Article 4 : Teenager Issues

Parents, beware the emo kids

Article: The Straits Times 19/3/07

In this newspaper article, the latest teen fad of being “emo” is highlighted. “Emo”, short for emotional, is an angst-filled culture of youths which is characterized by them wearing dark and undersized attire with sneakers. Such teens are full of emotion and often negativity about life and some of them even cut themselves. It is a growing concern as incidences of teens causing self hurt is increasing.

In my opinion, this new fad is detrimental to youths and brings out a key problem in society and its negative influences. The first influence would definitely be peer influence. There is a report stating that a group of girls gathered together and cut themselves. Many teens these days are under peer pressure, and they succumb too easily to following friends so that they will not be left out. The second would be that of the media. Many teens have cut themselves after listening to music of bands that endorse the “emo” culture, and have been influenced by their music idols to be “emo”. These musicians who sport gangly tattoos and ear rings promote the idea of rejection and torment, resulting in teens blindly following. Parents of such teens have to take the responsibility of cultivating strong values in their children, and have to take action if their children are listening to bad music or going out with bad friends. Freedom does not mean free will, and parents ultimately have to guide their child in the right path.

However, there may be assumptions which I have overlooked. As I am not an “emo” teen, I do not understand their troubles. Some teens may come from broken families, or are simply facing a lot of stress in school. Putting myself in their shoes, maybe some teens really need help. They may be outcasts and seek solace only in cutting themselves. I feel that the passage has also made a major assumption in defining the dressing of “emo” teens and their behaviour. It might only be a minority and such facts are exaggerated. “Emo” may just be another fad in which people are taking too seriously.

In fact, an interesting way to look at this is that “emo” may not be a hurtful culture but instead a new sense of fashion. To me, a fashion is perfectly alright as that is how teens identify with each other and establish a unique persona for themselves. Looking “emo” can just be putting on an act as part of looking cool.

In conclusion, I feel the “emo” culture is acceptable as it just another culture to follow. However, I strongly believe that one should not go too far and inflict pain on oneself. If such acts take place, parents should be aware and send them for counseling. Teens themselves also have to make sure they do not blindly follow the wrong influences. As long as this culture stays as a fad and not a path which is detrimental to oneself, it is cool and fine with me.

(499 words)

Article

In following angsty fad, teens cut themselves and write about suicide
BY SANDRA DAVIE
EDUCATION CORRESPONDENT

IF YOU have teenage kids and have not heard of the latest teen fad “emo”, itis time you looked it up. Shops catering to teens say this angst-filled youth sub-culture, called emo, short for “emotional”, has been gathering a following here. It has also left youth counsellors worried if the fad is behind the increasing incidence of teenagers cutting their wrists. Emo fashion is characterised by teens wearing dark T-shirts, a little undersized or deliberately worn down to look old. Their choice of sneakers is Converse canvas shoes. Look closer and these might have words like “pain’’ scribbled in red ink or a drawing of a broken heart. But the defining trademark for emo kids has to be the heavily lined eyes and long fringed hair which covers half their face. The point of that, said emo teen Mervyn Lee, 17, a polytechnic student, is because “we are tortured souls unable to face the world”.
Another tell-tale sign – they listen to angst-filled music from bands like Hawthorne Heights, Aiden, The Used, My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy, which performed here earlier this month. Youth counsellors interviewed say they are worried that the fad, carried to extremes, can lead to self- mutilation or even suicidal thoughts. As it is, some emo teens have penned poems about suicide and death and slashing
their wrists to “ease their pain’’. The trend may be behind the increased incidence of teenagers injuring themselves.
There have been no studies done on how prevalent self-injury is, but five youth counsellors interviewed said they have seen an alarming increase in their young charges cutting themselves. Anecdotally, it seems more common among girls, and they are getting younger. Just last month, The Straits Times reported that a group of 12-year-olds in an
all-girls primary school made a collective pact and slashed their arms with penknives. The incident came to light after teachers discovered the scars the next morning. The girls were counselled and are being monitored. Said Dr Carol Balhetchet, Singapore Children’s Society director of youth services: “It is okay for kids to follow a fashion. That is very normal. What is worrying is if they start blindly following the other things like cutting themselves and writing poems glorifying their suicide attempts.’’ Eight of 12 teens The Straits Times spoke to, who follow emo fashion, admitted as much.
One, an 18-year-old girl from a junior college, said she started cutting herself out of curiosity after listening to songs by an emo rock band. She said she now does it weekly, but hides the scars from her doctor father and accountant mum. Another emo teen, an 18-year-old polytechnic boy, said it is part of the fashion. “It’s a form of expression, just like the poems I write. I will go mad if I can’t, don’t have these forms of release,’’ he said.
What is surprising is that most of these angst-filled teens come from stable homes, where their parents are professionals.
When pressed, they admitted there were no issues that were really depressing. Parents seem clueless. One, Mrs Daisy Lim, 48, a businesswoman, said she had heard her daughter using the word “emo” but never realised it was a teen fad.
Her 16-year-old daughter wears under-sized, worn-out tees over tight black
jeans. On weekends, the Secondary 4 girl also wears two lip rings and six
earrings on one ear alone.
Mrs Lim recently discovered that her daughter cuts her wrists with a razor. She
is trying to get her to seek help.
But counsellors say parents should not overreact.
Said Dr Balhetchet: “They should talk to the kids to find out the extent of it.

