Artograffi #143
Come and join Artograffi
At Artograffi, we write articles, draw, research, interview and most of all we’re creative. Young people over the age of nine can join in at the Fourways 2 building on Monday from 4:30pm to 6:00pm.
Artograffi has always been in the middle of The Ambler “We say the middle bit is the best!” said Anna, who started Artograffi in early 2000.
Artograffi gives young people a chance to have their say and to write about all the things that interest them.
If you are interested in joining we’d be happy to see you.
By Issy and Eden
The Sycamore Gap Tree: The story so far
The Sycamore Gap tree (dubbed the most photographed tree in the UK) was felled with a chainsaw on 28 September of this year. It was originally made popular because of the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, for the picturesque views it gave. Experts say the tree was around 300 years old making it very sad for some people that it was abruptly chopped.
At the time of writing, a teenager, a 60 year old man and two 30 year olds have all been arrested and all been released on bail.
Why was the tree felled? Eden says, “They probably chopped it for the fame and coolness.”
Anna adds, “As a tree lover I find it really hard to think why on earth anyone would do that.”
To forever memorialize the tree, I think a memorial should be made on the spot of the tree to give people something to visit and something to remember.
By Noah
What is Santa’s dog’s name? Santa Paws!
Happy Christmas from Artograffi!
We hope everyone in Amble enjoyed the lights and the parade! The lights were amazing to us at Artograffi, we hope you enjoyed it too. We hope you have a Merry Christmas and New Year, and that everyone gets loads of presents from Santa!
From Eden, Issy, Noah, Nina, Grace and Ava
New Year’s Resolution
Everyone needs to stop fighting because is not good. I think that the world needs a New Year Resolution. To stop fighting!
We have been looking at pictures of wars in Ukraine and Gaza and it is too much. People are dying during the wars and lots of children, babies and parents are dying every day. It is not fair at all. Plus, it is not cool to fight.
So, let’s stop fighting. As parents tell children to stop bickering, then maybe we all should stop as well.
By Nina
How do you help someone who has lost their Christmas spirit? Nurse them back to elf!
Is overpopulation harming us all?
Overpopulation is when there are too many people on Earth for the planet to sustain us. Overpopulation leads to problems with the environment, food/water scarcity and more.
As of 9 October 2023, the world population is estimated to be around 8,045,311,447, (over eight billion) wi
th the most populated country in the world being India, which has 1,425,775,850 (nearly one and a half billion) people. There isn’t only one reason why the population is this large, but improved medical care is a big reason. Another reason why the population could be big is because of abortion being banned or people being encouraged to have large families.
With a large population there comes a need for a lot of housing, along with other things like farms to produce food for the people. However, when spaces are cleared for housing and agriculture, the environment will suffer due to the removal of plants, especially trees to make way for the buildings. This would lead to higher levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the air, which leads to higher temperatures.
More people also make more demand for healthcare, and most importantly food and water. 71% of the Earth’s surface is water, but only 2.5% of that water is actually drinkable. This means that we have a finite source of drinkable water, and the more people there are, the quicker that 2.5% of freshwater will be gone. Although you can use desalination to remove impurities from saltwater, it takes a lot of money and energy to do. Along with this, a lot of water is wasted in daily life.
Climate change means some places will become impossible to live in, like the Maldives, which are likely to be engulfed by water, so entire populations will have to move. Pressure on resources, housing and food will increase, which leads to poorer living conditions for people.
Do we actually HAVE overpopulation though? Yes, the Earth is overpopulated. However, if more people are educated about things like reproductive health they will be able to stop unwanted pregnancies, for example.
By Grace
What’s red white and blue? A sad candy cane!
Tycoon entrepreneurs- where are they now?
In issue #141 of Artograffi I wrote about the group of JCSC students undertaking the huge project of creating their own business. They were Light Clouds and Co, a terrarium selling group who successfully used their loan to create profit. Since then, they have come second in the Tycoon competition, visited London and started a whole new entrepreneurial idea.
