As I walk the halls of my school each day, I hear young adults such as myself say things I find appalling. The phrase of which I will be speaking is, “I don’t care.” In this case I will be discussing politics. What is politics? It’s the government and your role in it. By not assuming a role yourself someone else is free to take the reign. However, you need to take charge.

   Even as youth you CAN take charge. You can sign petitions, write letters to representatives and senators, you can participate in marches, even just keeping up with current events helps you decide where you stand, and where you will stand later on.

    The world is your playground, so treat it with respect and have fun. Earth is the planet we hand down generation to generation. By not even caring you’re taking everyone a step further from where we need to be. Everyone matters in taking care. Furthermore, if you don’t care about your world, your future, and the future generation’s world, chances are you really don’t care about anybody or yourself and perhaps need help…

  You have the power to make changes and shape the world, your clay, into a beautiful favorite shape, any that you want it to be. So give a damn!

   Some say we are technologically advanced. I wonder if we’re paying for it with morality decline? We still test chemicals and products we are unsure about on animals. Number one, that’s not fair the animals. Number two, there are other ways to test products, and, number three, it’s not always accurate when we use animal testing for products and such.

   Firstly, animals have hardly done anything but give to us. They give us: companionship, food, certain items of clothing…and how do we treat them in return? We do tests on them that often have negative effect. Moreover, they don’t even lead happy lives when they are test animals. The test animals live indoors. Often the whole time they are alive.

   My second reason for opposition to product testing on animals is that, if we are so technologically advanced, why do we still use such a primitive and cruel method of testing? Why not get some suicidal people in the labs and pay them big bucks to be tested on? In this day and age, people would do that.

   Last, but by no means the least imperative, is that it’s not near always accurate to test on animals! Their brains and bodies are immensely different from humans, and hence, it’s ridiculous to expect the results from animal testing to be accurate.