“If the child has taken the fad to the extent of harming himself, they should
not panic and scream at the child. They should be open to listening him out.
“Then they will find it easier to persuade him to seek counselling help.’’
sandra@sph.com.sg

Article 3: Education

Students to be offered more language options

Article : Business Times 08/03/07 Page 12

In an article on the 8th of March in the Straits Times, the Ministry of Education has set out plans to include more languages such as Arabic and Bahasa Indonesia in the 3rd language curriculum in a bid to broaden language diversity in students. By offering more languages, Singapore will hopefully build on its key strength in language and culture.

In doing this, it shows that the government is aware that many business opportunities arise from countries all over the world, and knowledge of the language of other countries is crucial to effective communication between parties. MM Lee has often talked about Singapore having to capitalize on our strengths as we have limited natural resources. Hence, language diversity will definitely aid in making Singapore an approachable and marketable country.

Not only this, such a move will enhance the reputation of our education system. Scholars from all over the world come to Singapore to pursue education. From a student’s point of view, I would feel that Singapore’s education system is holistic and all rounded, and provides equal opportunities for all. If I was an Arabic scholar, I would be extremely happy as I could pursue a good education while at the same time, learn my own native tongue! However, from an outsider’s point of view, such education might seem to me as having breath but not depth. However, the strength of such a move by the MOE is that the new languages are electives. People can choose if they want to take the subject, and hence it is a win-win situation for all.

However, there can be cause for objection. My understanding is limited as the views of students shape my opinion. To a student, learning extra languages would be fun, but to another ordinary person, they might wonder. Is that what they lack for success in the working world? There is a possibility that the government is going in the wrong direction, for English is more often than not used by many countries including Arab. It is somewhat ironical as such countries are turning towards proficiency in English while Singapore is trying to diversify language. If I approach this from such a perspective, then Singapore should be working more on developing the public relation skills of our students. Students should be engaged in oral speaking classes and beefing up their presentation skills. This is because in the working world, first impressions last, and Singaporeans have to give others a good impression to project ourselves on the world stage.

In conclusion, I welcome the move by the government to diversity language in schools. The prospects of our future look bright. In the future, Singapore would be a multicultural IT hub, and it may be possible that important ties will be established with many countries, boosting Singapore’s reputation. What is crucial now, is to make sure Singaporeans strike a good impression in people overseas, and establish ties which will hopefully benefit our country greatly for the foreseeable future.

Article

YESTERDAY IN PARLIAMENT

ENGLISH and Mandarin, plus Malay and Tamil, might no longer be enough. To helpstudents prepare for a global future and take advantage of opportunities beyondSingapore, the Ministry of Education intends to take steps to boost the country's key strength of cultural and language diversity. The Ministry of Education will broaden student access to conversational Chinese and Malay enrichment programmes and offer Bahasa Indonesia and Arabic as third languages at the MOE Language Centre. Announcing this yesterday in Parliament, Education Minister TharmanShanmugaratnam outlined the key skills and traits that young people inSingapore would have to develop in order to prepare for a globalised future. 'We know that we have to work smarter - rather than work cheaper - in order to thrive amidst the competition with China and India, and before too long with new players like Vietnam,' he said. This means preparing the young to think for themselves, to work in teams, tobe able to communicate clearly and being totally comfortable with IT - keyskills for the future, in any industry and at every level of an organisation,Mr Tharman said. Besides providing students with more opportunities for stints abroad to helpdevelop a global outlook, the government also intends to build up Singapore'slanguage advantage. It will do this by improving the effectiveness of bilingual languagelearning, introducing more third language options and giving more students thechance to learn languages other than their own mother tongue at aconversational level. In line with these moves, the MOE is adding BahasaIndonesia and Arabic to the existing third languages at its language centrefrom 2008. 'Having a pool of young Singaporeans who are well versed in the culture andlanguages of the region is crucial for our long term engagement with ourclosest neighbours,' Mr Tharman said. On the introduction of Arabic, he pointed out that the Middle East is a fastgrowing region, with opportunities for Singaporeans. The government will also do more to promote conversational Chinese and Malayas enrichment programmes for students who are not native speakers of theselanguages. It was also announced in Parliament yesterday that the MOE is exploring thefeasibility of introducing a licensing system to ensure that private schoolsmeet certain standards of academic rigour, financial stability and studentwelfare, before they are allowed to operate. Minister of State for Education Gan Kim Yong, responding to questions fromMPs on private education in Singapore, noted that the number of private schoolshad grown from 267 in 1996 to 1,125 last year. The country has also acquired a strong global reputation in education due tothe quality of its education programmes in publicly-funded schools and tertiaryinstitutions. 'It is important for us to preserve the reputation of our education system,'Mr Gan said. 'Therefore, there is a need to enhance the regulatory frameworkfor the private education organisations to assure quality in this fast-growingsector.' He added that the MOE was also looking into an accreditation system torecognise high-quality private education providers and to help students toselect the most suitable school. 'MOE will consult with industry to work out the regulatory framework, tosupport Singapore's development as a quality education hub,' he said, althoughhe did not give a timeline for when such a framework could be in place.