Since we last spoke, the group told me they have visited Hampton Court Palace in London. There they received second place in the key stage 3/4 category of the Tycoon entrepreneur competition, and Emma said she believed they achieved this because of the uniqueness of their idea, and the extensive problem solving they did whilst running the business. Their day trip to London (starting at 4 and getting back at nearly midnight!) was filled with excitement, and the group animatedly shared their experience on the London Underground and meeting professionals from businesses such as FIFA and Sky who were present at the event.
The group have learned many skills from their time in business, for example time management and job delegation. Mr O’Neill, the teacher who helps bring their visions to life, added that there were a lot of deadlines, evaluations and communication that had to happen. However he seemed proud of how everyone had handled these challenges.
As a result they are starting a whole new business! Light Clouds and Co has become ProCRAFTination- a budding business selling handmade and personalised bracelets, necklaces and pins. They’ll be featuring at Amble market (hopefully starting on 26 November, but weather dependent); this time they also have an online shop. Look them up on social media under ProCRAFTination to get your beautiful yet inexpensive jewelry.
By Ava
Shoutout for girls football
We need more girls to play football because there is only one football team in Amble for girls my age, 10 to 11. Also boys are not always the nicest about girls playing on their team.
I play for a football team called the Saxons. I play at The Welfare but now since it’s the winter we play at Alnwick on 3D pitches.
If you are interested in joining you can text Craig Robertson and he will give more details to join.
His number is 07900570799.
I like playing football because my family are very big Newcastle fans and so am I. Also, I played since I was little and was scared to join a team with boys. Now at 10 years old I have faced my fear and joined, so you can too!
I want girls to know that you should not be scared to play football, you are powerful and don’t be scared of silly boys!
By Eden
What do snowmen eat for breakfast? Ice Crispies!
AI: is it a good or bad thing?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming more and more powerful and easier for the public to use. When you load up the internet, you can type ChatGPT into your search bar, make an account and then you have free reign over a robot. Is this dangerous or is it a good thing?
A new AI called Google Duplex can wait on hold for you, make reservations and even book a haircut for you. And, it actually sounds like a real person. I used Anna as my lab rat and she was blown away with how realistic the voices were. This could be very good to help people firstly not forget their reservations or appointments and secondly, do stuff in the background while they do something more important. A negative impact of this is it takes away the need for people to talk to each other, which a lot of people don’t do anymore.
AI can also create something called a deepfake. A deepfake is a fake video picture or audio of a person. Famous or not, deepfake websites can almost perfectly replicate people. Again, it looks real, sounds real and acts real. This can really only be depicted as bad, as it can put words into someone’s mouth without them knowing. This definitely dangerous as it could cause damage to people’s public opinions.
I think it can certainly be used as a good thing in ordering things for you and helping you remember things but I think the bad overweighs the good with AI. It can make people look bad and make people more alone. With sites like ChatGPT, they can also fake you writing essays and work assignments. I might not even have written this. It could have been an AI!
By Noah?
Does too much bad news make us stop listening?
Whether you get your news from TV, the newspaper or social media, it is obvious that there are more stories about bad things showing up.
I think that too much bad news could have two opposite effects – either we stop reading or watching the news, or the other option, we end up seeing even more bad news on things like social media. Take Tiktok for example, if you see one video about bad news and watch it to the end, the algorithm will push out more bad news videos to you, therefore making you see even more bad news.
On other things like the TV and newspaper where there isn’t an algorithm, bad news is still shown – sometimes even more than good news – because bad news headlines are more likely to catch your eye and interest you.
So this might make you stop reading about bad news because, as Noah says, “If you read about the same thing over and over, it becomes boring and repetitive.”
This could explain why the Ukraine War, although still in progress, is not talked about as much in the news compared to when it was first started. Of course not every story about Ukraine is about the same thing.
I think people have short attention spans so they respond to newer, different news which people are more interested in.
This gives another explanation as to why news stories on older subjects are shown less prominently, because people lose interest in them quickly.
By Grace
