ENGLISH LANGUAGE SCHOOL BASED

ASSESSMENT
Topic: The Contributory Factors to the Indoor Generation

Candidate’s Name: Anna-Lise Williams

Subject: English Language
School: Wolmer’s Trust High School for girls
Centre Number: 100129
Territory: Jamaica
Teacher: Ms. Ramdeen
Year: 2022 – 2023
Table of Contents
 Acknowledgement

Firstly, I would like to especially thank my teacher, Ms. Ramdeen for guiding me
through this research project. I am extremely thankful for this opportunity to
research more on this topic. Secondly, I would like to thank my mother for
encouraging and assisting me every step of the way throughout this project. I
deeply appreciate and am extremely grateful for all the support and assistance of
those who aided me with this project.
 Plan of Investigation

Name: Anna-Lise Williams

Form: 5L
Group Topic: The Indoor Generation
Individual Topic: The Contributory Factors to the Indoor Generation

My group members and I have chosen the topic of The Indoor Generation as it is
interesting as well as relevant in the current Coronavirus pandemic. We want to
research the ways that these behaviours and tendencies affect people's everyday
lives. Furthermore, I chose my individual topic, The Contributory factors to the
Indoor Generation, to investigate what causes persons to stay indoors. I plan to
utilise the Internet and research through YouTube videos and articles, as well as
visiting the library in search of books to use as material. I will collect the
information and assess the material to better understand it.
 Reflection 1

My research on this topic has impacted the way I think about people who consider
themselves to be homebodies, which leads to a rise in the Indoor Generation. I
learned that most persons who contribute to the Indoor Generation are considered
introverted, meaning these people tend to keep to themselves and mostly stay
indoors. Despite these people staying indoors for most of their lives, no matter how
introverted they may be, they do not wish to completely distance themselves from
others, but merely to feel a sense of solace and comfort inside a safe space in
which they can call ‘home.’ This means that they can invite other persons to their
home instead of leaving the house and going outdoors.

EVIDENCE 1: THIS IS WHY I STAY AT HOME..#Introvert -

Cheriekoko_journeys

From this piece of evidence, I have learnt that persons prefer to stay inside their
houses because their tastes do not match up with things that are going on in the
outdoors. For example, the speaker in this piece of evidence, Cherie has had some
bad experiences with persons in the place she lives, Houston, Texas, so she stays
inside to have no part of that. In the same way, other persons have had bad
experiences or trauma with the outdoors, which resulted in them staying indoors,
not wanting to come outside. Cherie has dealt with these issues of hers by putting
them behind her and starting over. In this, she can heal from these experiences and
spend time in a place where those things cannot happen to her again, in this
comfortable place where she can call ‘home.’

In the beginning of the video, she introduces to the listener, the types of persons
who live in Houston, which comprise of mostly persons from other states and
immigrants, she mentions that most of the immigrants tend to be Mexicans, some
of whom are infamous for being in gangs and are intimidating. Cherie describes it
as being “An influx of persons who force their traditional values onto others,”
which can be, unsurprisingly enough, oppressive, and uncomfortable for others
who have different views and moral values. She claims, “When you put this into
perspective, you want to stay at home and you want to stay away from that.”
The persons who live in Houston also do heinous deeds to gain and save money,
not wanting to get a proper job or go to school and get a degree, as stated by
Cherie. She fears that these persons might bring harm to her, so she prefers to
avoid contact with the Houston population. She has other plans, which are to have
a successful job and earn money honestly, as opposed to the plans of the persons
she described. They would also not have her best interest at heart, which is the
opposite of what she wants. She wishes not to waste her time spending time with
persons who do not care about her.

She then goes deeper into her explanation of not wanting to spend time with
persons in Houston. She states that she does not wish to see things that are not to
her taste, nor something she values. She does not want something that does not
match up with her aesthetic. She works from home, the reason being that she has
had experience with workplace harassment, her boss had verbally abused her and
had a tyrannical personality. Furthermore, her coworkers at the same job had
physically and verbally abused her, too. She then decided she could not put up with
that environment, so she quit her face-to-face job. Just like Cherie, many persons
have had experiences like these, resulting in them not wanting to do workplace
jobs anymore, or even changing their career paths entirely to get away from this.
Some, like Cherie deciding to work online, at home instead.

Cherie finds it hard to make and keep genuine friends where she lives, as most
persons are either gold diggers and only want care about themselves or they do not
have your best interest at heart, in terms of being successful. She has had
experiences with friends from highschooler using her for whatever they wanted,
and then their friendship would expire as soon as they got what they wanted. What
she wants is someone who genuinely cares about her and have a goal to be
successful and encourages and wants her to be successful as well. I personally hope
that she found friends who love and care for her and care about her desire and her
future.

