[Sidharth]

Violence has been a staple of films for quite some time.It helps make the action scenes engaging.However, there are concerns that present day films contain too much violence. It leads to certain issues that are yet to be resolved.Let’s look at them in closer detail.

Presently, film is the most consumed media among the general public.People irrespective of caste,creed or gender enjoy it.So , it’s safe to say that films have a huge influence on our lives.Certain films help motivate people to achieve their life’s desire.While other films help those suffering from depression.However,there are some negative impacts. Films try to justify violence. Heroes commit monstrous acts and justify it away by using the old adage “The ends justify the means”. This is absolutely the wrong message for the viewers.Sure,most people would consider violent scenes as nothing more than a part of the film.Still , a certain section of moviegoers are considerably influenced by it .Overtime they develop rash and uncultured tendencies. This leads to incidents of theft, personal attacks among others.Eventually,societies will turn into a chaotic mess.

Another concern is depression.Some films are filled to the brim with torture and destruction and they can affect the minds of the viewers. This mostly applies to younger audiences.Scenes of annihilation and death can fill the viewer with a sense of doom which latter spirals into mental disorders.

So, what can be done?

The most important measure is censorship. Parts of the film, deemed too inappropriate can be removed.Also special care should be taken to ensure that kids aren’t able to access films that are filled to the brim with brutal and merciless scenes. Even adults that suffer from mental disorders should also be limited access to such kind of films so as to not over complicate their medical condition.Film makers should be encourages or even mandated by law to find other means to make action sequences exciting.

[Sidharth]

The above figure neatly demonstrates the television usage of children from 1950-2010. Let’s take a closer look at it.

Television viewing was minimal in the 1950s.However, the following decades saw a linear increase in television usage.This pattern was observed till the early parts of 1980 as the usage of television grew from a meager 0.5 to 3.8 in just thirty years . Children spend an astounding number of hours(4) glued to their televisions. After that period it remained relatively stable for about twenty years. The only exception was the momentary drop in usage reported at 1985 .However , this drop was followed by an marked increase in usage which peaked at around 4.2 in 1995. The twenty-first century marked the advent of the digital age. This era has seen a steady decrease in the time children spent on television so far. The value currently stands at 3.5. Various estimates predict that it will keep decreasing in the following years.

[Sidharth]

Recently, an article on the ten most populous countries was released.It was based on the years 2019 and 2100.Let’s take a closer look at it.

In 2019, China was the largest in terms of population(1439 million). India was not too far behind with 1380 million people.However, by 2100 it is estimated that India would claim top spot(1551 million) as the east Asian country is facing a massive decline in population.Nigeria is the country predicted to make the biggest strides in its rise to claim third spot.The United States of America will add about a 100 million people to its current tally(331 million). However, that won’t prevent its decent to fourth in the population table. Pakistan is the only nation that will retain its place in the standings.Brazil will tumble down the charts into tenth as it faces negative growth. Countries like Russia, Bangladesh and Mexico will drop out of the table.Interestingly,the new entrants will be solely from Africa.The Democratic Republic of Congo will be the Nation with the most population(296 million) out of the new boys.

In conclusion,we can saw that the global population will keep on rising.The continent of Africa will be among the biggest contributors. Europe will not have a single representative in 2100.

[Sidharth]

The importance of art has been waning in recent times.A few reasons for it are:

Nowadays, a career in science or technology is considered secure and well paid. The same cannot be said for arts,where only a fraction of people make it to the top. The rest not only miss out,but find it difficult to establish themselves in other fields.Basically,arts can be described as a niche field where you need to be incredibly talented, hardworking and lucky to achieve success. Therefore ,it’s not a surprise that many don’t even try as societies actively or passively discourage people from venturing into this field.

Another important factor is the lack of funding. In ancient and medieval times, many artists had the patronage of their respective Kings. They were rewarded handsomely for their works and lived lavish lives. To be a musician in the King’s court was considered a big honour.Times have changed. Governments don’t allocate enough funds to this sector for several reasons. Their primary concern is to provide for the basic needs of the people.Sadly, arts don’t fall into that category .