A young starlet glides across the silver screen, face perfect and body flawless, charming the boys to the point of driving them insane. The handsome, debonair star steals the girl's heart and flashes a winning smile at the camera. The group of teens walk down the street in size 2 jeans and move their incredibly thin bodies in synchronity. These images and many like them bombard teens everyday on the TV, in movies, and in magazines. They are as commonplace in today's society as cigarette commercials were in the 50s. With these seemingly harmless images comes a terrible price; millions of teens around the world view these commercials and images everyday and because of them take a negative look at themselves. They realize that they are not as thin as these people or as flawless or as toned. They start to think that that is why they don't have a boyfriend or girlfriend or why the boy they like doesn't talk to them. They start blaming their problems on this fact as their self-esteem drops ever lower never realizing that the images they see portrays people that are unrealistically thin and also have the benifit of top makeup artists. They don't realize that these images are nothing but paintings; that these people are nothing but painted faces. Alas, because of this many young peoples lives are ruined because with lowered self-esteem a whole cornucopia of problems develops.
One of out of every 100 teens suffer from an eating disorder. This is simply appaling. It has been shown in various studies that eating disorders prevail in Western countries, where the media is more evident and considered more important in society.
"In a study reported in Medscape's General Medicine 6(3) 2004, prevalence rates in Western countries for anorexia nervosa ranged from 0.1% to 5.7% in female subjects. Prevalence rates for bulimia nervosa ranged from 0% to 2.1% in males and from 0.3% to 7.3% in female subjects.
Prevalence rates in non-Western countries for bulimia nervosa ranged from 0.46% to 3.2% in female subjects. Studies of eating attitudes indicate abnormal eating attitudes in non-Western countries have been gradually increasing, presumably because of the influence, at least in part, of Western media: movies, TV shows, and magazines. Researchers conclude that the prevalence of eating disorders in non-Western countries is lower than that of Western countries, but it appears to be increasing."- courtesy of ANRED.com
This study obviously shows that TV, magazines and movies are a major factor in causing eating disorders such as Anorexia and Bulimia. Eating disorders are a major problem among teens today and are made worse by this media as well as caused by them. In addition to peer pressure from fellow teens, teens don't need pressure from people they have never even met. However, eating disorders are only one unhealthy attribute of media pressure.
Even school achievment is linked to self- esteem as several studies show. Here are just a few examples:
Relationship of self-esteem to school achievement:
BROOKOVER, THOMAS, AND PATTERSON, 1985--Found there was a significant relationship between self-concept and academic achievement.
COOPERSMITH, 1965--Reported that children's self-concept predicted a child's ability to read in first grade at least as well as measures of intelligence.
WYLIE, 1979--There is considerable empirical evidence that self-concept predicts and influences achievement in school, from the primary grades through undergraduate education.
HOLLY, 1987--Compiled a summary of all the studies and indicated that most supported the idea that self-esteem was more likely the result than the cause of academic achievement. However, he acknowledged that a certain level of self-esteem is required in order for a student to achieve academic success and that self-esteem and achievement go hand in hand. They feed each other.
COVINGTON, 1989--As the level of self-esteem increases, so do achievement scores; and as self-esteem decreases, so does achievement. Furthermore, and perhaps most important, he concluded that self-esteem can be modified through direct instruction and that such instruction can lead to achievement gains.
WALZ & BLEUER, 1992--Factors which are important to school success, such as positive feelings about self, absenteeism, and school retention, are affected by successful school self-esteem programs.
SCHEIRER & KRANT, 1979--Reported on several studies that have demonstrated that educational achievements are influenced by self-concept.
KITE, 1989--Found that of seven major factors contributing to school dropouts, four of the factors were related to self-esteem, feeling that they lack the intelligence or the ability to succeed in school. In other words, they suffered from low self-esteem, reinforced consciously or unconsciously by parents or teachers.
BLOOM, 1977--School dropouts tend to have more negative self-esteem as learners than those who stay in school.
EARLE, 1987--Found that two common characteristics among girls who drop out of school include low academic achievement and low self-esteem.
Obviously, this shows that their is an incredibly strong link between self-esteem and school achievment. However, there is a solution to help at least this negative influence of media to be stopped. The study shows that schools that implanted a system of dealing with this, such a counseling program or a more direct approach at teaching. Teachers can highly influence a student's life for the better and have that hidden power to change a student's entire view of the world. If they would use this advantage more often and took an interest in the student's life then they could greatly raise a teen's self-esteem. Also, parents could use this as a reason to help their child in school and to take an interest in their life. Often, if a parent takes more of an interest in the teen and supports their pursuits then the teen's self-esteem will raise significantly. Both parents and teacher's could help raise self-esteem and help prevent dropouts. Sadly, these are still not the only results of negative influence from the media.
Another horrible result of the media is a rise in teen violence and crime as well as drug and alcohol abuse. This is shown in various studies:
Relationship between crime and violence and self-esteem:
KELLEY,1978 --Found a correlation between delinquency and low self-esteem. He found that as programs were implemented to raise the level of self-esteem, the incidence of delinquent behavior in schools declined.
KAPLAN, 1975--Found evidence that for individuals with low self-esteem who have experienced consistent failure, delinquent behavior serves to enhance self-esteem as a way of getting back at the system. He also found in a long term study of 3,000 7th grade students that lower levels of self-esteem were most likely to adopt deviant behavior patterns. Low self- esteem becomes a tremendous source of anger and hostility which frequently results in violence.
TOCH, 1969 and DAVIS, 1993--Concluded there were 10 factors that promoted violence, the most common was "self-image compensating" that involved aggression in defense of the self-image. They found that many commit violence to compensate for their feelings of insecurity and low self-esteem.
JOHNSON, 1977--Documented that juvenile delinquents not only had low self-esteem, they also had significantly lower reading skills and achievement. Juvenile delinquency prevention programs often fail because they overlook the crucial element of self-esteem and its impact on reducing delinquent behavior.
SAHAGAN, 1991--Today kids join gangs because of the need to belong. To reduce gang membership we must focus on enhancing the self-worth and self-esteem of our youth so that they do not seek out and need the gang to meet their basic human needs.
LOPEZ, 1992--The reasons for forming gangs involve the need for recognition and identity, tradition, a sense of belonging, and peer pressure. These factors all relate to self-esteem.
INTERNATIONAL ASSOC. OF CHIEFS OF POLICE, 1979--Concluded that a significant loss of self-esteem is an immediate cause of deviant behavior.
STEFFENHAGEN & BURNS, 1987--Concluded from their studies that low self-esteem is the underlying psychodynamic mechanism underlying all deviant behavior.
Relationship between drug and alcohol abuse and self-esteem:
KEEGAN, 1987--Low self-esteem either causes or contributes to neurosis, anxiety, defensiveness, and ultimately alcohol and drug abuse.
SKAGER, 1988--Self-esteem is indeed involved in addictive substance use. The use of drugs is often used to compensate for low self-esteem and feelings of a lack of control over one's life. Those with a strong sense of self do not have to be sustained at the expense of others. They do not need to control or humiliate other people or resort to substance abuse to compensate for low
GOSSOP, 1976--Results of his study show considerable deficiencies in self-esteem among drug-dependent patients, and believes that teenagers with low self-esteem who are exposed to drugs must be considered to be at-risk.
MILLER, 1988--Demonstrated that a program to increase self-esteem significantly changed the attitudes of students regarding their alcohol and drug use. courtesy of http://www.self-esteem-nase.org/research.shtml