EVIDENCE 2: Why millennials never want to leave their apartment anymore –

Sarah Todd
Technology has greatly contributed to the growth of the Indoor Generation.
Entertainment sites like Netflix and YouTube make people, especially young
people, want to stay home and relax in their couches. It is also 1000 percent less
expensive than leaving the house and going to see a movie. Molly Young, writing
for the New York Times in 2016 says “It’s like pouring your money into a savings
account.” She further drives her point home by stating “You’ll grow marginally;
you’ll stay safe; your expectations will be met and never exceeded.” Staying
indoors is safer than going to a party, and you will most definitely be enjoying
yourself better than going to that friend, who you do not know that well's party and
standing around awkwardly.
Another writer, KJ Dell’Antonia says that the Indoor Generation, or “homebody
renaissance” may be a result of Susan Cain’s 2012 book about introverts, ‘Quiet’,
which help spread the message that staying indoors can be a form of vital self-care.
Dell’Antonia says, “I wasn’t neglecting my friends, avoiding my fellow parents, or
letting my community engagements suffer, I was preserving my energy, engaging
in self-care, allowing my ‘tortoise shell’ to protect my vulnerable, precious self.” I
think that self-care is absolutely necessary and normal for humans, staying indoors
and away from others allows humans to spend some time alone with themselves
and heal. This does not mean you must stay indoors all the time, but one can make
time to spend quality time with friends and family. Persons may also have burnout
from the outdoors and simply want to stay inside and rest for a while, which is
entirely a normal to do.

Upon researching this piece of evidence, I learnt that self-care and wellness is
unnecessarily gendered and considered by some to be “a woman’s interest", but we
are all humans, wellness and self-care are crucial to live happily and healthily. This
made me feel disappointed because this weird stigma that self-care is “unneeded”
and “should be obsolete” needs to come to an end, or people should be more
informed about this topic before they start rumors or make assumptions. Moreover,
we are responsible for our own self-growth and should not care about what others
say about this.

Persons may want to stay at home because, they’ve had a long day and they are
exhausted, they want to recharge their energy at home, whether it be sleeping for 8
hours or eating a delicious meal while watching their favourite movie. But the
downside might be that you are missing out on what is going on in the outside
world, which, in our generation, persons make it out to be equivalent to committing
murder. In this case, missing out might be an advantage. Resting and recharging
always comes first, everything else can wait. Danish philosopher Svend Brinkmann
calls the “the joy of missing out.” I think this might be the best way to describe this
dilemma.

EVIDENCE 3: 8 Reasons Staying

At Home Is Always Better Than Going Out – Nancy Collins

Firstly, you don't need to worry about looking well or putting on a phony grin to
please anyone. You can be completely yourself at home without having to worry
about what other people might think. You are free to behave anyway you like,
including choosing what to dress, eat, and do. When you go out, you must fit with
what society views as "normal," which is not always fun. You can be who you are
without worrying about being judged while you stay at home.

Secondly, nothing is free nowadays outside of the home. Even if you and your
friends take a stroll for free, you will certainly arrive at a location where you will
be tempted to make a purchase. Who can afford to continue going out when
everything is becoming more and more expensive, including food and
entertainment? There are a ton of free entertainment options available at home,
including millions of smart phone apps, Netflix, and YouTube.

Thirdly, you use a lot of energy while you are out socializing on things like
smiling, keeping up with the discussion, ensuring that you're aware of all the social
signs around you, and so much more, especially while a little time spent in this
way will not cause you to get exhausted, being out in public might become
tiresome after a while, especially when you are among close friends. Staying home
allows you to rest and concentrate your energy on other activities, such as working
out to be in better condition or finishing a task you've been putting off. Everyone
will have an extensive list of activities they can complete at home that will better
utilize their energy.
Fourthly, the conversation between friends on deciding what to do for the day. This
back-and-forth banter can get annoying. It always centers on going out, and it may
drag on for so long that most establishments are closing shop by the time a choice
is decided. Simply deciding to stay at home will save this squandered time! You
already know your possibilities at home, and it never closes for the night.

Fifthly, the idea that young people should spend more time outside and are
spending too much time indoors is currently gaining traction in the media. You can
stick to mainstream media and to the ones instructing you what to do by opting to
stay home occasionally. Being yourself is always preferable to going with the
crowd. Who knows what you enjoy better than you, after all?

Sixthly, how frequently have you been in a group setting and become bored in a
series of pointless conversations? It makes for a long, long evening to have to act
interested in something that bores you! Instead, you can have some alone time to
get to know yourself better, rather than being bored by a conversation that doesn’t
interest you. If you are truly aware of who you are, you will be able to attract the
correct sort of friends.

