What Is Positive Psychology?

Positive Psychology is a form of psychology. It is the art of bringing positive ideas into negative ideas. People use it when they talk to their friends or their family and they don’t even know about it. For example if your parents went out for dinner and had left you with your 4 year old sister to play quietly and safely. But she falls down from her top bunk while you are having a pillow fight and sprained her hand so she started to cry very loudly. you had to come up with something so that she would stop crying. So you said “Hey did you just land on all 4’s your” (she landed on her knees and hands) I said “ Did you know only unicorns can do that, Oh My God you must be a unicorn”. She smiled and forgot about her pain and jumped right up to the top of her bed like a majestic little unicorn. This is a good example because it shows that someone had turned something negative into positive. The pain was a negative and being a unicorn when you're 4 years old is a positive when you’re a girl of course. This is what a lot of people do but do not know it.

Another very common example that people use is when someone says that they are going to fail at their ‘test’ but then you say don’t worry you will do fine that is a form of positive psychology. The negative idea is that you think you will fail the math test. The positive idea is when someone else says don’t worry you will do fine boosting your confidence which can affective your outcome in a postive way. You can say it is almost like giving encouragement which it is in a way. Positive psychology is also good when you are absolutely horrible at something. A good example is that you are absolutely terrible at talking to new people but you have an amazing sense in humor and you can make anyones day happy. When you talk to someone new you can add a bit of humor in it to see whether you can make connection and use it as an easier way of communication. Many people think psychology is when you find the mentally screwed up person and help them with their problems, well its not. It is a way of understanding how the brain functions and how it functions in certain scenarios. The reason for positive psychology is because of the rapid increase of societal assumption and negative thinking. I have done an experiment in my english class to give you a good example of what societal assumption is. I asked everyone is my english class whether or not they think they are cool i literally walked up to them and said “Do you think you are cool”. A majority of kids that are well known otherwise called as popular kids said “yes I think im cool” even some of them said “I know im cool”. The average people that were not as well known as the popular kids said “no”. Here are the results from the test.

People who think they are cool	People who think they are not cool
Ko Austin Jo Yie Lauren Bailee Sophie Victoria Ishita Utsah Martin Casper =11 People	Cala Urja Sneha Samuel Gregory Angelina =6 People

My experiment shows the underlying societal assumption that being cool is associated with being popular instead of being temperature wise cool. This is when positive psychology comes into place, it can help people think before they say something negative. The example that I used before when someone says they are going to fail their math tests, they are not really thinking they are just saying what pops into their head which is a basic assumption, which is like the test that I have performed about being cool. In conclusion I wanted to talk to you on how positive psychology works and different aspects of it.

Depression and how it affects the people around you.

Anyone can have depression it is not a kind of disease it is a psychological disorder. Depression involves some what sad emotions for example being unhappy. The causes of depression can be anything. It can be that someone very close you has died and you cannot forget or replace bad memories with good ones, so you think of the sad thing all the time which leads to you being depressed. You can be depressed over your parents divorce. Meaning you might always think you did it and that they are not together because you had go in the way . Being depressed can affect the people around you if you have a serious form of depression. Being extremely depressed means that you have either had a major weight gain or weight lose. Being extremely depressed also means that you have too much or too little sleep, Decreased interest in activities. For example if you had made friends playing soccer which is an activity and you have lost interest they might reconsider if you are still the same person they had might when you loved soccer. This can also lead to them being depressed because they miss you doing the sport with them this is how a average person with depression can affect the people around him or her. One of the major problems with depression is when you have recurrent thoughts of death or suicide. If the depression is this serious and you do end up committing suicide this can bring MAJOR depression to the people that love you. This is because it is a sudden death could affect the minds of your loved ones for example if your parents found out that you have killed yourself due to depression that might bring them depression because they will start over thinking, they will start thinking that you had killed yourself because they had not paid attention to you or they raised you poorly. This is a major problem in the modern society of all countries. Since depression is the most psychological disorders more and more psychiatrists have come to solve the problem. It is a good idea if you have any of these symptoms to go see a professional and hopefully they can fix this problem.

by Aguistin 

So Are You Rich Or Are You Poor?

Here at UWCSEA they teach students like me how to give back to our community throughout service. If students who later on become very wealthy and have the skill of knowing that there is a big world out there and that they aren't the only ones who matter. We would focus in the people struggling.

