8th grade presents:
Awareness for Social Issues
credits Copy Sean Choi (8B), Austin Chung (8D), Ashley Croft (8A), Aidan Han (8E), Jian Hong (8A), Ian Kim (8A), Jaewon Kim (8D), Kate Kim (8A), Esther Park (8A), Lucy Park (8D) Art Stella Eu (8E) Chloe Park (8E) Layout June Jeong (11) Eunice Rhee (11)
Femi. As a South Korean, you may or may not have heard this word before. Femi is the Korean slur that refers to feminists. Like all slurs, it has originated from oppressive references and carries many negative connotations. Feminism is a social movement that stands up for gender equality but has been stigmatized due to a lack of attention and proper education. Students should actively support feminism and raise awareness because the view that people hold of feminism is factually untrue, morally incorrect, and leads to greater consequences. Especially for conservative societies like Korea, further change is needed for gender equality. Women go through everyday struggles of workplace discrimination, pressurized gender roles), “pink tax,” (extra tax on sanitary products and products for women), societal expectations, fear for their safety, and so on. In an aging population with a limited workforce and intensified conflicts, it would be better for not only women, but the entire society to care about women for their contributions. Multiple studies have been published saying that South Korea would have a much more productive and vibrant economy if more females could have oppor-
tunities to pursue economic independence. Some people may say that they are “unsure” and they would rather choose not to take a stance. However, this is what they fail to realize: that there is no “middle ground” when it comes to human rights. There is no “counter discrimination” when the field we start on is already unfair. This is the reality. - Jian Hong
GENDER
INEQUALITY From childhood, boys and girls are raised by unintentional stereotypes of gender and gender bias. Girls are expected to act feminine; boys are expected to act masculine, and vice versa. From all these toxic social norms that are being embedded into children’s growing minds from such a young age, it is not surprising that gender inequality is a major problem in today’s society. However, many are also blinded by the issue of gender inequality. People say they do care, but do they really care? It’s important to first know the core of this problem. The way that children are being taught inside schools about gender inequality, and the way schools indirectly also show bias and inequality with male and female students mislead these children in the wrong direction. For instance, from dress codes to the things children learn at school, there is a clear bias for male students over females. Female students are not able to dress how they desire, just to make the male students feel more “comfortable.” Education and school life revolve around male students. Despite these
examples of clear gender inequality and bias happening inside schools, schools are unwilling to actually change nor address this problem. Schools have the responsibility to share and teach children about how serious of a problem this is. As a matter of fact, these students represent the future of society; if we don’t change, then there’s no change for the future as well. People need to start opening their perspectives on gender inequality, not just in schools, but beyond that; inequality in workplaces, the way the justice system handles sexual harassment, and society’s views about women being sexually assaulted or facing violence. There is a need for change, and that’s why SIS should start teaching, or spreading more awareness about this problem so that students can learn about this problem, and be capable to take any action against inequality in the future. - Ashley Croft
- Chloe Park
FOOD
insecurity The human rights issue that I wish to discuss is food insecurity. Food insecurity is a matter that is discussed widely around the world and has become a rising issue. According to WFP (World Food Programme) and the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Sudan, and Yemen remain the countries of highest concern. Although there are lots of countries facing this issue, I will narrow it down to these few countries that are facing the most difficulties. There has been little to no update in Ethiopia regarding hunger insecurity since July of September 2021, and for the food agencies, this lack of data is of serious concern. Food insecurity levels are likely to have risen beyond the already high levels that were displayed in the last report. In Nigeria, the most concerning hotspot is in
Borno State, where around 13,500 people are living in catastrophic acute food insecurity. For South Sudan, the effects of the Covid 19 pandemic, economic challenges, and elevated food prices are worsening the situation. There has also been severe flooding that has damaged agricultural production and led to the destruction of livelihoods. We can see, even besides the problem of increasing food insecurity, South Sudan already has lots of problems that require attention. Hunger is also a rising issue in Yemen due to the toxic mix of conflict and economic decline. As a result of this, half of all Yemeni populations are now consuming less food than what is required. Thus, this is the issue that should be addressed most urgently. - Lucy Park
Climate Change Climate change is one of the world’s biggest issues at the moment. In 2021, global temperatures were 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit or 0.85 degrees Celsius above the average for NASA’s baseline temperature. In 2022, temperatures are still rising. The global surface temperature for this January was 0.89 degrees Celsius more than the 20th-century average. It also had the sixth-highest temperature for January since global records began in 1880. The problem of climate change is spiraling every year and it is going to be up to our generation to solve it. We, as a society, need to pay more attention to this issue and we can start by teaching about it in schools. There are still people who think climate change is fake, unimportant, and irrelevant. We need to edu-
cate ourselves and each other about the catastrophic consequences of climate change, including damage to the environment, human health, wildlife, and the economy. Climate change is a global issue that will affect every single one of us and we all have a responsibility to do something about it. SIS should teach students about global warming and what each of us can do to combat it. The first step to a cleaner and healthier future is to teach the current generation about urgent problems the planet is facing until something is done.
