featured

Welcome to this year’s CAT A topic: Industry 4.0: Where to from here? While delving into the realm of Industry 4.0 might initially feel like uncharted territory for many of us, the topic is an exciting invitation to explore thoughts, ideas, history, mindsets and predictions that may well have a significant impact on our future–and…

Who would have thought that a movie about Barbie would become a global phenomenon and cause quite so much controversy. The movie was one of the largest movie openings of the year and the biggest-ever debut for a female director. Paul Dergarabedian, senior analyst at Comscore attributes the success of the movie to “the perfect…

The landscape of social media is constantly evolving, especially amongst teenagers. One of the purposes of social media is to keep us all connected and it certainly gives teens the chance to broaden their horizons and explore opportunities beyond their physical or geographical circles.1 It also allows them access to opinions on current events and…

Our need to feel connected to others and to stay informed has meant that news consumption has grown rapidly over the last decade. We check our social media feeds constantly, we watch or read the news obsessively and we are surrounded by advertising and propaganda. Everybody reports, rehashes, retweets, likes, comments on, and distributes news…

One of the key aims of Life Orientation is to develop critical thinkers. In today’s world, this skill is more important than ever when it comes to the information we consume and our ability to determine whether it is true or not. On the 3rd of May we observe World Press Freedom Day, a day…

International Women’s Day is celebrated today (8th March) and serves as a reminder of the ongoing struggle for gender equality while also recognising the achievements of women. This year’s theme is #EmbraceEquity. Andrew Tate and the Issues of Gender Inequality, Gender-Based Violence and Misogyny Bold Voices: Toolkit on Opening up the Conversation About Andrew Tate…

“In our hands now lies not only our own future, but that of all other living creatures with whom we share the Earth.” – David Attenborough, English broadcaster and biologist As the 3rd of March is World Wildlife Day, we thought we would use this newsletter to explore ways of engaging with the topic of…

‘The Best Things in Life are Free’ The Library and Information Association of South Africa celebrated South African Library Week from 20th to 26th March. This made us think about the value of libraries and who still uses them. With the increase in ebooks and the ability of many South Africans to access the Internet…

ChatGPT In this newsletter we unpack the latest artificial intelligence (AI) that is being used including ChatGPT. This technology launched in November 2022. Within a week, there were one million users. Two months post launch, there were an estimated 100 million active users, making it the fastest-growing consumer application in history.1 Since then, there have…

This year, the topic for the CAT A is: “Consumerism: A Society in Search of Satisfaction”. While consumerism is associated with several positive effects, psychologists and sociologists have suggested that a tipping point has been reached and that the negative environmental and social outcomes may be outweighing the positive. “Development is about more than money,…