If we focus on all of the people who are doing well then will most likely learn nothing but if we tell these people stories then people will be inspired to help them. We could focus on what the kardashians . This is really personally to me because this is what I experienced in cambodia. I meet these kids who just lit up when they saw someone new. We expected to feel sorry for these kids but we actually felt equal which was really great because it taught me that we are all equal no matter where you're from or what color you are. That was the best way how to learn about how you can help. We helped them with their school work and we observed them and they loved us. We went to lots of different school asking about what these kids have been through and how did they find them. We went to this one school when these kids wanted to learn how to dance and they kept on asking a professional dancer to teach them. He said no and a few weeks later said yes. The kids told everyone in your neighborhood about this and soon they started to create a school.

Everyone knows someone who they consider to be rich. It seems like we always focus on the people who have lots of money because that’s what everyone wants to hear. We should really be focusing on all the people who are struggling everyday just for basic needs. If everyone tries to help these people then no one will. In the united states there are about 3.5 million people are homeless. If everyone helped them to to get on the feet then there would be more ideas which could possibly make more jobs.

I think every school should start a service department in their school. If every school did that we would have a lot more people focusing not only on themselves. This will make everyone equal towards each other which is promoting peace. News channels shouldn’t focus on what all of the celebrities.” They should focus on the people who are struggling or are in a bad places” said by a wise older lady. I get that people what to know what's going on in celebrities lives and stuff like like. But these people are struggling and we can help by not donating but shutting up and listening.

Written by Austin

YouTube : It's Power

He angled his camera towards his brown sofa, the light reflectors highlighting the undertones in his skin. He hit the record button. “Well hello everybody, my name is Tyler Oakley!” pulsated around him as he began filming his next video.

He is a YouTuber.

YouTubers are just like regular people, they live normal lives, go through normal things but the only difference is that they film it, often talking to a camera, doing tutorials, putting up little skits, doing challenges and or even making short films. But what makes it so unique, what makes it so much better than actors on the big screen? How is it that a person you have never met, one you only see through a computer screen can impact you in the most significant way, change your personality, change your life?

For many, YouTube is really the first site to search for videos online. Whether it be a video about the latest political election, a funny cat video or a tv show, Youtube has it all. It all started when three men, Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim were looking for videos online but had terrible difficulty in finding them so they created YouTube, intended for sharing videos but has grown and evolved to much more. It is a special place, to some, their own Hogwarts where they can express themselves in an unprecedented way. YouTube isn’t just a place for outcasts making videos, contrary to what most people think. It focuses on real issues and it gives people something to relate to and has enough potential to be huge.

For an expert testimony, this reporter referenced Susan Wojcicki, the current CEO of Youtube who has said YouTube has been putting more and more effort into getting the YouTube community more popular saying, ‘YouTube personalities are well known to their audience but not to other people” and also explained on how and why she wants to change that. She makes it clear that YouTube has a lot of power and it certainly gives “a voice to people who would otherwise not have one” which ties into what YouTuber Bethany Mota had to say about her journey on YouTube, she talked about how it really did give her a platform to voice her thoughts for when she didn’t have that.

In the UK, a poll held by Tesco Mobile found that nearly a third of the population aged 16-25 watch YouTubers at least twice a week. Another survey revealed that 15 out of 22 middle schoolers say that they watch Youtube on an everyday basis and 11 out of the 15 say that these YouTubers have affected them in some way or the other. This information reveals that growth of the YouTube community is truly life changing and it definitely has the power to impact more lives.

Another survey conducted by Variety magazine found that YouTube celebrities are more appealing to Americans, aged 13 to 18 more that mainstream Hollywood stars revealing that The similarity between YouTubers and their viewers is the lifestyle they both share and that’s what makes them appealing. They share their life, their past, their thoughts and it almost feels like having a best friend who you haven’t actually met.

“These people have such a strong connection with their audience, and that just isn’t possible if you’re starring in a Hollywood hit every two or three months,” says Ben McOwen Wilson, the director of content partnership for YouTube EMEA, “There is no genuine personal connection with the audience, which is what it takes to be successful on YouTube.” Whether they vlog or film their whole day, or use social media, these YouTubers connect with their viewers on a daily basis, talk to them and do anything in their power to meet them- something that separates them from celebrities.

