Cursing: Inappropriate slurs or pain relieving phrases?

So you accidentally bang your elbow on the hard edge of a countertop and out comes something like “You little f*ck sh*t!” And for some, this sudden outburst of cuss words after being hurt happens without even thinking about it. But, this might actually be for a good reason. A study from Keele University in England found that swearing can trigger a person’s body’s stress response and actually increases your tolerance to pain. The study used 64 undergraduates who were asked to put their hand in a tub of ice water while repeating a swear word and, in a second experiment, repeating a regular word used to describe a table. The swearing increased pain tolerance, increased heart rate and decreased supposed pain compared with not swearing. Even The New York Times points out examples of foul language among Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth 1 and even the Bible, and says, “Researchers point out that cursing is often an amalgam of raw, spontaneous feeling and targeted, gimlet-eyed cunning.” Researchers continue to say that swearing is often used as a form of stress relief and anger management, and may actually be an under-appreciated way to blow off steam.

The Talk with Mom and Dad

All of us roll our eyes anytime we mention talking with a parent or trusted adult about relationships and sex. Most of us would probably agree that we think our parents to be "in the dark" when it comes to the topic of sexuality.
They criticize our music, the way we want to dress and the kinds of people we hang out with. Forget about even bringing up current relationships or sexuality. We have always had tension between our parents. It's nothing new.
But our parents probably didn’t grow up knowing about HIV or AIDS, and they definitely couldn’t get information on the Internet. But their parents, and other adults in their lives, still gave them a hard time. Just like today.
Maybe they’re trying to stop us from making the same mistakes that they did. Things may look a bit different these days, but chances are your parents or the adults you trust had the same worries about whether or how to talk to their own parents or families. Think about it. You may decide that your parent or another adult is just the person to talk to about sexuality.

Benefit Concert for Everglades Earth First

Half of the original Everglades has been drained, and the national park now protects most of what is left. The Everglades ecosystem is the single source of drinking water for more than 6 million people in South Florida. Only 25% of the original Everglades, the only ecosystem like it in the world, is left today thanks to the overdevelopment of South Florida and the abuse of its resources.
In order to raise awareness, as well as funds, a befit concert is being held at The Country Isles Park in Weston on Saturday December 19th. Anyone is welcome to attend.



"While many Earth First-ers have scientific or ecological backgrounds, our struggle is fundamentally about our intuitive connections to land, water, the community of life around us and our willingness to fight for it. We are committed to working with any groups who share these basic values." - Everglades Earth First activist

Scared Yet?

So PSAT scores recently came out and a lot of people may be freaking out about their scores. Some people probably are disappointed in themselves because they thought they could do better. But not to worry, we're only in our sophmore year. So take a deep breath and remember that we have about a year to improve and prepare ourselves for the actual SAT. If you're really that worried about getting into a good college then maybe an SAT prep course would be good for you. Or maybe you could simply prep yourself by buying an SAT guide. Either way would probably be a good decision if you are interested in getting scholarships ect.

Teens and Drug Abuse

There is a high probability that a teen you’re friends with will be exposed to drugs and alcohol. Teenagers as young as thirteen have often already tried drugs as powerful as cocaine. Some teens might tell themselves they will only try a drug once just for fun, but many teens are under constant peer pressure to continue to try drugs and join their friends. Most teens don't start using drugs and think they might start to abuse them, and most teens probably see the drugs they use as casually having fun, but there are a lot of problems that could develop. The biggest issue affecting a lot of people today is that they become hooked and can’t live without the drug. Some people don’t even realize when they have become reliant on drugs. So, if you are a teenager in high school, probably about 97% of your friends go out and party and get drunk and do drugs. Most of you may think this is okay and acceptable, but if you truly care about someone and notice they are beginning to become dependant on drugs or alcohol, you should talk to them or get them help so that they don’t get way over their head.

Teen Dating Violence

Teen dating violence is more common than people would admit. It is a serious issue that is affecting nearly one in three high school students. That is a lot of teens having a problem that adults are not recognizing. It is a secret occurrence that could ruin a person’s life or possibly even end it. While girls are more likely to yell and use verbal abuse, guys are more likely to use physical force. Recognizing the signs of someone in an abusive relationship is vital. A short list of some signs are:
1. failing or falling grades
2. stops giving his or her own opinion
3. changes in mood or personality
4. use of drugs/alcohol
5. depression
6. isolation
7. physical signs of injury

Being able to identify these signs are extremely important to a person’s health and well-being. So take a better look at the people around you and the people you love to make sure that they are happy and healthy.

Girl? Guy? Why does it matter?

I think that almost everyone questions their sexual orientation at one point or another.And it's a difficult thing to understand. For some people, understanding their orientation and getting to know themselves better isn't always a good thing. Discovering who you are could ruin your life. But it shouldn't be like that. Once someone learns what their orientation is, they do not always come out and tell the world. For most people it's probably embarassing and they don't want to be judged or ridiculed by their peers. So they hide it. They pretend to be "normal", or at least what is accepted by society. But they shouldn't have to. Teens are confused about what to do when they finally come to a conclusion about who they are. They shouldn't have to hide a part of themselves just so their "friends" won't make fun of them. Everybody could make an effort to help out their confused friends or even that quiet, quirky kid in your math class just by accepting everybody for who they are and not what they're not. Treat all people equally and help to spread the love and acceptance:)

Today's Pressures

Teens today have a lot of things going on. Perhaps too many things. Some people may argue that teens don't know what stress is and that we should wait until we have a job to keep and a family to support until we are able to fully comprehend stress. But contrary to popular belief, teens are under pressure every single day and we have EVERYTHING to worry about. Instead of jobs, we have class. But not just class, we also have extracuriccular activies, like after school clubs. And we need to be a part of these clubs so it will look good for colleges. We always have to be performing our best so that our grades don't start slipping and we don't start to get caught up in the wrong things. Most teachers and adults may not understand how difficult keeping up in school can be. Newsflash, things have changed quite a lot since you were in junior high.
However, the stress doesn't end at academics. Both guys and girls are struggling with more emotional issues. For instance, a ridiculously high amount of girls are struggling with eating disorders because of the pressure of looking just like a model straight out of a Victoria's Secret catalog. Not to mention wanting to impress your boyfrind, girlfriend or even crush by having the "perfect body." The South Carolina Department of Mental Health estimates that 8 million Americans have an eating disorder – seven million women and one million men.
Issues like these can lead to severe consequences, such as depression. And being teens and not yet fully mentally developed, we are at an extremely high risk. As many as one in 33 children and one in eight adolescents have clinical depression. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for ages 10 to 24.
As of today, teens are battling with a wide variety of problems. And most of the time, we don't even let on to what's going on with us. We are under just as much stress as adults are, maybe even more. So give us just a little slack once in a while.

Teenagers

The majority of people seem to think that all teens are little devils working to ruin the fabrics of our society. True, we don't exactly follow the necessary rules and precautions that adults set up to keep us in line and out of trouble. But a little fun never hurt anybody, and when it comes to "fun" we know our limits. Sure we get into sticky situations, but when was the last time that somebody got hurt? What we do isn't as dangerous as people portray it to be.