NO MILK TODAY! Allergies – Lactose Intolerance By Emily Lederman Allergies are a common cause of illness that impact many individuals, including millions of children. What are they? Allergies are defined as an ‘abnormal immune system reaction to things that are typically harmless to most people’ (Allergy.org.au, 2019). When a person is allergic to something,…
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Homeless Youth – abandoned, nowhere to go!
A person is considered homeless if they do not have suitable accommodation and their current living arrangement is inadequate with short tenure and no control of and access to space for social relations. You can still be classified as homeless if you are sleeping in a car, cheap motel room, on a friends couch or…
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Dear Youth of Today,
Your sand is running out.
The ocean is swallowing up islands and the earth’s hourglass is almost empty.
Your planet is dying.
Daily we see more evidence of the damage being done to our unique and precious environment.
We need not list the damages because no doubt you already know. We all know.
You can’t open Facebook, turn on the TV or even go for a walk with out knowing that we as a race have messed up. If you aren’t frightened by what’s going on you should be. The saying is “the future is in your hands” but really, it is not.
The reality is the only people out there that have any power over the future care only about their retirement fund rather than their grandchildren.
Think back to your days as an Aussie kid, did you go swimming, sailing, fishing or paddle boarding? Did you spend hours hanging out down the beach having ‘barbies’ on the foreshore? How lucky you were to have such a unique and precious environment at your back door. Your kids won’t be so lucky though; the sun will become too hot to spend too long out side, the ocean will go from oil spills to a sterile sludge wasteland. But there is nothing you can do right? The leaders aren’t listening so your future is already irretrievable. When the time comes that your generation is running the world it will already be too late. Climate scientists say we are very close to tipping the climate threshold whereby our impact on the world will be irreversible and the damage to the planet will become self-sufficient. According to the Australian Academy of Science this rising global temperature will cause a chain reaction of life ending issues such as droughts and high sea levels. If enough CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) is emitted in to the air it is eminent that the Earth’s atmosphere will hit this self sufficient or “runaway greenhouse” level resulting in a permanent “Venus-like hot house Earth”. All this CO2 is coming from burning conventional and unconventional fossil fuels such as coal mining and cattle farming. The earth has supported life for billions of years and in just a few centuries humans have managed to take life right out of it.
Yes the youth of Australia is trying; 2019 has brought you to your feet yelling, “We have had enough”. Around the country you have marched and skipped school for climate change but did you noticed nobody listened? Why aren’t they listening? Do today’s leaders even care?
No they don’t.
Because the ‘Adani’ mine will bring in over 16.5 billion dollars to the Australian economy.
Because the ‘Equinor’ mine will bring 1500 jobs to South Australia over the next 40 years.
Because a nuclear power plant would lower average power costs and generate higher system reliability.
Because money, money, money.
“Only when the last tree has been cut down and the last river poisoned and the last fish caught, will we realise we cannot eat money.”
So what needs to happen next? You need to create alternative sources, which are also monetarily viable to replace current climate threatening methods. An obvious example would be for power plants to offset their damage by planting a certain amount of trees per emission. How do we get the major companies to do this? The Government would need to provide incentives for this. You may be thinking isn’t the Government already doing this perhaps the Carbon Tax springs to mind? The atmosphere’s answer is: not enough.
Now you know what needs to be done and why it needs to done it let’s discuss how you can help. First brainstorm possible resolutions with your class or friends. Join a Climate Change Group or environmental organisation such as Sea Shepard or WildLife Warriors Australia; or make your own group and try to put some of these resolutions into action. Even the smallest projects can make a difference. Begin in your local area at the beach or the park by protecting endangered species and planting more trees. Do whatever you can but just do something! The situation is daunting and it is depressing but you must not give up. You need to be aware of what is happening and fight with everything you have. It may not be fun and it may be hard work but the satisfaction of saving the world will be worth it. Speak up and speak out and don’t be embarrassed of being heard. Force a change; turn back that timer while you still can.
If not for you than please do it for us.
Yours always,
The unlucky last generation
June, 2069
Citations:
Hansen, J., M. Sato, P. Kharecha, D. Beerling, R. Berner, V. Masson-Delmotte, M. Pagani, M. Raymo, D.L. Royer, and J.C. Zachos, 2008. Target atmospheric CO2: Where should humanity aim? Open Atmospheric Science Journal 2: 217-231.
National Research Council. 2011. Understanding Earth's Deep Past: Lessons for Our Climate Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/13111.