You may now think that YouTube is a place for uncultured slobs making crazy weird videos but give them a chance. But, quite the contrary, one Youtuber in particular that has impacted the whole Youtube community is Tyler Oakley, a 25-year old man with almost 6 million subscribers and over 250 million views. He is not just a YouTuber but also is an advocate for The Trevor Project, which is a suicide prevention project specifically orientated to gays, a project for which Tyler raised $250,000. Being an openly gay YouTuber, he always voices his opinion on gay rights and equal rights for all. So you see? YouTube can do things, it can change lives, it can promote well-being and it can be a safety suit for people to fall on when they’re down.

Give them the time of day because the amount of hard work, creativity and love that goes into these videos is unimaginable. Watch their content, theres nothing you can lose from it but theres a lot to gain. The journey that YouTube has taken and given is incredible and deserves to be recognized. “We’re just getting started with YouTube and its potential,” said Omid Kordestani, Google’s chief business officer.

There’s a lot of talk of YouTube possibly being the next television, who knows? Maybe in a few years time, you’ll be watching YouTubers on a weekly basis.

By Urja

It's All Fun and Games till Someone Gets Hurt

During lunch one day, a female 5th and a male 4th grader decided to approach a group of 8th grade girls and have an interesting but out of hand conversation with them. At this point a few other girls accumulated together around the 2 like bees gathering around a field of unpollinated flowers. The duo thought they had as much power over them as the president as they burst out in nonsensical insults such as“Oh you wear glasses, nerd!” or “You have pimples, your face is just one giant wart”. Why were they doing this? Did they believe that this would offend the 8th graders? To find out more, I interviewed a witness of the event, 8th grader Sofia says “I thought they were mean and I think they didn’t fully understand what they were doing, when they grow up I think they need to understand that making fun of people can have a long lasting effect” . So the question that you may be asking currently is; ‘Bullying, how does it impact the victim and do the bullies realize what exactly they are doing?’

This is why bullying is a problem mainly with students, if they are not educated from a young age then they could cause a lot of harm to someone’s life in the future, pain that cannot be mended over a short period of time. According to recent statistics, approximately thirty percent of students in the United States are involved in bullying on a regular basis either as a victim, bully or both. Statistics also show that 1 out of 5 kids admit to being a bully and considering this doesn’t include the ones that remain quiet about their actions this is a considerably large amount. While there are many definitions of the term ‘bullying’ , it is essentially characterized by one or more people acting in a negative way towards a vulnerable peer. There are so many opinions on the subject matter, so I asked a few anonymous 8th grade students to share their thoughts. “In my eyes, bullying is just a way to make the bully feel better about himself, done in a very wrong way” , “Bullying is bad. It is done by people who are sadistic and are sometimes not even aware they do it” another said. The results seemed to be very similar, an expected reaction because as children are getting older they are realizing the full impact bullying can have. Dr Delphine Koh, A senior psychologist (Clinical) who works in Department of Psychological Medicine, Child and Adolescent Mental Wellness Service in KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital says; “Some behavioral and emotional responses to bullying include trying to avoid peers or situations in school, getting anxiety attacks, having difficulty sleeping at night, crying every time one recalls the bullying incident, and self harm or suicidal behaviors”

The impact can have a very strong and long lasting effect on the victim’s perception of themselves. A well known example of this is the Amanda Todd incident. Amanda once flashed on a webcam because she was convinced by a viewer . She received a lot of unnecessary backlash from this event. The emotional pain from this situation was too much for her too handle and quoted directly from the transcript of the video she made before she committed suicide “I overdosed, In hospital for 2 days, I’m stuck, what's left of me now, nothing stops. I have nobody ”. Its difficult to understand what she truly went through but judging by the way she described her feelings it made many feel a lot of sympathy towards the girl, sadly by the time so many people were aware of her incident it was too late. There’s no need to bully someone for their mistakes, especially so much so to the point when they have lost the will to live.

Bullying is a worldwide problem and it is an issue that is most likely is going to be around for years to come, no matter what we try to do people still believe that by bringing others down they will raise their own self-esteem in the process. Bullies have different reasons as to why they decide to do what they do, it may be because you think its ‘cool’. It may be because you have something going on in your own life that you need to make up for by letting another person feel the same pain you are. No excuse that you have gives you a real reason to bully someone. You don’t understand that something that was so harmless to you could have gone one step too far for the opposing side of it.

