The Mirror | Van Nuys High School | March 2021 | Volume 107 |Issue 3

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8| MARCH 2021 | | P E R S P E C T I V E | theMIRROR Lights, camera, action, announcements Good morning, Van Nuys! I’m your host... A little pandemic doesn’t stop the morning announcements crew from keeping students updated on school news. By DANIEL ESPINOZA THE MIRROR STAFF It’s a gloomy Tuesday you have been sitting on a stiff chair in your room for the last two hours. Exhausted from your workload, you slump down in your seat and click to join your advisory period on Zoom. As you turn on your camera, your teacher presses play on a pre-recorded video. “Good morning Van Nuys!” You spend the next few minutes listening to updates on campus news. “Parent conferences are this afternoon”: helpful reminder. “The online talent show is coming up”: sounds interesting. Maybe this Tuesday isn’t so gloomy after all. During the advisory period on Tuesdays and Thursdays, students listen to morning announcements presented by hosts Devorah Porter and Wellington Upstill. With an abundance of events taking place at all times from Zoom spirit week to FAFSA news, morning announcements serve as a tool for students to stay in the loop. Since advisory is a mandatory class for all students, Mr. Thomas McCluskey’s video production class, which is responsible for creating the morning announcement videos, found it to be the most effective time slot to get a wider audience of students to view the announcements during online learning. Outside of advisory, students can access these announcements through Van Nuys High School’s YouTube page. The morning announcements staff has felt the pressure of the pandemic and implemented a new way to continue keeping students updated despite challenges. Due to restrictions surrounding on campus activities, the announcements are filmed by the anchors, who have an at home set up. Developing a script, filming and editing can prove to be time consuming. “The whole process takes at least a couple hours.” Upstill said. “From setting up all of the gear to perfecting the cameras, lighting and green screen, it’s very time consuming.” Porter uses a Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 digital camera with a 14-140mm zoom lens while Upstill uses a Canon C100. The morning announcements backdrop shows the front of campus, which requires the anchors film using a green screen set up. Throughout the videos, there are relevant photo pop-ups and infographics which elaborate on what is being discussed. While these elements create a visually appealing experience for the audience, they require elaborate behind the scenes effort. To maintain structure in the development of the morning announcements, there is a group chat used to decide who will cover different stories and a Remind which allows film teacher Mr. McCluskey to communicate with the anchors and team. “A major downside is the communication gap and the fact that we don’t receive or directly give each other feedback online.” Porter said. The announcement scripts are a mix of submitted items and staff-written news reports. Most topics covered are submitted through the designated Google Sheets document where requests are turned in along with details on the topics. The morning announcements staff will then review the form submissions and add them to the script. Occasionally, Upstill and Porter will write some of their segments if they are concerning staff and clubs, or if school staff has requested coverage and not formally submitted to the Google form. “Since it’s so independent, it’s a lot more work for a single person,” Upstill said. “I think the biggest obstacle I face when recording announcements is just finding enough time in my day to do everything properly and to the highest of my abilities.” Despite the extensive process to produce the announcements, Porter and Upstill find positive aspects within the current situation. “I personally enjoy getting to work from the comfort of my home as well as being able to use my personal computers rather than the school’s devices.” Porter said. Using devices more familiar to the anchors serves as an efficient way to make the filming, production and editing more convenient. Student participation in clubs and activities have decreased with the inconvenience the pandemic presents. Upstill views the announcements as an impactful resource that “helps keep school spirit up during COVID.” While the staff shares that creating the announcements can be difficult at times, they still view it as a spirited and informative project that is going strong. STAYING IN THE LOOP Hosts Wellington Upstill (L) and Devorah Porter update students about school events during their morning announcements segment every Tuesday and Thursday. SCREEN CAPTURE Performative Activism: Disingenuous allyship is trending By ANGELICA VENTURINA THE MIRROR STAFF American influencer and singer Madison Beer held a cardboard cutout with the handwritten message “NO FREEDOM TIL WE’RE EQUAL SIGN” written in big, black letters at a Black Lives Matter protest last June. What seemed to be a sign of solidarity turned out to