The Body Image Series – Final Part – Plastic Surgery
The Body Image Series – Final Part! – Young People and Plastic Surgery. We have all seen the images. Botched boob jobs and nose jobs leaving the recipient looking somewhat akin to a modern Frankenstein, albeit with hair extensions and an orange tan. And you would be almost right to say that that person had…
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The Body Image Series – Part 3 – Puberty…It Sucks
It Sucks. And that’s a pretty tidy summary of the joy that is puberty! Catch you next time! Kidding. Although, that really is what most people think about puberty. It is just one giant uncomfortable period of your life that would be made so much more pleasant if you could go through it under…
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The Body Image Series – Part 2 – It’s time to drop some truth bombs!
The Body Image Series – Part 2
Dying to be thin and the body impossible!
Fat. Chubby. Ugly. Rolls. Wobbling. Thigh Gap. Bones. Ribcage. Puppy fat. Puberty. Growth Spurts. Bloating.
Slim down for a boy you like. Get muscly for a girl you like. You can borrow my jeans but they might not fit you. Loose 5kg in 5days. Incredibly weight loss tea. Detox to loose weight. 10 ways to appear thinner in pictures. You’re looking a bit chubby at the moment.
We are bombarded with all of this and more on a daily basis. It can seem impossible to turn off the negative thoughts in your head, to remove the negative people from your life, to come to the conclusion that your self worth is not tied to a number on a scale or a size in the store. It can be hard to learn to love yourself. But it is not impossible!
One thing that can help you is getting educated on some of the serious issues that arise from body image problems.
Eating disorders are a HUGE issue and its time to bust some myths!
In Australia approximately 28% of males and 35% of females between the ages of 11-24 do not like the way their body looks. At any given time 913,986 people are suffering from an eating disorder in Australia. 64% are girls and 36% are boys. Approximately 20% of girls have an undiagnosed eating disorder and all of this occurs most commonly in adolescence or young adulthood. Now let’s get specific!
Anorexia, the shortened title for Anorexia Nervosa, is defined by…
The persistent restriction of energy intake, intense fear of gaining weight and disturbance in self-perceived weight or shape.
(Thank you National Eating Disorders Collaboration)
Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is a psychiatric illness where a sufferer restricts the food they eat and over-exercises to the point where their weight becomes dangerously low. AN is called a psychiatric illness because the physical changes that occur, do so because of overwhelming thoughts related to eating, weight gain, self-worth and self-perception.
AN has two sub-types (different categories of AN):
- Restriction subtype – People with this subtype place dangerous restrictions on the amount of food they consume. This includes calorie counting, removing entire food groups, skipping meals or obsessive behaviour regarding food i.e. eating only one colour.
- Binge/Purge subtype – People who suffer from binge/purge will also severely restrict the amount of food they consume but may also purge (vomiting, taking laxatives) or experience binge eating (consuming lots of food in a short amount of time and feeling a loss of control).
Anorexia is not the only eating disorder out there. It’s time to talk about Bulimia. Bulimia Nervosa is a little different to AN. People who suffer from Bulimia may be able to maintain their weight but experience binge-eating sessions that push them to feel they have lost all control, to be racked by guilt and shame and to then engage in ‘compensatory behaviour,’ this means they may make themselves vomit, restrict food for a while, exercise like crazy or take laxatives. Loads of people think that to suffer from an eating disorder you have to be super skinny, but this is not true! To the outside world, someone with Bulimia may look perfectly normal and that makes it a very dangerous illness. Bulimia often starts with a typical weight-loss diet, you restrict your foods, sometimes cutting out a whole food group (poor carbs, they have such a bad reputation, but I promise, they’re not the devil!) which leads you to feel really hungry, and sometimes the diet stops there and you go back to your normal eating habits (which probably weren’t bad in the first place!) but sometimes you sit down and eat ALL the food you restricted before, and then to compensate for that you restrict yourself all over again. It is a dangerous cycle and could indicate the beginnings of Bulimia.
It can feel confronting to talk about illnesses like AN and Bulimia, but it is so important that we do! Sadly, the people who suffer from these eating disorders the most are young people just like yourselves between 12 and 25 years old!
I encourage you to go back over the images in this blog and familiarise yourself with the signs and symptoms of these illnesses. Who knows, your new found knowledge may just save someone’s life! And one more little tip: always be conscious of what you say to others, the smallest comment can have the largest impact, even if it was not meant to be hurtful! I can still remember that I was lying on my side when my first boyfriend point out that my tummy was dropping down to the bed instead of staying fixed and flat (I think he forgot about gravity) …I was 14 years old then, I am 23 now and I still to this day take a peak at my tummy when I lie on my side…just to see if it still droops like he said it was before. It is hard to forget these small comments There isn’t much of a need to comment on somebody else’s body so unless you’re telling someone that there is a giant spider climbing their up their thigh…just hold in those comments.
