The pros and cons of animal testing

Did you know that rats, mice and rabbits are burned, crippled, poisoned and abused every year for cosmetic research. Scientists use at least 26 million animals per year. Also no experiment is illegal, no matter how cruel or painful it is for the animal and worst of all they don’t have a say about what happens to them. I’m not only going to talk about cosmetic testing on animals I am also going to talk about the pros and cons of all animal testing because their is a whole lot more than cosmetic research. Much to people's dismay, animal based research has helped with many medical advances within our daily lives.

Not all animal research is bad as I said before. In fact a lot of people that are against cosmetic testing on animals are for animal research for cures and vaccines for diseases. Cures and treatments for disease and disabilities have come from animal testing. For example, a major pro with animal testing is that aid researchers are finding drugs and treatments to help prevent and cure the HIV virus. Many vaccines and medical treatments have become possible through animal testing, including treatments for Cancer, Aids, insulin and antibiotics. Another important aspect to note is that animal testing helps insure the safety of drugs. Because we can't just use any random drug without knowing the effects. With animal testing scientists can really dig deep down and find the true effects of the drug prior to human trial. We can even use animals to grow human body parts to replace damaged or missing human parts. This is called xenotransplantation. These all seem great and all but there are also the cons.

Now for the cons, most of the animals that scientists use for these experiments are either killed right after their use, others are injured and will still live the remainder of their lives in captivity. Some of these animals used will also die in vain because some tests will never see approval or public consumption. Another con about animal testing is that it is very costly. Animal testing generally costs a lot of money, as you have to feed, house, care for the animal and treat it with drugs or any other experimental substance. You also have to buy the animal but there are companies that breed animals specifically for testing and can be bought through them. There is also an argument that animal testing isn't always reliable as humans and animals aren't exactly the same. Most drugs that are tested on animals will have quite a different reaction with humans. The main criticism is that the tests can be unreliable because the animals are in an unnatural environment and will become stressed therefore they won't react to the drugs in the same way.

While there are many pros and cons to animal testing, the most ethical choice in my opinion is both. It is difficult for me to give a good answer to which side I'm on. Animal testing has helped mankind through so much, however some of the testing practices could be classified as torture. While not going as far to outlaw animal testing more research and thought should go into how it is carried out.     

             

Growing up in front of a screen.

As a child I had fond memories such as flying through the paddocks on the back of a quad bike, of helping my dad fell trees, of hunting for lizards in the long grass. Memories like these are not what I hear from the words of young children today. Instead, they talk about the new PlayStation game they got for their birthday or the cool new app their Dad has on his phone. They don’t go outside. Why do that when you can get a game that does the exact same thing but without even having to get up and put in the effort.

The children of this generation do not enjoy or know the outdoors as I did when I was young. I used to bike for huge distances to go and say hello to my friends whereas many young children today are so lazy as to text people living in the same household as them. 90% of children from 13-17 years old now have some form of social media in their lives, 70% percent of them having their own profile on a social networking site.  These children do not need to bother with exercise, they have everything they need handed to them on a silver platter.

The content these children are exposed to through household media could be anything from the most peaceful games to the bloodiest and goriest of them all with only 50% of homes surveying rules about videogames and only 30% of parents say they monitor their child’s Facebook activity. When I go onto Facebook I see children I know, some younger than ten liking posts of topless woman, racist jokes and other explicit content. Many parents I know have let their children play R18 games such as Grand Theft Auto since they were in their early years in primary school.

The implications of these “numbers” may cause more concern when people start to realise that not only do young people’s interactions with media have the potential to harm them emotionally and mentally, but physically as well. Many people complain, for example, about these new Ultra Bright LED screens that companies such as Apple are employing. They have been well known to cause pain in the eyes, nausea, dizziness and many other types of discomfort. If that is not proof that the electromagnetic radiation emitted from these machines is not bad for you, then I honestly do not know what is. Children at a young age are proven to be highly influenced by what they see and hear around them yet they are left in front of television screens with images of smoking, violence and even in some instances pornographic themes.

