The Young Journalist - March/April 2021

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ISSUE 2 THE YOUNG Reading for the Soul Loren Dutton The wonderful world of fiction allows us to explore and travel into alternate universes and dimensions, letting our inner child run wild no matter what age we might be. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, more young people have been picking up books to ‘escape’ from the chaotic and unpredictable reality that we face in these current times. During these periods where most students have to participate in school online, there isn’t much of a separation between work and relaxation time so we have been encouraged to allocate time away from our devices. Therefore, many teenagers are beginning to set up groups for book exchanges. Books recommended to me by other teenagers consist of classics like The Bell Jar by Sylvia Path, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. There are many local authors in the Beaconsfield community area for you to give your support to as throughout the recent months job opportunities for creative individuals have been unfortunately scarce. Beaconsfield is a town filled with literary talent especially for children’s authors, such as Enid Blyton and a more recent author Amanda Hatter. AC Hatter resides in Beaconsfield and has a great book called Callum Fox and the Mousehole Ghost about a 12-year-old boy that visits his grandparents in Cornwall and the book is perfect for 9–12-yearold readers. To win a chance to win a copy please see our competition below. An escape to the picturesque Cornwall would sound ideal to most of us and indeed the Duchess of Cornwall has thoroughly enjoyed reading recently. I would recommend the books on the Duchess’s reading list. She started ‘The Reading Room’ as she said forming book clubs have been “a lovely way of communicating” which is very beneficial during these disconnected times. Books with the Duchess’s seal of approval include: ‘Restless’ by William Boyd - a Wartime thriller, ‘Where the Crawdads Sings’ by Delia Owens - a murder mystery novel soon to become a movie adaption and many more. You can find the Duchess of Cornwall’s reading list online at www.royal.uk/duchess-cornwalls-reading-room Reading is notorious for having copious amounts of health benefits for the mind and soul. Research shows that reading regularly is equivalent to meditation which causes readers to sleep better and reduce levels of stress and depression compared to non-readers. Reading regularly is something that should be ingrained from a young age and has additional positive effects for children. The National Literacy Trust says Children’s enjoyment of reading has increased during lockdown, from 47.8% pre-lockdown to 55.9% post-lockdown and 34.5% of young people say they have been reading more recently. So now more than ever is the time to pick up a book and transport yourself to another world. Competition win a signed copy of AC Hatter’s - Callum Fox and the Mousehole Ghost To enter go to: www.beaconsfieldtogether.co.uk/competition Closing date: 10th April 4 Beaconsfield Giving Together our is future part of the Community freedom of Together speech
JOURNALIST Our love-hate relationship with Social Media My dad has recently dowloaded Instagram. His idea of joining the masses on Instagram is to share family holiday photos of me squinting awkwardly at the camera, blinded by the midday sun, my hair windswept, because I’ve just been battling the waves at Bournemouth Beach. Besides the potential embarrassment of such photos, I’m glad my father has decided to join the modern world of social media. Most families struggle to relate to their children over what they see online: I will be interested to see how dad’s knowledge of popular culture, matches that of his teenage daughter! I question how realistic this will be - that a 47 year old man really cares about the latest memes or drama between ‘reality stars’? Just because we’re both on the same social media platform, will we see the same things? According to an eyeopening Netflix documentary: absolutely not! The Netflix show, ‘The Social Dilemma,’ was enough to scare many people from their social media accounts for days. The show shines a light on the tactics to keep you on their pages for hours achieved through an ‘algorithm’, that makes a note of everything you click on, tailoring everything you see to fit your interests so you spend longer on the social platform. I surveyed 240 students from Amersham School and found around 80% of them agreed, and were surprised at how much time had passed unawares whilst on social media. The algorithm is powerful enough to provide some distraction to us from our daily lives, but the aspect of social media that really caps our attention is - ourselves. This is what the show seemed to suggest above everything else, that how we want to be perceived on our social media profiles can keep us online for hours. Around 80% of social media communication is self-involved compared to only 30% when speaking face to face. By receiving a positive response to a social media post, whether a tweet or an Instagram selfie, our body secretes dopamine, the well known feel-good hormone, to reward us on our success of being ‘accepted’ into a group. The ‘Social Dilemma’ explains that we have innate desire to be accepted into a group, When we begin to conflate the likes and number of people we can engage with as self-worth, is when social media can become damaging and addictive, as we begin to subconsciously crave the dopamine that we’ve absorbed. In the survey I sent out, 100% of students agreed that the time they spent on social media had increased since lockdown. (The same can be said for parents too). Now there is a greater need than ever to stay connected with people we love and the fact that social media can help us is amazing. Talking on a Snapchat group with my friends, we discussed how social media was a great tool for talking casually with family members. It’s fair to say that when used correctly, social media can be uplifting, keep us connected with family and friends and create a sense of community, both of which are lacking right now due to the COVID19. If we are conscious that social media can be used to our advantage and not own our lives, they can be extremely effective communication tools to use. Victoria Hayward I’ll be interested to see if the time my dad spends on his phone increases over the next few days and I’ll be there to cheer him on if he feels his Instagram posts were worthy of a few more likes. To young advertise journalist@communitytogether.co.uk please call 07786 735 711 or email marketing@beaconsfieldtogether.co.uk 5
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The Young Journalist - March/April 2021

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