It is apparent that their is a important link between criminal behavior as well as drug use and self-esteem. Most teens join gangs in order to feel as though they belong and to feel a sense of companionship that they may not receive at school or at home. Teens joining gangs is sad because it is totally unecessary and can be prevented. This is the same with drugs; teens usually do drugs to fit in and be part of the crowd and because they are pressured into it by their " friends." Preventing these sad occurences is simple and anyone can do it. All you have to do is be the person that puts a hand out to the kid slinking in the corner all alone or the teacher that brightens a teen's day. All you have to do is care and you can bring a teen happiness. All you have to do is be a friend. Horribly, this is not the only influence the negative media has on teens.
Appallingly, In the past 25 years, while the general incidence of suicide has decreased, the rate for those between 15 and 24 has tripled. It is generally considered to be the second or third most common cause of death among adolescents. Studies also show this:
Relationship of self-esteem to suicide:
BATTLE, 1990--His research studies confirm the relationship between depression in adolescents and low self-esteem.
BHATTI, 1992--Refers to clinical studies documenting the relationship between low self- esteem in adolescents and thoughts about suicide, depression, and drugs.
The Center for Disease Control recently conducted a survey 10,904 high school students in grades 9-12 and came up with these shocking results.
During the 12 months preceding the survey: • 24.1% of students had thought seriously about attempting suicide .
• 17.7% of students had made a specific plan to attempt suicide .
• 8.7% of students had attempted suicide .
• 2.8% of students had made a suicide attempt which resulted in an injury, poisoning, or overdose that required medical attention.

Following is the breakdown by Gender, Race, and Age: GENDER:
• Female students (30.4%) were significantly more likely than male students (18.3%) to have thought seriously about attempting suicide.
• Female students (21.3%) were significantly more likely than male students (14.4%) to have made a specific plan to attempt suicide.
• Female students (11.9%) were significantly more likely than male students (5.6%) to have attempted suicide.
RACE:
• White students (24.9%) were significantly more likely than black students (20.0%) to have thought seriously about attempting suicide.
• Hispanic students (13.4%) were significantly more likely than white students (7.6%) to have attempted suicide.
AGE:
• Students in grade 11 (26.3%) were significantly more likely than students in grade 12 (20.0%) to have thought seriously about attempting suicide.
• Students in grades 9 (10.6%) and 10 (10.1%) were significantly more likely than students in grade 12 (5.6%) to have attempted suicide.
• Students in grade 9 (4.1%) were significantly more likely than students in grade 12 (1.7%) to have made a suicide attempt which resulted in an injury, poisoning, or overdose that required medical attention. courtesy of http://dianedew.com/suistats.htm
Suicide is the most horrible product of the negative media influence that is a horribly ingrained part of our society. The stress of trying to be like those unrealistically thin teens in the movies is to much for many and with that stress comes the thought of a final solution, death itself. Teenage suicide is undoubtably the most horrible type. It is tragic when anyone takes their own lives, but it is even more so when it is a young person who has their entire life in front of them. There are many other results of these false images, but this is undoubtably the worst of them all.
When faced with these undeniable facts, the only conclusion that can be reached is that the people who encourage these false images and the actors who portray these false people have blood on their hands. Millions of teens are affected by the unrealistic proportions of Hollywood celebrities. In order to become thin, they make themselves starve themselves and become bulemic and anorexic. Their self-esteem is so low that they fail in school. They join gangs and do drugs in order to be accepted. Worst of all, they take their own lives, thinking that this is a solution to their problems. These are only some of the horrible consequences. Still others are an increase in teen pregnancy and even health problems. Actors and actresses themselves encourage this by making themselves so thin. The bar for perfection has been set in our society and it is unrealistaclly high. Their are ways in which this bar can be blown apart. The way you can fight this is just by being a friend to someone who is having problems. That is the solution and the best way to fight this new media hysteria. If only we could break out of our shells and reach out to one another we could make sure that we are no longer controlled by the media. The moral of this story: you can be the light that breaks through another person's darkness.