Even though the next generation will always be frowned upon by its predecessors I think that the children of today do not fully realise the importance of making the most of the time they have they should focus on things like their education, their childhood, the types of things that they cannot do again, things they only have one opportunity to do right. These children will look back and regret the time they have wasted and wish that they had taken the time in their lives to look away from the screen and instead look to the world around and their future.

By Ryan Wilkinson

Statistics according to:http://preventtogether.org/Resources/Documents/Impact%20of%20Media%20and%20Technology%20on%20Youth%202013.pdf

Are actors and professional athletes overpaid?

To most, you could say that actors and professional athletes are not overpaid. They deserve every cent they make because they work hard and like everyone else have to work their way up from the bottom.  I understand that but I disagree with the amount of money that actors and athletes are paid. In my opinion, actors and professional athletes are highly overpaid for what they do. I’m not saying that they shouldn’t be getting good money because they do deserve it, but not to the extent where they are getting more than they really need.

We have people working so hard risking their lives for what? A low end, bad paying job just to put a roof over their families head and to put a meal on the table day after day. Some families do even get that. Then you see all these actors and athletes that get everything handed to them like its nothing. When you compare someone like Floyd Mayweather, who is earning $105 million a year for boxing, to your normal day to day firefighter that gets an average pay of $52.61 thousand a year to risk his/her life for other people, Do you think this is fair? Most of you reading this would much prefer the easy way out and higher earning job. Who wouldn’t? There are people out there that need and/or deserve the money more.

The things actors and professional athletes get away with because of wealth and fame makes me cringe. For example, Ray Rice a professional american  football running back was arrested in 2014 for assaulting his then-fiancee (now wife) where he knocked her unconscious. Ray Rice went to court, won his case and is still eligible to play NFL.  I think it’s highly unfair that he gets out of it because of fame and money when you have your ordinary person who could go to jail for a minor offence.

I cannot argue my point enough but in the end it’s your decision as to what you agree with. Just remember  there are people getting the low end, bad paying jobs for doing hard labour and there are the high end, good paying jobs for these actors and professional athletes that don’t work as hard.

What do you think? Are actors and professional athletes overpaid?

Feminism - Georgia Whitefield

Feminism  

Most people in the world would consider that we are all equal human beings and all have the same rights. Wrong. The female population are still struggling for rights that men have already been granted, equal pay, the right to wear whatever we want without being shamed into stereotypes like being a slut or the common one ‘ she’s asking for it’.

The words feminism and feminist are commonly misused and misinterpreted. The correct definition of feminism is: a collection of movements and ideologies that share a common goal: to define, establish and achieve equal political, economic, cultural, personal and social rights for women (wikipedia). It’s not a word to describe somebody who hates men  and it certainly not is not a word that people should be afraid of identifying themselves as.

In the USA ( 2015) women are approximately half of the workforce and still only payed 77% of what the average white male would earn for the same workload. Research from the U.S Census Bureau has proven that African American women will earn 65 cents and Latina women will earn 56 cents to every dollar a white male will earn in the US, not only does this prove that sexism is still happening racism also.

In New Zealand women are lucky we all have rights that are fair, but in some countries women don't have those privileges. In some countries women are treated like dirt and animals, they are second class citizens who deserve what they get in those countries point of view. In example Saudi Arabian women are forbidden to drive a car, leave her home without a male companion, and the one I find appalling is women who are raped by a male will be charged in court and put in jail for the crime that was committed against them.

Girls and women this day and age are still struggling to not be looked at as sexual beings and objects. This perception of the female population is caused by media, celebrities, songs and social media. One of the recent examples of this is in the Song ‘Blurred Lines’ by Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams. There has been a massive saga about the song and its music video. Thicke and Williams have been ordered to pay Marvin Gaye 7.3 million US dollars because of plagiarism, also the song has been banned in 20 countries due to its sexism, discriminating lyrics and exploiting young women due to them being forced to be naked in the video.

