BBC Young Reporter Competition
Students from Years 9 and 10 joined Miss Holland and Miss Bushnell in the library on Friday 15 March 2024, to create their entries for the BBC Young Reporter competition. After much thought and research, the budding journalists chose what the focus of their article would be, drawing inspiration from important and engaging social issues, considering how they impact young people’s lives.
Ranging from explorations of things close to their hearts, such as cats and rock music, to considerations of how the elderly are treated in the UK and how social media has impacted Generation A, the students produced thoughtful and timely pieces. Their ideas will be submitted to the national competition!
Please see some of their articles below:
SCROLL, SWIPE, SHARE:
How the New Generation is Rewriting the Rules of News and Politics - By Annie S
News is such an important part of our lives. However, the way we read the news is vastly contrasting from person to person. As a 15 year old that is part of Gen z, I get my news from a number of different sources, from news apps to social media. The increased use of social media from the younger generation raises the question as to how beneficial social media is as a news source.
I am like most other teenagers around me: I have a phone, social media and multiple other screens. Although my likes and dislikes will significantly vary from each person around me, I am sure that most people around my age will use social media more than most other apps on their phone. Not to say that social media doesn’t have its perks, because it definitely does, however, we need to take into account the fact that as our generation evolves, so do our news outlets and retrieval of information. When looking at this, I wanted to look into the idea of using social media as a news source, whether it would be beneficial or whether it is up to established news corporations to make changes for the growing generations.
Devil’s Music
The lifesaving truths of rock and roll, and its death by stereotypes - by Maia W
Rock and Roll is used as an umbrella term for various types of music, all of which face their own, as well as general stereotypes.
When was the last time you heard a rock and roll song? Did it come up on the radio? Was it the background to a video on TikTok? What was the first thing that flashed through your head? Was it positive? Was it a sense of peace and belonging in the world? Or, more likely, it was something negative. Satanic. Occult. Demonic. Did you sit there and think, ‘wow, that guitar playing was absolutely amazing’. Maybe the words were relatable, and brought tears to your eyes. Or was the guitar playing too loud, too overpowering? The singing too loud, too discordant?
The more negative associations with rock and roll, and other similar forms of music, branch from stereotypes, which impact not only your reaction to the situation above, but also to your reaction to seeing someone dressed in ripped jeans, band tees and leather jackets. People like me, who were lucky enough to have parents biased towards rock and roll, are more likely to respond positively to hearing a rock and roll song. This is because, simply, we have been exposed to it since a young age, or through a combination of life experiences and struggles, we can relate to it.
Is Gen Alpha maturing too fast?
By Olivia P
As a Gen Z teenager, I’d say I’m very “on trend” yet I see on social media lots of posts from Gen Alpha. For those who don’t know Gen Alpha are the generation born from 2010 and on (into 2025) which means they’re the first generation to be fully born in the 21st century. This means we should all know at least one Gen Alpha kid. That kid may be: your nephew, cousin, child or even a sibling which means we all relate to the notion of having a relationship with a Gen Alpha. For me, my brother is a Gen Alpha kid in year 7, trying to find his way in life just like the rest of us. But the way he lives his life is very different compared to the way I lived my life, even if we have just a 3-year difference between us.
Gen Alpha being the newest generation, they have the luxury of being around the newest technology and newest apps known to man which has many advantages; this new technology helps them with their learning like going onto google and searching up answers for a question they’re struggling on, social media is a place of expressing themselves and “fun”, it is a place of new communication with different types of people from all over the world at any time, any place with anyone. However, to every positive there will always be negatives which in this case, are over looked.
Family for Unity? Or Family for money?
Social Media's Significant Effect - By Chloe M
Comfort, home, people to trust: Family is a key factor in the growth of young children from birth. The influence of family has significant impact on the lifestyle of a child. Look around – wherever you are, all the people around you have completely different lives as a result of how they were raised. However, this notion has a plethora of interpretations. So really, what is it like to have grown up on a screen?
As generations progress, the increase of technology seems to be a key factor of the economy. The emergence of social media has evidently resulted in an eager and life changing opportunity, easily neglecting what is really important: family. That is what I try to prioritise as a teenager in today’s society. It isn’t shocking anymore to assume that most child-related channels are mostly considered on the parents’ behalf. In fact, monetary desire can result in ‘harmlessly’ taking advantage of your own children for personal gain. Young people often grow up watching these channels as a form of entertainment.
