flag and openly attacking the establishment, completely unconcerned with how anyone would react. But, of course people did - NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said something beige about players’ rights and patriotism. Donald Trump told him to find another country.

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hat Colin Kaepernick did by refusing to stand for the national anthem is simple. He has seen an injustice and he’s calling it out. Not even when it puts his career and his person in jeopardy, or when he’s told to comply by outraged

“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way.”

- Kaepernick to the NFL network on his protest

sportswriters, shady NFL executives, cowardly colleagues, and the general public. Even after his birth mom expressed her disappointment in his actions, he still refuses to give up.

Rather than submitting to their calls to fall in line, to find another even more discreet way to protest — as if sitting or kneeling isn’t discreet enough — he’s challenged society to look at the issues at hand and to be better. To move forward.

SPORT

GIANNI INFANTINO – THE MAN RESTORING VIRTUE TO FIFA

BY MISHAEL KUSI-YEBOAH, J6

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hero’s story starts in the same way every time. They’re an ordinary person who through some accident or experiment, is granted great powers and then tasked with doing the extraordinary. They aren’t forced to stand for justice by birth or even by the acquisition of their powers, but because they want to.

Because it’s the right thing to do. This type of story works well for societies that extol the power of the individual, where the old trope says that one has to be born into greatness. This style suggests that anyone, even the smallest of us, can be a hero.

Kaepernick fits this archetype perfectly. He is a highly paid athlete, the backup quarterback for the 49ers, a mixed-race child who was adopted by a white family and someone who achieved his dreams and gained success through his talents and hard work. He has lived the American dream. So, he is one of the last few people that you would expect to take such a stand. He even explains that while he’s been racially profiled, it’s not a personal affliction that he’s kneeling against.

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t’s a problem that can’t be fixed by his actions alone. Perhaps, it’s a problem that will never be fixed, due to the attitude in the States. But what Kaepernick has done, should be admired by all. He knowingly risked it all, to stand up for an issue that didn’t affect him personally. He did it in such a way that people were forced to pick a side, to show their true colors. Something that many people hide away from nowadays. Only time will tell whether his actions will truthfully have an effect. But, even if they don’t, Kaepernick should be seen as a hero.

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his week marks a year since former UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino was inaugurated by the world football governing body to steer a supposed shipwreck back to righteousness. Embarking on this onerous journey, Infantino was well aware of the task that he had on his hands; the organisation had been engulfed by a corruption scandal which managed to seize two of football’s most powerful men – Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini.

Blatter and Platini, who at one time had a wealth of respect, were the main malefactors of the crisis that dragged the prestigious sport organisation to its lowest point. The two men were found guilty of breaching the FIFA ethics code when they were involved in a “disloyal payment” amounting to £1.3 million in 2011.

The payment allegedly dates back to when Platini worked under Blatter as his adviser between 1998 and 2002, aiding him to become re-elected as president of FIFA. However, the

Frenchman tried to conceal this incident by claiming that Sepp Blatter made the payment due to the fact that FIFA could not afford to have him - despite the organisation turning over £78 million during that four year period – so they had to delay the payment. The conniving pair admitted to settling this by verbal agreement which is legal under Swiss law but its nine year duration to complete the deal surpassed the legal five year limit.

To worsen the situation on the eve of an annual FIFA meeting in Zurich a herd of officers took several more FIFA officials into custody for further money laundering charges on behalf of the US authorities. Concurrently criminal proceedings were opened over the allocation of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar respectively. Not only did this question what was happening within the governing body but it also displayed how Sepp Blatter’s unprincipled demeanour had caused 43

a spiral effect further down the pecking order within the association.

Officials, whose duties are to protect the beauty of football and help the game flourish, became blinded by the materialistic prospect of money and deemed their prosperity to be of a greater importance than the integrity of a sport which has the power to unify all. Fans have been left dumbfounded, unsure of the times ahead.