Society and politics are the real reason for sexism and the reason why we aren't all equal in the world. There are solutions that could change the world for the with such a simple thing like giving women the right to drive a car or leave her house without having a man with her. Gender equality is possible with people supporting the cause and believing that a change can be made. 

Beyonce once said that “ We need to stop buying into the myth of gender equality. It’s not a reality…….Yet Today women are 50% of Americas work force but yet the only earn 77% of what an average working man earns for the same job. But unless men and women both say it’s unacceptable nothing will ever change.

Are Our Lessons at School Worthwhile?

The bell rings, it’s eight-forty am, where are you? Or where are you meant to be? Young people are at school for six hours each day for five days in a week. To most students, ‘going to school’ is referred to being a time filler for our lives. But are our lessons at school worthwhile? Is Maths used later in life other than school? Yes it is important for students to understand what we learn in class at school is worthwhile for our future.

At the age of sixteen and seventeen we suddenly realise that we are being ruled by people; people who we need in our daily lives. Doctors, lawyers, dentists, engineers, teachers and many more are the significant people who rule us. You must obey to what they tell you to do. Without them living would be much harder and more of a disaster because obeying doctors may save your life, obeying lawyers may get you out of serious cases, obeying dentists may make your painful tooth pain free, obeying to engineers may save your expensive car or house/building and obeying teachers will lead you to having a higher quality, successful job. People with such professions have all excelled in school to become successful and helpful to our society, our world. This shows that school is worthwhile because if you try hard, taking each lesson seriously, then you are capable and most likely to become someone who could help others with their lives.

Most students wonder why studying Algebra at school is worthwhile and will help you with your future. I surveyed twenty students asking the question, “Do you think Algebra is important for your life later on in the future?” Six out of twenty said Algebra is important and fourteen said Algebra isn’t. But do you know when you will use Algebra? You will use Algebra for decision making in your life, prerequisite for advanced training, science, data entry, interest rates and most relevant in school and writing of assignments. Your day can be made a lot easier with planning when you are making financial problems/decisions Algebra can help you save a large amount of finances and get you the best available price. Using the knowledge and algebraic skills you learn from school will benefit your own life.

Inventors, new inventions, Albert Einstein did well in school, Thomas Edison put effort into his education and what did they achieve? They achieved great things by inventing brilliant inventions that we need in our daily lives. Both inventors excelled in school and set their own personal goals at a young age. But imagine if they didn’t attend school. Where would we put our milk or cheese if Albert Einstein didn’t learn at school to invent the refrigerator? Would we have had light bulbs as early as the nineteenth century? School was very important for Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, many more inventors and nowadays school is important for us. You never know, out of the unexpected you can come out of school to become a famous inventor and invent very useful things that can help make people’s lives easier.

Are our lessons at school worthwhile? Yes they are worthwhile because you could become someone who is very successful with the knowledge from school. Maths is used later in our lives for better and bigger things, our life is a math game after school. It is time for us to realise what is worthwhile and what is not.  

Sources:

survey

http:/www.mathworksheetscenter.com/mathtips/algebra.html

www.inventor.stratigies.com/albert-einstein-invention-html

http:/classroom.synonym.com/important-thomas-edison-invention-light-bulb-b305.html

Written by Cathy Chen 

Are Eating Disorders Well Known?

For the majority, passing school, getting a decent job and pursuing a successful career is what will gain them a happy, fulfilled life. Sadly for hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders, according to Eating Disorders Association of New Zealand (EDANZ), recovering from their eating disorder is more important than anything else. Imagine a person with long dark hair, freckles on their face, big brown eyes, and in the opinion of many, has a nice slim body. This person has an unhealthy, underweight BMI but they are applauded by society for maintaining an ‘attractive’ body image. Or imagine someone with short blonde hair, blue eyes, who is overweight and gets taunted constantly by people purely because of their size. Both of these people have an eating disorder, but in society, one of these eating disorders is more well-known than the other. I believe that there isn’t enough information about eating disorders for people to understand what it is and what effects it has.