Remember, if you suffer from psychiatric illness like Anorexia or Bulimia, you are not alone. The hardest thing to do is ask for help but by asking for help you are putting yourself first, you are taking your life back and that is incredibly brave. Surround yourself with people who encourage you to be the happiest, healthiest and best person you can be and you will find that problems seem smaller and victories come easier J
Catch you next time!
Your Teen Talk Blogger
Asha Khan
@asharosie_khan (Instagram)
For more info about eating disorders and body image check out Teen Talk DVDs 8, 10, 14 & 15!
That was heavy… For something more upbeat check out the Teen Talk Music & Performers Concert. Sunday July 29th, 5pm-10pm, Elsternwick Park Sports Club.
https://www.trybooking.com/VTZX
Check out these badass stories of survival!
Get help <3
https://thebutterflyfoundation.org.au/
Resources
https://www.nedc.com.au/eating-disorders/eating-disorders-explained/types/anorexia-nervosa/
https://www.eatingdisorders.org.au/eating-disorders/bulimia-nervosa
https://www.eatingdisorders.org.au/key-research-a-statistics
The Body Image Series – Part 1 – What affects body image?
The body image series – Part 1
What affects body image?
You will be hard pressed to find someone who has never experienced having negative body image. It troubles everyone at one point in time and for a whole variety of reasons which go with a whole variety of body types. I would not go so far as to say having bad body image is natural… but is it normal?
Everyday we are bombarded with images and videos designed specifically to makes us want something, to feel as though we are missing something or to make us feel incomplete. It is ridiculously hard to feel like your body is perfect as is, when we are so adept at singling out the parts of us that we don’t find represented in advertising and the media. And there it is, the worst offender when it comes to affecting body image and self-perception, the media.
Magazines, billboards and television commercials all contribute to worsening self-image. They project an idealised standard of beauty, and one that is unattainable for the majority of people. For girls and women, the body type most often glamourized in the media is thin, athletic, long-limbed, flat stomached and thigh-gapped. You have to remember that the models they use don’t even look like that. Remove the airbrushing and photo shopping that goes into these advertisements and you are still left with a body type that is physically impossible for some people to obtain, and that is because it is ONE body type that the media choose to lord over all the rest. Having a thigh gap, for example, comes down to nothing more than bone structure, and you can’t alter that. A thigh gap is very uncommonly found in women who maintain a healthy body and have the required bone structure. It comes down to the width of your pelvis and the angle that your thigh bones (femurs) attach, no amount of surgery can alter this.
Girls and women in particular are predisposed to carry fat around their thighs and bums, this is something you may notice occurring as you go through puberty and start reaching your late-teens. But not everyone will carry their weight in the same way. In general, the human physique can be broken into three categories for both girls and guys – mesomorph, ectomorph and endomorph – these are called Somatotypes and it is not uncommon for you to be able to identify with 1, 2 or even all 3 of these characteristics. A mesomorph carries more muscle and finds it easier to gain and loose weight, an ectomorph carries less bulk and finds it harder to put on weight, and an endomorph carries more muscle and weight and finds it harder to loose. So in some way, our body types can be accounted for in our genetic make-up, what you get from your mum and your dad.
We compare ourselves to the people we see in day to day life, and most of the time they are the people we see blown up on billboards or glossed over in magazines. The media uses altered and photo-shopped images to sell us anything from groceries to stationary to underwear and we need to remind ourselves that what we are seeing is not representative of all the different and beautiful body types out there in the world. There will be days where that feels impossible and it is then that you need to turn to the people closest to you…and perhaps switch off your iPhone for a little while. Most of the time, getting a little distance from the crazy amount of images out there, is exactly what you need to remind yourself that you are great the way you are.
Until next time!
Asha, your teen-talk blogger
@asharosie_khan
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-29569473
https://www.livestrong.com/article/1012082-filling-thigh-gaps/
Part 2: Are you using technology … or is it using you?
Want to make a kid cry these days? Don't steal his lunch money, take away his smartphone... [To find part 1 of this blog post click on the following link http://www.teentalkproduction.com.au/are-you-using-technology-or-is-it-using-you/] Going viral At some point most of us had dreams of being famous, and maybe we still do. Never has that dreamed seemed so…
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