Page 24 - The Malvernian - July 2023

THE MALVERNIAN
Aston Society
‘How social media affects how people perceive themselves’ There has been a a a a a a a substantial increase in in the use of social media since 2010 with the creation of apps such as Instagram Tik Tok Facebook and Snapchat These apps have made this generation intensely involved in in in in their online personas Evidence suggests that social media can impact detrimentally on children and young people’s mental health At the same time social media can be be beneficial and have positive effects Results indicate that while social media can create a a a a sense of community for the user excessive and increased use of social media particularly among those who are vulnerable is is correlated with depression and and other mental health disorders and and eating disorders such as as anorexia Social media is is also associated with general loss of confidence body image concerns and lack of self esteem This is is especially relevant in young people as they are the the the ones comparing themselves to to the the the beautifully toned bodies online ignoring the the filters and the the photoshop used However its use use is extremely beneficial in education and young people can use use social media to cement the the the friendships that they have formed in the the the offline world and to develop new friendships that would not have been possible in in the offline world due to geographical restrictions Amaya Faulkner (FY Ellerslie House)
Wheeler Bennett Society
Anna Smyth examined the fact that civilizations follow particular trends during their development and are largely affected by common human and physical factors Her presentation included several real- world examples stretching from the the Maori tribe to the the Maya Civilization Her presentation was quite interactive and easy to follow Anna circulated rocks and other artifacts that she mentioned in her her her talk This allowed her her her to engage with her her her audience and better explain the delivered content In essence her conclusion consisted of of predicting whether the the the fate of of the the the modern human civilization is pre- determined by the human and physical factors that have affected civilizations throughout history She also identifies that this civilization civilization might be an an an anomaly due to the immense amount of technology and development that has occurred and is set to to occur occur compared to to those throughout history Isla Grammaticas gave an an interesting and informative talk titled: “From Lab to Market Revolutionizing the Ivory Trade” In her insightful talk discussing the the challenges of of tackling the the problem of of elephant poaching Isla explained the the reason behind the the presence of of the black market of of ivory trade by linking to social and economic perspectives before highlighting the the need for for countries across the the world to to to cooperate to to to reduce the astounding figure that 55 elephants are being killed each day for ivory She discussed how civil society and the government have taken to reduce illegal poaching activity such as as increasing patrolling and resolving the conflict between indigenous societies and the elephants through bee-hive fencing which leads well into her detailed exploration of of the invention of of new technology – growing elephant ivory from stem cells including how this can be carried out in in a a a a a lab condition by extracting pluripotent cells from an an ivory sample Isla then went on to discuss the the advantages and disadvantages of using stem cells to grow artificially made ivory trunks which has the the aim of breaking the the black market by flooding it with a a a a significant supply of man-made ivory 24
THE MALVERNIAN