Stereotypically, majority of teenagers associate eating disorders as bulimia or anorexia. According to http://www.anad.org/ (ANAD), Binge-Eating Disorder (BED) joined the ranks with Anorexia Nervosa (AN) and Bulimia Nervosa (BN) as an “official” eating disorder back in 1997. It has been a near on 18 years since BED became an official eating disorder, yet not many people know about it. Why is it that eating disorders are perceived as losing large amounts of weight rather than gaining it? My opinion on this is that it is more socially acceptable to taunt an overweight person rather than a scrawny person and I think it is utterly disgusting that it is even acceptable to torment others based on their physical size. The truth is that anorexia, bulimia and binge eating are all the same types of eating disorders, only they’re on different ends of the spectrum.

On the other hand, I don’t blame teenagers for thinking anorexia and bulimia are the only two eating disorders. I blame the media. ANAD states that 47% of girls in 5th-12th grade reported wanting to lose weight because of magazine pictures. A further 69% of girls in 5th-12th grade reported that magazine pictures influenced their idea of a perfect body shape. What exactly is a perfect shape? Is it the tumblr boys and girls you see on your device? The Victoria’s Secret models that you see on billboards? I think that the media is at the heart and soul of promoting eating disorders and I despise people who have the audacity to claim a certain shape is the ‘perfect’ body size.  

There are multiple cause and effects that eating disorders have. Eating disorders are very complex conditions that start from the long-established behavioral factors. The psychological, interpersonal, social and biological aspects of eating disorders are all behavioral factors that will damage a person’s physical and emotional health. According to ANAD, almost 50% of people with eating disorders meet the criteria for depression, and only 1 in 10 men and women with eating disorders receive treatment. Information about eating disorders isn’t something that our society likes to talk about in public and because of that, many people feel ashamed and have to hide their illness. Eating disorders are illnesses that can’t be resolved straight away and I don’t think many people understand that. You can’t exactly tell someone with an eating disorder to ‘eat more’ or ‘eat less’. It’s like telling someone with asthma that they should ‘get over it’ because there’s so much air in the world.

As you can see, eating disorders don’t always associate with losing large amounts of weight. Also, the media has an affect on those who want to have the ‘perfect’ body and the effects of eating disorders can’t be resolved instantly. Information about eating disorders should be more well-known so that our society don’t feel the need to hide and be ashamed of their eating disorder. It is time for us to band together and help those who are struggling with this illness.

Why aren’t people taking racism seriously?

Imagine a world full of peace, a war-free world and people accepting each other for who they are. Unfortunately, nobody’s perfect and the worst thing going on right now in this world is racism.People aren’t taking racism seriously and no one is stepping up and having the courage to make it stop. Why is that?

According to The Oxford English Dictionary, racism is defined as the ‘belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race. It is especially distinguished as inferior or superior to another race or races’ and the expression of such prejudice. The word racism was first noted around the 1900’s and has been used negatively through prejudice and stereotype.

Racism can be formed through stereotyping which can be seen based on peoples’ judgements to other cultural races. They think that they are better because of their colour, where they are from and what language they speak. Stereotype is one of the main problems for people receiving racial abuse. Being a teenager, I have experienced and witnessed racism being used in school and out in public. My experience involved being brave to talk about what happened and asking for help. This made me think about other times where people would not ask for help or did not have the support to speak up like I did. I then decided to write about why racism is still alive and why I felt that stereotype has played a big part in this.

Through talking to people and reading comments online, I have found some of the main reasons why people are not standing up against racial violence. They can include: the fear of getting bullied, trying to blend in, or receiving racial abuse themselves. This can lead to being emotionally depressed, losing friends and being ashamed of your identity.

My recommendations for eliminating racism would be better support for people to speak up against racism making sure it is not being misused in humor. Also, more education is needed in schools and communities to raise awareness around what it is about including ‘The Human Rights Law’ where people have the right to be free from racial discrimination. Just because you have not experienced racism does not mean you can’t step in to help because everyone should take responsibility for stopping racial abuse.   

Ana-Maria Maugaotega