CHILD
- Stella Eu
MARRIAGE Every school should teach students the problem of child marriage. Child marriage is marriage done before 18, and it is considered a human rights violation. There are strict laws forbidding this in many countries; however, this practice continues. It is well known that child marriage has a impact on the child for a lifetime. Girls who marry before they turn 18 are less likely to remain in school and more likely to experience domestic violence. Young teenage girls are more likely to die due to complications in pregnancy and childbirth than women in their 20s, and their children are more likely to be stillborn or die in the first month of life. According to UNICEF, 21% of young women were married before their 18th birthday. That is about 650 million women around the world. Of all the cases, 37% of the child
marriage cases happens in sub-Saharan Africa. Few countries are Niger, Central African Republic, and Chad. Why do these problems happen? Poverty has been the main cause of this issue. Women who want to get education are most likely to go through child marriage. They have an incentive that the husband would let them attend school. Because their own families cannot afford them to attend schools, it is frequent in poor countries that these illegal actions occur. Child marriage can be prevented by informing parents and children about the long lasting effect. SIS should also be helping these people by writing blogs and websites and raising awareness through social media. - Jaewon Kim
SIS should teach and give awareness to students about ageism, a problem that is very serious nowadays. Ageism refers to the discrimination, prejudice, and stereotyping of people based on their age. People are categorized and judged entirely based on their age group. As a result, the elderly often do not get the same opportunities as the younger generations. Stereotypes can be found everywhere; in the family, in the community, and in the workplace. This creates negative attitudes towards older people and the fear of aging. These can lead to severe, wide-ranging consequences. Experiencing discrimination due to one’s old age is associated with poorer physical and mental health, increased social isolation and loneliness, greater financial insecurity, decreased quality of life, and premature death. The issue is becoming more and more common and severe everyday. These days, 82% of adults ranging from 50-80 years old are experiencing ageism in their day-to-day lives. People should be more cautious of this problem especially in South Korea, as our country has a higher percentage of people 64 years old or older compared to other countries. To avert this, SIS should keep awareness and put more effort into educating and encouraging the students about ageism and what we can do to prevent it in our community. After all, one day, we are going to be the ones experiencing ageism since everyone ages, so we must make an effort to prevent it before it’s our turn. - Esther Park
LEARNING TO BE A FEMINIST Today’s society needs a clear understanding of what is truly needed to realize a harmonious relationship between males and females. In current society’s attempt to achieve gender equity, there has been much debate around the pros and cons of how effective it truly is. There is no doubt that gender equity is needed between women and men, as there are still many people who are discriminated and face injustice due to what sex they were born as. However, there are those who also take advantage of this situation and, as a result, doubts and skepticism arise on whether there is a need for gender equity. Therefore, it is important to have a clear understanding of what is truly needed to achieve gender equity. Despite differences between women and men, we have to depend on each other throughout our lives. If society gives women the same opportunity as men (e.g. rate of promotion, salary rates) and finds an ‘efficient’ way to respect and rely on each other, it would help create a “harmony” in the social relationship between men and women. For example, starting from minor things such as carrying heavy stuff that the one cannot, to marriage. When women and men are married, the one who goes out to work (could be man or a woman) earns money for the family, while the one who is in the house takes care of the children or the house work. This brings a form of a typical family, showing a harmonic relation-
ship without burdening anyone. It is important for us to have a clear understanding of what is truly needed to achieve gender equality. Let’s have a look at a word that we use often in contrast to gender equity—feminism. Many believe that being a feminist is anti-men. but in actuality, according to UN Goodwill Ambassador, Emma Watson’s HeForShe speech, feminism, by definition, is “the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes.” We should not misunderstand this term and cause other misunderstandings and hate about it, because it would eventually lead to other tragedies that we would not want to hear about. As Watson said, “it is not the word that is important, but the idea and ambition behind it.” On that note, we can all learn to be ‘feminists’ one way or another to achieve gender equity. If societies could find an ‘efficient’ way to reach this kind of understanding to the ones who are doing injustice to true gender equity, it may help women and men to respect and rely on each other, creating true ‘equity’ in the social relationship between men and women, eventually having no need to have such words as feminism. We should learn to be feminists. - Ian Kim
Have you ever heard of the rules of threes? You can survive 3 weeks without food, 3 days without water, and 3 minutes without oxygen. Your body is capable of surviving for weeks without food, only relying on water. Without water, however, a person can only survive 2-3 days before dying of dehydration. Though students at our school can freely access freshwater sources and clean, sanitary water, 2 billion people globally face issues with unsanitary, polluted water. Yet, the government does not take any action to provide solutions to this issue. As a result of the government’s indifference, around 3 million people are infected with cholera every year, and tens of thousands die. In some cases, people do not have access to any freshwater sources at all, which resorts to people turning to small puddles of water for drinking. This freshwater crisis is not someone else’s problem, as South Korea faces a water shortage crisis too. In the near future, it is highly