be a classic influencer photo op. Beer is not the only person to have feigned activism and support over the last year. Many social media influencers have followed suit especially during the eruption of the Black Lives Matter protests. Other celebrities like Kylie Jenner, Kendall Jenner and Cara Delevigne refused to use their platform to share important resources and instead chose to post a black square under the #BlackLivesMatter tag which drowned out important posts. Disapproval came straight towards rich celebrities’ barely sufficient donations to the cause. The self-indulgent actions of many other popular figures have been harshly criticized by users on Instagram and Twitter, who have created bail funds and participated in praxis outside of the internet. To some people, these influencers are taking advantage of crucial problems to better their reputation and create a persona that will bring forth an audience to praise them for their “efforts.” Senior Isabel Mejia doesn’t see these influencers’ efforts as genuine; instead, she sees their efforts as calculating attempts to rake in approval from others. “A serious movement shouldn’t be used as an opportunity for you to boost your reputation,” Mejia said. “They use these situations as a way of gaining a larger audience and looking like a better person. They’re probably extremely ignorant about these matters and only talk about them for the likes and views.” During the pandemic, those who couldn’t leave their homes found that spreading awareness and important information about injustices against Black and other communities of color through social media was the alternative to protesting outside. Unfortunately, there seems to be another group of people online that see activism as a trend, and “hop on the train” only to direct the attention to themselves or spread misinformation. This phenomenon of fake activism, best known as “performative activism,” is when individuals only act as “allies” for their own convenience and personal gain, especially to avoid backlash and criticism. Sophomore Ahmed Alsubhi is outraged by individuals co-opting important hashtags and using them for their own benefit. “It’s honestly stupid because they’re using the ‘Defund the Police’ and ‘Abolish ICE’ hashtags to bring attention to themselves,” Alsubhi said. “It’s narcissistic and disgusting of them to have to use people’s pain and suffering to bring attention to their page.” While some would rather look the other way when it comes to influencers and even friends, Junior Elliana Alferez will not. She feels it’s only right that she calls out the hypocrisy many of her peers show on social media. “A lot of these so-called “allies” will be the same people making all types of racist jokes with their friends in group chats,” Alferez said. “It’s pure hypocrisy because they’ll yell about hating racists on their story, but literally end up being just as bad as them.”
theMIRROR | P E R S P E C T I V E | | MARCH 2021 |9 The pandemic has made social media a must-have in order to avoid loneliness, but it’s not without peril. Spending more time online increases chances of encountering lurking cyberbullies and identity scammers. SOCIAL MEDIA: The good and the bad THE MIRROR | IVAN DELGADO ANGELICA VENTURINA THE MIRROR STAFF Everything feels like a natural reflex; flicking through several apps at once to reply to comments and messages, scrolling through your TikTok and Twitter feed for hours while you like and share the dozens of posts that appear. Minutes turn into hours, and just like your phone battery, you’re already drained and low on energy. Over the past year, the pandemic has forced teenagers into isolation making connecting with others in-person — such as hanging out — much harder. For those with pre-existing relationships, both romantic and platonic, social media makes it easy to connect using features such as direct messaging, the ability to send posts to one another, and video calls. For those who have difficulty connecting with others in real life, social media is a great way to meet new people with apps such as Yubo or even direct messaging through social media platforms. In the case of senior Chris Tran the features found on social media has made him feel less lonely as his “friends are always online to keep me company.” While having the ability to connect people across the globe, social media apps also provide a platform for young entrepreneurs, artists and musicians. Whether it’s making business connections, promoting brands, flaunting talent, or seeking opportunities for employment, all can be accomplished with just a few clicks. Many popular celebrities and influencers today have gotten their big break through social networking on Youtube, Instagram, and Tiktok. By taking advantage of social networking, people gain easier access to partnerships, brand deals, advertising services, and larger audiences that they couldn’t obtain as easily in person. For those looking to actively participate in social justice and other sociopolitical movements, social media proves to be a powerful tool which can raise awareness of an issue and can influence real life change. Regardless of