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Sunday, December 22, 2024
Culture

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Gaming & Mental Health

It’s a billion dollar industry. It’s so lucrative, teens from across the world have become self-made millionaires by mastering the craft of gaming. However, the average player in the gaming industry hasn’t figured out how to make a career out of gaming, most simply play because of the fun, adreneline, and addiction of the game. Many gamers who play for fun can spend hours of their lives in front of the television completely engaged in their favorite video games. We’ve even seen the violent reactions from players who’ve had their video game consols stripped away, or saved games deleted – players have a literal melt-down in front of our eyes. For these reasons and more, the World Organization has classified Video Game Addiction as a disorder that may possibly lead to mental health issues.

As if we don’t have enough problems on planet earth, we now have a new mental disorder labeled “Gaming Disorder”. As an official disease, Gaming Disorder is a “pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behavior (digital gaming/video gaming), online or offline. Here are some symptoms of video game addiction or Gaming Disorder:

  1. Impaired control over gaming (an onset, frequency, intensity, duration, termination, context)
  2. Increasing priority given to gaming. It takes precedence over life interests and daily activities
  3. A continuation of gaming despite negative consequences. The Addiction has a significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational relationships and functions.

Experts from the World Health Organization believe that this disorder will only affect a small percentage of gamers who play approximately 20 hours per day, without eating, sleeping, working, and/or any daily activities.

Now of course, the gaming industry isn’t buying into the concept that Gaming Disorder is now a mental illness. Even some health officials are claiming the research is not specific enough, and conclusions are too vague. Video game groups around the world have requested the World Health Organization take a second look at their conclusion; according to the USA today, a joint statement was made defending the gaming:

“WHO (World Health Organization)’s guidance needs to be based on regular, inclusive, and transparent reviews backed by independent experts. Gaming Disorder is not based on sufficient robust evidence to justify its inclusion in one of the WHO’s most important norm-setting tools.”

Although the gaming industry does not agree with the conclusion from WHO, many of us as consumers and users of video games, either know someone or have experienced how video games can take over a person’s life. People get extremely emotional while playing a video game, or if a video game is taken away.

If you or know someone you love, knows anyone who may be affected by too much video game play, TEXT “SUPPORT” to 37420.

Source:

Syllabus Magazine

Syllabus Magazine, the Carolina’s source for Music, Culture and Fashion

http://www.syllabusmagazine.com

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“They See Me Rollinnnnng”…

What many people may not know is, while Chamillionaire took a break from being rapper, he didn’t take a break from building a business empire. We’ve seen him, sitting on the front row during basketball season, with people on Twitter wondering “what’s Chamillionaire doing there” or “how can Chamillionaire afford to sit there“. Meanwhile, Chamillionaire has been minding the business that pays him – literally! The Grammy-Award winner has spent years making smart investments in the tech-startup field. Hakeem Seriki (Chamillionaire), was one of the early investors in Lyft. Now, the rapper is looking to make the tech industry more diverse by putting his money where his mouth is; He, along with rapper E-40, and the platform Republic, plan to invest $25,000 into a woman or minority led start-up. The contest ends June 15th.

In an interview with Yahoo, Chamillionaire explained why it was important for him to specifically launch this initiative for minority/women led start-ups:

“I’ve been in this tech industry for a while and I’ve been seeing a lot of people out here trying to raise capital and a lot of time it just doesn’t go to people of color or women. Now that I’m here, I see that there is a certain type of founder that gets, you know, funding from these companies. And I understand that people tend to spend money on things that they’re comfortable with.”

“There are a lot of people that have great ideas that want to create disruptive companies that change the world but everybody doesn’t have the skills to be able to do that. So, ultimately when I’m looking at somebody, I’m looking them in the eyes and asking them questions and I have to believe that they’re able to take this company from A to Z,”

Traditionally, in the U.S., only 16% of funds awarded were given to startups with at least 1 woman. Less than 3% are given to startups comprised of all women.

If you’re interested in participating in this life-changing initiative, download the Convoz app; you have until June 15th to enter!

Syllabus Magazine

Syllabus Magazine, the Carolina’s source for Music, Culture and Fashion

http://www.syllabusmagazine.com

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Hard Work Pays Off

10 year old Taio Taylor is headed to Belgium to compete with some of the best BMX bike racers from across the world. The 10-year-old started racing BMX bikes 3 years ago alongside her big brother, in Albuquerque; when she started, her whole family decided to race just for fun. Well, fun for Taylor turned into her competing in local competitions, where she started to win. Now, Taylor has worked hard enough to qualify to compete to race in Belgium, where she will represent the U.S.A. in the BMX World Championship.

Although Taylor admitted that she was afraid, because most of the girls who compete in BMX have been riding since they could walk, she’s realized she has a certain determination. This determination hasn’t been ignored, because now, she is gaining actual local and national sponsorship opportunities.

In March 2019, Taio Taylor competed in the national BMX competitions held in Alberquerque, and she was the winner in her division, defeating people who had come from all over the country. This win gained her a spot in the BMX World Championship to compete.

She is raising money for her Belgium competition happening in July. She’s selling t-shirts and has set up a GoFundMe, if you would like to help, click the links and donate!