Parent Pressure by Jamie A.

Do you think that parents have a right to feel pride in their children’s accomplishments? I believe that parents have a right to feel pride however some use their children’s achievements as an opportunity to spotlight themselves. Also, depending on the type of a parent, some parents are responsible for leading their children to achieve while others take the credit for their children’s feats. However, when children do receive help and encouragement from their parents that strengthens their talents, the parents deserve a certain amount of respect. In contrast, if parents do not contribute any help, they do not deserve any recognition. These ideas will be examined in the next paragraph.

Although parents have every right to feel proud of their children, some take it to far. For example, in " The Rules of the Game", a short story by Chinese author Amy Tan, a young Chinese girl named Waverly becomes a chess prodigy after her brother receives a chess set at a church Christmas party. This occurs without her mother’s help, and without her encouragement. As a matter of fact, her mother is against her playing chess and thinks it is a waste of time. After Waverly becomes adept at chess, her mother supports her by coming to every match, and Waverly uses some of the wisdom her mother passed on to succeed in keeping herself calm during a match. As soon as she begins winning, Waverly’s mother begins bragging about her daughter’s talent in a way that suggests, falsely, that it is all her doing that the girl is a chess prodigy. This shows that Waverly’s mother is using her daughter’s ability to make herself known. This is the type of parent that doesn’t deserve anything in return because they are not responsible for their children’s achievements. However, the parent who nurtures their children’s talent by giving encouragement and support deserves the child’s respect and gratitude. An example of this type of parent is the mother of Condoleeza Rice, who supported her daughter’s ambition of becoming an important person in government. In the end, parents deserve respect if they help a child succeed. In conclusion, parents can be proud of their children without being selfish. If a parent uses their child’s ability to gain respect from their peers for themselves, then they deserve less respect. In contrast, if a parent nurtures a child’s ability for their child’s well being, they deserve respect. Also, the child owes their parents much if this is the case. They deserve respect, the child’s obedience, and they deserve the child’s gratitude. To sum it all up, there is a fine line between prideful bragging and conceited self- spotlighting.

   When I was in 4^th grade I remember being taught that racism was a thing of the past. Provided, I got older and that just isn’t true. People will, as had happened to me, mess with your car and annoy you for the heck of it seemingly, but really because you’re a different color. Racism is an ugly thing that needs to be stamped out. If I have children, when they hear racism is a thing of the past, I want it to be the truth.

   You strip the skin and our bodies are generally the same. You strip the cold face and averted eyes and we’re generally thinking the same thing. Life doesn’t have to be rough because of neighbors hating you for something you can’t control. Skin color cannot be controlled so being against someone because of it is preposterous. No race is superior no matter how you look at it.

   If you like or dislike someone, let it not be something as idiotic as skin color. Racism is a hurtful atrocious thing and since it wasn’t taken out for us, we have to take it out. We will not try to shove it aside with ignorance like the people before us tried to, we will address the issue directly. End racism with compassion and education, now!