Seventhly, you must constantly be mindful of what you say and do while you are
out with a group of people to avoid offending anyone. Additionally, you need to
guarantee that everyone participates in the discussions. This can get tedious after a
while, and sometimes you just do not want to worry about other people. You can
stay at home and unwind instead!

Eighthly, every time a group of individuals gets together, compromise is necessary

at one point. How frequently do you decide what to do when someone else must?
How frequently do you find yourself doing something you really don't want to do?
Instead of having to do anything boring, when you remain home rather than going
out, you may concentrate on your own interests.
 REFLECTION 2

EVIDENCE 1: THIS IS WHY I STAY AT HOME..#Introvert –

Cheriekoko_journeys

This piece of evidence is specifically told in the first-person point of view, as the
speaker is going into detail about her firsthand experiences in going outdoors and
her reasons for refraining from going outdoors. We know this because throughout
her speech, she uses the pronoun ‘I’ in excess to get the message across to the
audience. For example, “That is the real reason I’m a homebody, I don’t leave my
house for anyone.” This demonstrates a subjective point of view, in that, her
responses are due to personal appeal and opinions, it gave me a sense of familiarity
and honesty. The language used in this source is Informal. She is explaining to her
viewers about her history of going outside, so she is using familiar language
techniques to make her viewers feel more comfortable. I felt as if she was telling a
story around a campfire at a camping trip.

Cherie uses the Repetition of being a homebody a whole lot, considering she is
speaking from experience. “I am a homebody and I am an introvert, and I am
proud to say that,” she declared, brazenly. The tone of her voice was noticeably
confident and serious about her lifestyle choices. Another example of this is the
example mentioned beforehand, “That is the real reason I’m a homebody, I don’t
leave my house for anyone.” This further reiterates her boldness of making the
decisions that she did. These statements made me feel motivated, and helped me to
ease into understanding things from her perspective.

The use of Direct personal appeal or Opinions are used. “When you put that into
perspective, you wanna stay home and you want to stay away from that,” in
Cherie’s very words, after explaining the types of people that live in the state that
she does. This is a very opinionated statement; however, I came to understand
where she was coming from. In order to persuade the viewer into seeing things in
her eyes, she, indirectly, puts us in a situation that she has personally been in to
think about where she is coming from, or why she made her decision to stay inside
her home.
EVIDENCE 2: Why millennials never want to leave their apartment anymore –
Sarah Todd

Humour is present in this article. “I wasn’t neglecting my friends, avoiding my

fellow parents or letting my community engagements suffer,” Dell’Antonia says of
giving herself permission to decline invitations. “I was preserving my energy,
engaging in self-care, allowing my ‘tortoise shell’ to protect my vulnerable,
precious self.” I, quite vividly remember smiling and chuckling to myself when I
read this quote for the first time. I learned that staying indoors can be almost
equivalent to therapy for the soul sometimes. This quote made me feel a sense of
security, knowing that staying indoors is a form of self-care and that I’m not a
terrible person for declining the offers of others, even though I genuinely do not
want to.

References to credible sources, such as an article in the New York Times, written
by Molly Young, ‘Is staying in the new going out?’ and another, a book written by
Susan Cain, ‘Quiet.’ The references of these sources serve the purpose of
supporting the declarations she makes throughout the article. These articles and
book make her information more credible, in terms of persons believing her and
taking what she has to say into consideration.

An Oxymoron is used in this source. “It’s like pouring your money into a savings
account,” Molly Young explains convenience contributes to the growth of the
Indoor Generation. If a person decides to go outside, even for a walk, they might
be tempted, or even make unnecessary purchases, “pouring your money,” as
according to Molly. However, if a person stays indoors, they wouldn’t have to go
through all that money-spending and battling with yourself whether or not to
purchase a/an item(s) “into a savings account,” as per the words of Molly. These
ideas may contradict each other, but for it to make sense, it has to be analyzed
carefully.
EVIDENCE 3: 8 Reasons Staying At Home Is Always Better Than Going
Out – Nancy Collins

Rhetorical Questions – These questions are not meant to be answered, hence why
they are used to invoke suspense and to emphasize a specific point or points made.
In this article, rhetorical questions are sprinkled all throughout, I felt suspense
when I read the article for the first time. Examples of these include: “After all, who
know what you like better than you do?”, “How many times have you been caught
in this type of conversation?” and “Whenever a group of people are together, there
has to be compromise. Someone has to choose what to do, and how often is that
choice yours?”

Direct Personal Appeal – This is aimed at creating a sense of relatability to

persuade the readers to do a certain task. The use of ‘You’ multiple times clearly
indicates the use of this technique. In this case, it is usually used to encourage
persons to stay indoors. For example: “A small amount of time spent like this will
not tire you out too much, but after a while it can be exhausting to be out, even
when you are with close friends. If you stay at home, you can recharge, and focus
your energy on other things, like finally completing a task you’ve been putting off
or working out to get in better shape.”