In some cases it goes so far down the scale that after it’s happened there’s nothing that you or anyone can do about it. There are so many things you could do to help prevent bullying or at least make a small difference. Offer a shoulder to cry on or just smile at them and ask them how they are. That’s all you have to do. Expert Dr Delphine Koh shares her message on what can be done to prevent bullying, this is what she had to say; “Whole school policies are one of the more effective ways to prevent bullying. A clear message has to be made that bullying in any form is not accepted. Encourage children to speak up when they get bullied. Having awareness and positive involvement of adults (e.g, teachers, principals, school counselors and parents) when instances of bullying are reported helps make the school a safe environment for speaking up against bullies”. Bullying can stop, its your decision whether you want to work for it or not, realize that what you’re doing as a bully can deeply change a person’s life entirely , make that conclusion and resolve it before its too late. After all blowing out someone else’s candle won’t make yours shine any brighter.


By Sneha

The Power of the Online Video

It would be hard to imagine that someone who appears on a screen, can make anyone who might have felt so insignificant in what seemed to be an infinite world, feel so special. Youtube used to be something for families to share not-so-private home videos but overtime matured into a viral online platform, which can now be used as a tool to earn money. More than 1 billion people visit youtube (.com) each month and over 6 billion hours are watched in a month- this is almost an hour of view time per person on earth. Never in history, has social media has been at it’s highest and as this is the virtual age. A student who participated in a survey relating to this topic even says, “I use YouTube more than I use the TV just because everything on there is just so real and I can relate to it.” But growing this extensively in such a rapid amount of time, how has it possibly impacted our already technology-obsessed generation?

Praniti, a participant of a questionnaire, said in the survey that, “Youtube hasn't specifically impacted me apart from making me happier, but I know that there are lot of people whose only reason to live is youtube as youtubers support them more than their own families. There are also several cases in which people were suicidal but lost all intentions to end their lives because of it. Honestly though, I don’t think people understand this about youtube.” This shows that youtube has touched people’s hearts in a way television can’t and should be more recognised for it.

You might wonder if anyone else has related to this. An anonymous, girl, aged 10, tells us the story of how she got hooked onto Youtube after finally grasping the meaning of the videos posted- The house is quiet as the night exhales it’s gentle wind through the gap of an open window. A girl’s eyes well up with tears as she collapses onto the bed sinking into the mattress causing the comforter to puddle around the hunched outline of her trembling body. No one could know what she was going through. She raises the hinge of her laptop. Who could ever understand what she was going through? No one. Click, tap. Well, maybe someone now. Casually landing on Youtube was something she went through before but this time it was different. She finally found a person who understood her, Zoe Sugg. Through Zoe’s teenage years she had frequent anxiety and panic attacks but she overcame them and now helps people understand that it’s nothing to be ashamed of if they suffer from it. Understanding Youtube and all it’s goodness is like opening a present. It may take some time to unwrap but once you open it, all that time of unravelling will be worth it. That’s what Youtube is, something that will always be there for you for the free price of a click away.

This story relates to so many people because at any moment, any girl or boy can find any types videos. From beauty videos to gaming commentary, any person, even one with the most diverse and unique personality, will find some source of comfort, laughter or clarity in at least one video as about 100 hours worth of ideas are uploaded every minute! Mainly, this is the compound reason people take so much interest into the videos of youtube, because the people uploading them are ordinary people. Those who make YouTube videos for a living are called ‘Youtubers’ and some are even more adored than some celebrities. Viewers are infatuated with their geniality, humour and charisma. The fact you can find all these qualities in one short video online, feels like it will always be there to comfort you. Especially for those who feel rejected in reality, watching youtube is a brief escape from your life like how Harry Potter left his old life to venture into a life where he felt like he belonged and was accepted.

In fact, Youtube holds a massive conventions for the devoted viewers like Youtube Fan Fest. People, predominantly girls aged 13 to 19, were rushing hastily to queue up in front of the bulging barricades pressed against each other. A smooth, velvet red carpet placed perfectly onto the cemented ground of Scape Playground. The fans, hyperly excited, were shaking on the little pieces of ground they claimed as their territory; the small chunk of space they had were surrounded by other viewers standing their ground making sure no one would take their area. Intense- the one word to describe the whole experience. Some of the girls perched themselves comfortably onto the floor waiting for nearly 6 hours under the scorching sun just for the 8pm show. These people committed themselves to see the people who exhilarated them through a video, the people who impacted their lives for the better.