possible that we, too, may face a water shortage crisis, although water is something that we all took for granted. The UN’s 6th sustainable development goal, ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, is working to clear the world crisis of water pollution and ensuring availability of fresh water sources. As of 2022, the UN has not made much progress, and the current rate of progress needs to double in order to make a difference in the world. 40% of the world’s freshwater sources are contained underground, many of these deposits are facing dangers of pollution due to oil, human waste, radioactivity and more. As many water sources are being polluted and many are left without clean water to use, it should be known that all people must have the right to clean and sufficient water. - Sean Choi
POLLUTION POLLUTION POLLUTION
POLLUTION POLLUTION POLLUTION
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BIODIVERSITY
LOSS
Within the constant tide of time, conflicts constantly occur within the boundaries of our planet. Discriminatory problems related to the oppression of specific races, genders, etc. have grown more frequent over the recent decades. Politics are also a major problem, especially with the Ukraine war. Due to the conflicts caused by, well, ourselves, we sometimes ignore the greater problems we fail to identify solutions to. One of these greater problems is, indeed, the loss of biodiversity. Biodiversity is defined as the decline or disappearance of biological diversity. The attention demanded by this problem is not as urgent as global warming; however, it still must be considered. The importance of biodiversity is varied and widespread. The first main importance of biodiversity is its influence on the economy. Many livelihoods, such as those of farmers, fishers, and timber workers all depend on biodiversity, as it provides humans with raw materials for consumption and production. Biodiversity also provides ecological life support, as it provides functional ecosystems with oxygen, clean air, water, pollination of plants, pest control, wastewater treatment, and many ecosystem services. Many recreational pursuits rely on unique biodiversities, such as birdwatching, hiking, camping, and fishing. The tourism industry also depends on biodiversity. Culture from various countries is closely connected to biodiversity through the expression of identity, spirituality, and
aesthetic appreciation. For example, indigenous Australians have strong connections and obligations to biodiversity arising from spiritual beliefs about animals and plants. Additionally, biodiversity represents a wealth of systematic ecological data that help us to understand the natural world and its origins. Biodiversity loss is caused by five primary drivers: habitat loss, invasive species, overexploitation (extreme hunting and fishing pressure), pollution, and climate change associated with global warming. Unfortunately, these factors are hard to avoid, as most of these problems arise from our extensive use of nature. However, with the right mindset, we can easily find the necessary answers. For example, the creation of seed banks prevents numerous species from going extinct. Environmentalists advocate the use of electric cars in order to prevent air pollution and reduce climate change. Science figured out many species that hunt specific invasive organisms. Famous YouTuber Mr. Beast created two fundraising campaigns, teamtrees and teamseas to raise awareness of current environmental problems. So what can we do as an individual? Voluntary work is suitable for those who don’t have money to spare, and for those who are who can afford it, sparing a few dollars for the sake of humanity is also a step in the right direction. - Austin Chung
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As oil and gas prices increase, sales decrease as the product is considered much more limited and expensive. Vice versa, as oil and gas resources are abundant, prices decrease. Because there is limited access to natural oil and gas resources, there has been an increase in oil and gas production prices. Trade and access are limited because of the interactions between countries and Russia. This is not a problem only in Korea, but worldwide. In countries, oil and gas prices have skyrocketed up to 5 or more dollars in American currency. Oil and gas are one of the primary natural resources that humans utilize every day. Humans use oil and gas
transportation such as cars or airplanes and use mainly for energy, the most important resource a home could have. However, oil and gas will be harder to obtain as prices go up. Why is this happening? The Ukrainian and Russian war has largely caused this energy crisis. Yet, other countries are stepping in, in order to make change. One of the changes many countries have agreed to make was to stop trading with Russia. This situation all started back when the president of Russia, Putin, declared that Ukraine had long belonged to Russia. Going back to our main issue, we see no direct or impactful solution for the future, nonetheless, we should necessarily create awareness and attempt to aid Ukraine in hopes of saving Ukraine and saving the oil and gas industry for both the benefit of Russia and their traders. - Kate Kim
SIS should teach students about wealth polarization. Wealth polarization refers to a phenomenon in which the middle class disappears and the social class moves to two extremes, the rich and the poor. It is often regarded as the biggest challenge and the beginning of the collapse of the capitalist economic system, and it has only been intensifying. When polarization occurs, the dreaded trap of relative poverty cannot be avoided. Of course, in the capitalist system, relative poverty is always inevitable because wealth cannot be completely equalized by affirming competition and actual differentiation through compensation. However, in a situation where the majority of people are low-income, have no hope of advancement, and have few environmental or cultural conditions, most people will not make any effort at all. The tendency to
lose or ignore laws strengthens and morality weakens because they try to live as comfortably as they can by falling into lethargy, nihilism, and defeatism. A possible solution is to redistribute income through additional financial support and progressive tax. Through the public education and scholarship system, fair competition opportunities should be provided and low-income families should have hope for an increase in social status. Only when market economic principles are observed can a virtuous cycle of growth and distribution be achieved. - Aidan Han
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8TH GRADE Humanité Executives’ Presentations to
LECTURES Ms. Jeon’s Language Arts Students