Emotive Language – These are used to instill emotions in the viewers to feel a
connection. From this, they are used to persuade persons into doing something or
believe a claim. In this particular example, emotive language is used to persuade
the viewer into staying home and learning more about yourself, rather than
engaging in boring and repetitive conversation with friends. “Having to pretend to
be interested in something that bores you makes for a long, long evening! Instead
of being bored, why not take some time to stay home and communicate with
yourself. This means taking the time to get to know yourself better. What makes
you tick? what are your likes and dislikes? What are you passionate about?”
 REFLECTION 3
Overall, this research has informed me of many intriguing things that I was
unaware of before I started this research. I learned that staying indoors can be
considered to be a form of self-care. This occurs in the time that is spent alone
indoors, away from the hustle and bustle of the city life. An individual spends time
alone to focus on bettering themselves both physically and mentally. I also learned
that self-care is unnecessarily gendered, as if humans aren’t all the same species
and require a fair amount of care to function properly. The stigma that self-care is
“a woman’s thing” has to be dispelled, people, and furthermore, society in general
would be much better.

In the time I received this SBA, the world was in the midst of a worldwide
pandemic, therefore we had to stay at home and students had to attend classes
online. I chose this topic specifically because of this, it was the perfect opportunity,
I wanted to explore and research the history the Indoor Generation, and in
particular what is the main causes for the growth of the Indoor Generation. As a
teenager, I understand the stigma that teens stay indoors and spend too much time
on their phones all too well.

My group members and I did not know each other that well, especially over online
classes, which, at first hindered our ability to cooperate as a team. Whenever it was
time to discuss the SBA, one person was always busy with other plans, the other
sick or had an important appointment and also there were some that were ignoring
the task and not complying. However, ever since school had started fully
face-to-face classes, we got along just fine, mostly because we could no longer
make excuses, but we were able to help each other and complete our SBA’s. For
me, personally the biggest problem I had was that I was going through some
personal problems during the pandemic and even nowadays, that slowed my
progress, but I managed to catch up over time.
 GROUP REPORT

My group mates and I met online since we spent three-quarter of our fourth-form
year online. We eventually met in person for the first time when we returned
face-to-face in late January. When it came time for our SBA, we would all message
one another in our WhatsApp chat to distribute the workload among ourselves.
When we needed to perform research for our SBAs, we would each conduct our
own independent research before meeting online on Google Meet to discuss what
we had discovered on our own. We would then create a document that combined
the best search results. We improved our communication skills and learned how to
use time wisely to fulfill our SBA deadlines as a result of performing this
school-based assessment as a group. The research for this project was carried out
primarily on the internet. The artifacts that were used were chosen meticulously.
I am pleased with my work because it seems to exactly reflect the information I
was looking for. Although working in a group is never easy, I discovered that my
other members of the group were progressively becoming more cooperative, which
made the process of working together easier. Working collaboratively has proven
to be more productive than working alone because we can learn from one another
and provide each other with constructive criticism and recommendations.
My best source from the three selected was the TedTalk video by Jorn Viumdal. It
was quite the process to get through this SBA. There were times when we couldn't
get through to one another because of internet connection issues which slowed
down the whole process. I collected my data for this by surfing the internet and
going into thorough research as our topic wasn't as popular among us. I am very
satisfied with the work we have done so far whether that is class presentations or
this group report. I always thought we were one of the more unfortunate groups as
we had less people on our team but looking back, I think we were just right
because everyone else seemed like a crowd. We learnt from each other and gave
advice for our betterment especially during thilose graded presentations. Especially
during thilose graded presentations, we shared knowledge and provided feedback
for each other to become better.
Another great source is a succinct video titled The Indoor Generation - Let Nature
Back Into Your Home by Vijesti Online. As a group we appreciated the effort and
encouragement towards one another. We faced trials and tribulations and
withstanded them as a team by expressing our opinions with each other. I learnt to
have patience with my group and how to be a team player when one of us fell
short. We worked together and improved on our weaknesses and showcased our
strengths where necessary. I know we are proud of ourselves with the progress we
have made as a group, as a team.
 REFERENCES AND SOURCES

8 Reasons Staying At Home Is Always Better Than Going Out - Nancy Collins
(July 5, 2016)
Retrieved From:
https://www.lifehack.org/420977/8-reasons-staying-at-home-is-always-better-than-
going-out

Why millennials never want to leave their apartment anymore - Sarah Todd (Nov.
15, 2019)
Retrieved From:
https://qz.com/quartzy/1748191/how-millennials-became-a-generation-of-homebo
dies

THIS IS WHY I STAY AT HOME..#Introvert - Cheriekoko_journeys

Retrieved From: https://youtu.be/6l4w7oGGvMU