how many followers users have, reposting photos, videos, as well as links to campaigns, petitions, and charities can encourage people to take action offline. As more people initiate online conversations and create posts about significant social issues, larger audiences across the globe are likely to see and spread the word. Educating herself about various events going on around the world is very important to sophomore Jenna de Rosales, who thinks that the internet makes it easier for people who struggle to speak up a chance to have their voice heard. “Social media increases the awareness of information regarding social issues in the world by spreading websites, threads, posts and videos all over these different platforms,” Rosales said. “I think it allows us to educate ourselves. It gives people a way to raise their voice so that they can fight for what they believe in, or fight for what should happen.” Despite the many benefits to having social media, there are many concerns among teenagers and parents alike that social media causes more harm than good. The dark side of the internet is often hidden behind a mask of glamour. Having unmoderated and unrestricted access to social media can result in teenagers engaging in behavior such as cyberbullying, interacting with users who lie about their identity, and can even stumble upon inappropriate content. According to the Pew Research Center’s 2018 survey of U.S. teens, one in six teenagers have experienced at least one of six different forms of abusive behavior online: name calling (42 percent), spreading false rumors (32 percent), receiving unsolicited explicit images (25 percent), someone making physical threats (16 percent) and having explicit images of them shared without their consent (7 percent). The modern area of social media has made it easy to hide behind a screen post anything, no matter how offensive or jarring. Another negative effect that social media has on teenagers especially is the feelings that arise such as insecurity and worthlessness. as they compare themselves to online influencers and celebrities. The contrast between edited lives and unedited lives can create a competition to project the perfect image. According to study published in the journal, JAMA Psychiatry, teenagers who spend more than three hours a day on social media are at a heightened risk of mental health problems, particularly internalizing issues. An unrealistic self-image can cause depression, anxiety, aggression, antisocial behavior or other mental health issues. Those not the only things teens have Abusive online behavior reported by teens According to a 2018 national survey, one out of six teenagers reported experiencing at least one of the following forms of abusive behavior: INFOGRAPHIC | THE MIRROR Name calling Spreading false rumors Receiving unsolicited explicit images Someone making physical threats Someone making physical threats SOURCE | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 2018 SURVEY OF U.S. TEENS to worry about. Social media platforms aren’t just limited to users such as friends, family, influencers, and celebrities; it is available for everyone to use. Users are vulnerable to strangers online who may be hackers, scammers, or even catfishes. Not all conversations with strangers can lead to possible friendships. These strange users tend to fake their identities by creating an account with fake information such as false names and even fake posts to trick unsuspecting users. Unknown users also may try to start a conversation with you by sending private messages. Vertiz explained that being cautious of the people you meet on social media is important. One small mishap can cause a disaster that someone might not be able to come back from. “Faster communication can make it more convenient to talk to people you know,” Vertiz said. “It also however makes it easier for people you don’t know to talk to you, like creeps and scammers. People aren’t always who they claim to be, so you learn to be extra careful of the people you find online.” Aside from the possibility of interacting with a catfish, another result of interacting with strangers is being vulnerable to hacking. A common hack to look out for is when these unknown users send messages which contain links with false web addresses. When an unsuspecting user clicks on the link, the person on the other end gains access to important information such as residential addresses and phone numbers by collecting a user’s IP address. While there are positive aspects to social media such as user-friendly interfaces, the ability to talk with friends and family and to have personalized feeds, there is a risk in overlooking the darker side of it. By using social media in moderation, being careful about the things you post on social media, being aware of who is following you and who you are following and being vigilant about who is able to access your information can help avoid the unwanted issues that come with the internet.
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The Mirror | Van Nuys High School | March 2021 | Volume 107 |Issue 3

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