In today’s fast paced world, people in general don’t have time to appreciate arts. Their jobs have consumed them so much, that they don’t have spare time to watch a movie or visit a art gallery. So, it’s no surprise that movie viewership among others has fallen.An industry that can barely support itself is not one that appeals to talented artists.

It all sounds grim, but there are certain measures that if adopted can turn things around.First thing’s first, children at a young age need to be encouraged and supported if they are interested and talented in arts. Governments around the world need to allocate more funds and recognize the importance of this field. Public perception towards arts can be changed through various campaigns.

[Sidharth]

Recently, an analysis titled “work from home” was published and its key findings are mentioned below.

The primary reason for choosing to work from home is cost management for both men and women with 45 % of men and 42 % of females having this opinion. Other key factors include an increase in productivity and childcare, the latter of which was particularly favoured by women(26%) and less so by men(4%) while the former was an important factor for men(24%) while only a small percentage of women considered it(11%).

There are some interesting observations in the “Hours worked from home ” statistic. An overwhelming majority of women worked under ten hours per week while only a small percentage of men did so. Most males regularly put in over 30 hours of work(81%) while it was the exact opposite for women(6%). Both categories aren’t particularly keen on working 10-30 hours a week with only 16 % of men and 22 % of women doing so.

[Sidharth]

In my opinion, teenagers need to be taught basic survival skills because of the following reasons;

The future is uncertain. Despite our best efforts, we may get involved in a life-threatening situation. The importance of first-aid in such a scenario is very high. Consider the recent Denmark-Finland football match. About 30 minutes in, a player by the name “Christian Ericksen” falls unconscious to the floor. Players immediately surrounded him. Before medical professionals could get to him, his captain had performed a CPR procedure. In later analysis, it was revealed that Christian’s heart had stopped. If his captain hadn’t stepped in, he would have died. This perfectly highlights the need for the public to know basic first-aid. This can be ensured if all teenagers learn it as they are the future.

No matter how safe your neighbourhood is, you can never rule out the dreaded possibility of a violent personal attack. What will you do if it were to occur? Trusting the police isn’t always a good idea. Therefore, learning self-defence techniques can be the difference between life and death. There are many examples of victims holding off their attackers or even turning the tables on them all because they knew how to protect themselves.

Learning to cook is an underappreciated skill especially among teenagers. However, one doesn’t remain young forever. Somewhere in the future, living alone becomes a possibility. But cooking isn’t a skill that can be mastered easily. Just like riding a car, it takes a lot of time and effort. So it would be much easier for teenagers to learn it as it would undoubtedly turn out to be useful in their later life.

[Sidharth]

McGill University recently released a table based on the student’s response to the quality of education in the years 2005, 2010 and 2015. Let’s take a closer look at it.

Although the level of teaching quality has improved, it has not been that big of an advance as one would have hoped for. Currently, the teaching quality stands at 78, a six point improvement over 2010’s data which isn’t that impressive especially when we consider the fact that the rating was 74 in 2005.

The Library resources section has also shown a stagnation in its ratings, with its current rating 87 and its previous ratings were 88 and 86 for 2010 and 2005 respectively. When compared to the teaching quality though, it is noticeable that although teaching quality and library resources have stood still for the last ten years, atleast the library resources department had a better average overall.

Unlike the above two sections, student services has shown a massive positive spike in its ratings for the years 2010 and 2015 which is an indicator that the staff incharge of student services is doing a pretty good job.

Range of modules department has been the least impressive however with this section showing a dip in reviews from 39 in 2005 to 25 in 2015. This is hugely disappointing as not only was the average low, it still dipped furthur in the following years showing gross negligence in this section.

Finally we have the Sports and Social facilities department which consistently scored 65 in all three surveys which is not great but not bad either.