Not only do viewers get affected by the impact of youtube, so do Youtubers: Bethany Mota, who is one of the most famous youtubers with over 7 million fans in her arsenal, started youtube when she was being cyber-bullied by people she thought were her friends; the rest is history. With over 550 million views collectively on her videos, she is taking the world by storm. From her beaming clothing line to winning a ‘Teen Choice’ award, this teen superstar flipped her life around. Tyler Oakley, another beloved youtuber who is one of the most ‘active’ LGBT community members, collaborated with Prizeo (.com) and raised half a million to donate to the Trevor Project which is a suicide hotline. ‘Prizeo' is an online fundraiser where celebrities can choose a charity of their choice then use the site to promote it and raise money for it; ‘Prizeo has also work with other reputable youtubers in addition to Tyler. Tyler has inspired dozens of lives not only through the Trevor Project, but also has built confidence in so many people who are still too afraid to ‘come out of the closet’ all through a screen. Tyler and Bethany were just normal people who found their voice online when they thought no one could hear them. Just imagine how you can change your life like they did. Speak up and let your voice be heard.

by Sofia

The Problem With Technology

What do you use to call, text, search for information, use for school and not to mention use during your free time and before you sleep?

The bright colours on the screen has got everybody’s eyes glued to it for hours. Every time you sit down and look around, you’ll see everybody staring at their devices motionless. Nothing that is interactive going on between people. That is the problem in the 21st century, all people care about is checking notifications and messages, nobody is bothered to meet the person and say hi.

Technology is a big problem especially to teens. Teens would rather use their phones and laptops instead of going outside or doing sports or activities. Sometimes even adults cannot resist the screens and you can’t shut it off unless someone drags you away from it, or nobody is online, (A thing that rarely happens). Larry Rosen, a professor of psychology at California State University states that “teens who use Facebook tend to have more narcissistic tendencies, while young adults who are active on the site display other psychological disorders.” Another psychologist reveals that what’s not great about texting is that “it takes away all forms of face to face interaction – it takes away fully formed sentences – even spelling mistakes are accepted. And so, people tend do not engage in meaningful communication – they’re engaging in efficient and quick communication.”

What some readers may not realise that even teens think they spend too much on technology. All of the teens surveyed all said yes they spend too much time on technology. A source quoted that “Students use it for school which is already a long time and then for homework, social network, and games. New technology comes out almost every single day and a lot of teens get too caught up with the trend.” It becomes even more clear that teens realises how much they use it but still can’t resist it.

One by one, teens’ obsession with technology grows until they’re on their phone or laptop in a day longer than they go to school. Teens need to be more aware of the time they spend on technology, socialising with friends and family offline is more important. Put your technology down and enjoy life.

By Angelina

The Insights and Problems that Come with Fast Food

Burger king, McDonald's, Wendy’s - which one are you craving today. It’s hard to miss them specially as of 2012 there were 263,944 fast food restaurants in America. Most of the people there were revealed of eating fast food weekly, with all that fast food and advertisements you must be craving for the new egg sandwich from Subway, but did you ever think of what really is inside that sandwich? David DiSalvo a writer at forbes decided to really look into and find out what really is inside the egg sandwich only to find out that it’s made of a strange mix of egg and ‘’premium egg blend’’ some ingredients in the blend were found out to be ingredients used in soaps and shaving creams. Now maybe, you’re trying to be healthy by ordering a salad but unsurprisingly many fast food restaurants don’t list all the ingredients used in the salad, it was found out many restaurants dust the lettuce with propylene glycol, to make it more crispy. Even though it was tested and found out it’s safe for consumption, the chemical can be found in antifreeze.

Over the years the amount of food eaten in a fast food restaurant has increased. If you were to eat a cheeseburger 20 years ago, it would have weighed around 333 calories but now it’s nearly double the size making it around 590 calories! Thats a lot of calories for just one meal specially adding fries and drinks to it, this is just adding to your waistline and getting sick. Fast foods are high in fat, sodium and sugar, which leads to obesity, diabetes and heart diseases. Fast food/Junk food don’t contain the nutrition to stay healthy, but instead make you less energised. The high level of sugar in them over works your metabolism, also as they don’t contain carbohydrates your blood pressure drops suddenly making you cranky and craving for sugar, thus more fat.

Think more wisely when you choose to have fast food, read the ingredients and see the calories containing in it. Make sure you don’t have a lot of fast food, once or twice a month is good, otherwise you’re ruining your health and damaging your body. Take a while to think over your order, think if you’re not just forcing it down your stomach, whether you're really hungry or not? Think wisely and don’t just eat fast food.

by Ishita