Likewise at FIFA’s headquarters, a cloud of uncertainty for the future of world football is stood over it as well as a look of despair from the heavens from football’s legends of the past.

In the midst of the calamity Gianni Infantino was elected to take the reins in Zurich. His credentials proved he was a worthy candidate for the job. He had worked at UEFA for more than a decade and in that time he had overseen major competitions such as the Champions League and Euro 2012. During his final years at the European governing body, revenues almost tripled from £3.9 billion in a four-year period to £10.2 billion. On the contrary many viewed his appointment to head office at FIFA as unwise owing to the close bond he formed with Platini at UEFA headquarters. In times of scrutiny, Infantino reassured football fans by issuing a message that his prime focus is to restore the image and respect of FIFA. One can be left slightly confident that he is less likely to get caught up in a crisis (similar to his predecessors) as he is lawyer and therefore has a watchful eye for detail.

Since taking the helm Infantino has made significant progress, most notably expanding the amount of representative teams in the World Cup from 32 to 48 (as of 2026). By doing this lower ranked nations now have a higher chance of qualifying. Additionally, tournament prize money, as well cash from TV rights deals, obtained can be recycled through the country to improve its state of “grassroots football” and financial position. Critics fear that this move will dilute the quality of football but on the other hand the “football fever” will continue to drive football forward as one of the fastest growing sports in the world.

Gianni Infantino has also installed 44

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two new programmes named “Forward football development” and “FIFA 2.0: Vision for the future.” The former is an innovative plan to ensure that each FIFA nation receives £4.5 million over a four year cycle to fund football development projects. In the past money has acted as a poison to the governing body and therefore in order to relinquish this, a new development committee at FIFA has been introduced to manage how money is distributed. Meanwhile the latter is about increasing the number of people participating in the game, enhancing the match-day experience and building a stronger institution.

Previously, how FIFA handles the bidding process for a World Cup had been questioned: the executive committee would determine which country deserves to host the event.

Though now all 211 FIFA members will be able to decide which country is the best suited to host the competition.

Lastly, he has brought in reinforcements to give FIFA a stronger backbone to lean on. For example, Fatma Samoura, native to Senegal, has taken the post of secretary general. She is the first female and non-European to bare such a title.

Despite her lack of experience in the field of football administration, Infantino has faith in her and is adamant that this shows how he plans on regaining the trust and credibility of the world. This already provides a stark contrast in character between Infantino and Blatter, who didn’t hold women’s football to the same level of importance as men’s to the extent that he proposed that they wear ”tighter shorts” to appeal more to male viewers. Gianni Infantino has been persistent in his approach to ameliorate women’s youth football by implementing league systems into his football development programmes.

Resurrecting FIFA from its nadir is a work in progress but Infantino’s efforts deserve plaudits - considering the state in which the association was left in for him to reform. In order to fully regain the trust of world football Infantino needs to fulfil his pledge that he made at the beginning of his term: to make FIFA have greater transparency. This involves

“Football is a magnificent sport whose positive influence is palpable in several different areas of society. This is indisputable. But, for me, something is very wrong if the core goal of FIFA is not to focus deeply on the game. If this is done right, the associated benefits will naturally follow” - FIFA President, Gianni Infantino

all national associations publishing their accounts to show how they spend FIFA’s money and publishing their own internal inquiry. To add they must introduce new integrity and eligibility tests for those wishing to stand for positions (which includes full disclosure of criminal convictions, previous disciplinary sanctions and potential conflicts of interest). All of the above have been expertly crafted and analysed by Infantino and his new executives.

Impressive changes to the manner in which FIFA conducts its business are already being seen by the way new regulations have been integrated into the system. Although we are unable to see what happens from the interior, we can only hope that the integrity football was founded on begins to re-emerge to the surface.

FORGOTTEN FACE ARTWORK BY TARAN MATHUR, J6

COVER ILLUSTRATION BY SAM KAUFMAN, S6

BRAV ORLD