Syllabus Magazine

Syllabus Magazine, the Carolina’s source for Music, Culture and Fashion

http://www.syllabusmagazine.com

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Step Yo Street Game Up

If you learn anything from gangs and gang culture in L.A., our hope is that you can learn about how business savvy they’ve become. Nipsey Hussle was a known member of the Crips, and while he was alive he created the phrase “The Marathon Continues”. In 2018, L.A. The Crips became an LLC, and have been making big business moves ever since. Their most recent move happened on May 16th when the Crip organization filed to trademark Nipsey’s phrase, “The Marathon Continues”.

Plans for “The Marathon Continues” will be used by The Crips organization to provide a number of services for the community. These services include: conducting youth sports programs, developing education manuals for others in the field of community organizing and gang prevention/intervention, entertainment services, and the creation of a documentary on all streaming platforms.

The Crips have released a press announcement to discuss how the organization plans to rebrand in order to focus on the local South L.A. community.

As business savvy as Nipsey was, he never got an opportunity to register the trademark of his phrase, “The Marathon Continues”, despite this being the name of his mixtape and the name of his clothing brand. Also, there has been no announcement if Nipsey’s family has approved the use/ownership of this phrase by the Crip organization. Now, if Nipsey’s family has not approved of the Crip organizaation taking ownership of this phrase, then someone will need to discuss how the children of Nipsey Hussle should also have some sort of stake in the now trademarked catchphrase. So far, there has been no indication about how the family feels about this business move.

Syllabus Magazine

Syllabus Magazine, the Carolina’s source for Music, Culture and Fashion

http://www.syllabusmagazine.com

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Robert Smith has BEEN a Giver

Many people heard of Robert Smith for the first time this week, after announcing his plan to pay off the entire student loan debt of the 2019 Morehouse College graduating class of 396 students; approximately $40 million. However, Robert Smith has been a generous giver for many years now; not only has he been a huge giver, but he’s been a giant in the preservation and advancement of black culture. Here are __ things you probably didn’t know about Robert Smith.

  1. He is the Founder, Chairman,and CEO of Vista Equity Partners. He manages approximately $46 billion of equity capital commitments in his company’s portfolio, for over 50 software companies. His firm employs 60,000 people worldwide.
  2. Robert F. Smith was named as one of the “100 Greatest Living Business Minds” by Forbes in 2017.
  3. Smith was born in Colorado, raised by both parents, both of whom had PhDs, in a predominantly middle class area. Smith’s mother had to have been awesome because as infant, she took him to the March on Washington where Martin Luther King delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech.
  4. Robert Smith attended Cornell University and majored in Chemical Engineering. He also earned an MBA from Columbia School of Business, where he received honors.
  5. Smith has two U.S. and European patents, which were earned when he worked for Kraft General Foods.
  6. In 2018, Robert Smith was named the 163 richest person in America and number 480 of the world’s richest billionaires.
  7. In 1994, Robert Smith worked for Golden Sachs in tech investment banking as the Co-Head of Enterprise Systems and Storage. Here, he handled $50 billion in mergers and acquisitions for companies like Apple, Microsoft, Texas Instrument, eBay, and Yahoo. Smith was the first person in San Francisco at Goldman to have a sole focus on tech mergers and acquisitions.
  8. Robert Smith started his own firm in 2000. Vista Equity Partners is a private equity capital firm. Smith’s company is the 4th largest enterprise software company after Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP.
  9. Robert Smith was the only African American to sign on to The Giving Pledge in 2017. His gift of $20 million was the largest by a single donor to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
  10. Robert Smith is the first African American to hold the position of Board Chairman for Carnegie Hall.
  11. In 2018, Smith was the largest donor at the City of Hope Gala. These funds were used towards research for prostate cancer treatments for black men, and breast cancer research for black women. He also gave a $1 million to the Cultural Performance Center of Harlem.
  12. Robert Smith believes in the respect and preservation of black culture. He is the Founder, Director and President of the Fund II Foundation, dedicated to preserving the African American experience, safeguarding human rights, and providing music education , preserving the environment, and promoting the benefits of outdoors.
  13. Robert Smith has been a philanthropist for a long time; his generous giving has been recognized by the following awards: *Morehouse Candle Award in Business and Philanthropy, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Chair’s Award, the Reginald F. Lewis Achievement Award, the Humanitarian of the Year Award from the Robert Toigo Foundation, the Ripple of Hope Award from the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, the Award of Excellence from the National Association of Investment Companies, the Pierre Toussaint Award from the Archdiocese of New York, the Columbia University BBSA Distinguished Alumni Award, and the Ron Brown Scholar Program American Journey Award.
  14. Robert Smith is like the Harriet Tubman of Debt right now. He has single-handedly freed almost 400 students from the burden of years of student loan trauma. Smith’s gesture is now known as a gift of liberation.“When you have to service debt, the choices about what you can go do in the world are constrained. Smith’s gift gives them the liberty to follow their dreams, their passions.” Morehouse President David A. Thomas said Sunday
Syllabus Magazine

Syllabus Magazine, the Carolina’s source for Music, Culture and Fashion

http://www.syllabusmagazine.com
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