I See Nothing But UGLY

Another Day

I take a look in the mirror

I see nothing but ugly

That girl from school is right, I am fat

She sits across from me every day at lunch

“You’re too big, you shouldn’t be eating”

I swallow my last bite and push my meal away

She watches my every move and laughs

I look back in the mirror and hold back my tears

Repeat the same day

Another comment

Another tear

Moving to a new school in a new town

“I’m safe now; everything is going to be okay”

I spoke too soon

Another bully

More Tears

I stopped eating lunch to avoid the comments

I stopped eating even after the bullying ended

Yet I couldn’t eat in front of anyone

I was afraid of another scar

Open your eyes and tell me what you see. Many would say an overweight, ugly boy/girl. We look at media and see tall, thin models. We walk around the mall and visit stores that apparently only cater to size 0. Boys at school going for the petite girls. Girls going for the muscular boys. And at the end of the day we look in the mirror and assume we are ugly because of our “imperfections.” In reality we are all beautiful.

Media brainwashes society to make us believe that, “that girl” on T.V, whose bones are showing, is pretty. Or that store you tried to buy clothes from isn’t made for you because you’re not skinny enough. In reality “that girl” on T.V is unhealthy and most likely unhappy. The store that didn’t have your size didn’t realize you could look good in those clothes too and is missing out on your business. But you can be the smarter one and treat everyone equally. You can realize that everyone is beautiful no matter what size they wear or how much they weigh. Look deeper into their character, don’t stop at skin deep. Be human. Be yourself. Believe in a better day where everyone will be able to accept true beauty.

“If you spent your whole life concentrating on what everyone else thought of you, would you forget who you really were? What if the face you showed the world turned out to be a mask… with nothing beneath it?” – Jodi Picoult

If you ever feel insecure and you want to talk about it, call TeenLink. We are an anonymous phone line for teens and answered by teens. The people on the line are here to listen—no matter how big or small the issue. Teen Link’s number is 1 (866) 833 – 6546. The line is open every night from 6 – 10 P.M. If you prefer to chat, visit www.866teenlink.org. Chat is available all week. You matter.

Teen and Pregnant- an Epidemic?

 So let's talk once again about everyone's favorite subject.....No, not Twilight....everyone's OTHER favorite subject: SEX! More specifically, what happens when birth control goes wrong?! That goes to say, birth control IS being used...right? Because if it isn't, read on! 

   

     

I've been watching MTV, in the middle of homework breaks (you know how that goes!), and have been very intrigued with the shows like "16 and Pregnant" and "Teen Mom." These shows, if you haven't been keeping up to date with what MTV deems as "cool" to put shows on the air, follow the lives of girls who are teen moms or are about to become moms. 

The shows cover how the girls deal with the news, their personal lives, education, family, friends, and the stresses of having to deal with the consequences of their actions. 

I was thinking to myself while watching:

• What do people think of these shows? 
• Are they advocating safe sex? Or perhaps glamorizing young pregnancy? 

A psychologist, Dr. Drew, appears on these shows to counsel these girls and at the same time promote safe sex. 

• Do you think the message is getting the point across by showing real life examples of the consequences of not using any form or birth control? 
• Do you think by putting so much emphasis on the lives of these girls that it really deters people from making bad choices?  

Sarah Palin's daugher was a prime example of teen pregnancy and now she is in the media promoting abstinence. She was interviewed (Watch it Here) and spoke about how she wants other to learn from her mistakes. The article says, "Palin Promoting Abstinence in New Campaign, 'Regardless of What I Did Personally.'"

My question for all these girls sharing the stories of their lives is do you think it will be really heard? People are saying how can someone like Bristol Palin who is a teen mom really promote abstinence when she, herself, did not follow her own advice? What do you all think? 

Since she has experienced the consequences do you think it now makes her a good role model and a warning all at the same time? 

I hope either the shows, or role models will have an effect on the teen pregnancy rates because they have gone up in both of the last two years. 

I guess TV is actually reflecting real lives for once, for the worse maybe? or for a chance to learn? You decide...

Teen Link

Flash Mob/Spontaneous Art?

A flash mob is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual action for a brief time, then quickly disperse. The term flash mob is generally applied only to gatherings organized via telecommunications, social media, or viral emails. The term is generally not applied to events organized by public relations firms or as publicity stunts.

Flash mobs, like this pillow fight flash mob in downtown Toronto, are designed to surprise passers-by.

How it gets started...

"Hundreds of people hopped aboard the No Pants! train Sunday afternoon, showing off their skivvies to some startled Link Light Rail passengers."

Promotion stunt for a Belgian television program, where they are looking for someone to play the leading role, in the musical of "The Sound of Music".

On Wednesday 14th March, 2007 around 50 people attempted a mass freeze frame in a Manchester supermarket lasting four minutes. Five cameras captured the event.

100 Single Ladies stop traffic with Beyonce's famous leggy dance in Piccadilly Circus.

Flash Mobs can be highly choreographed...

Or completely silly and chaotic in nature, like this "spontaneous" pillowfight...

Some are done in the form of a tribute...

And of course when something "viral" gets really popular, the commercial world jumps on it:

And on TV (not exactly a flash mob, but kinda close - no one expected it...)

Interested in participating? Check out the Urban Prankster Network at: http://improveverywhere.ning.com/ where you can watch more videos, get tips on starting your own group or get connected to other groups all over the world who are creating these spontaneous acts of fun and confusion in very public places.

Unusual News Items: Food for Thought

And now, some random stories from the Teen Link news wire! Remember, these stories are all taken from the internet to get you thinking. The views expressed are not necessarily those of Teen Link or its volunteers!

Tattoo ad on forehead for $10,000

A mother had her forehead tattooed with the web address of a gambling site after auctioning off advertising space on her head to pay for her son's school fees.

Karolyne Smith has to live with a permanent billboard on her forehead after she accepted goldenpalace.com's offer of $10,000 for the 'advertising space'. She needed the money to send her son Brady to a private school.

Karolyne said: ""I really want to do this. To everyone else, it seems like a stupid thing to do. To me, $10,000 is like a million dollars."

"I only live once and I'm doing it for my son. It's a small sacrifice to build a better future for my son."

Karolyne did not take the decision lightly. She discussed it for more than three weeks with her boyfriend Jeremy Williams.

Smith's eBay auction attracted more than 27,000 hits and 1,000 watchers. Bidding reached $999.99 before Goldenpalace.com, an Internet gambling company met Smith's $10,000 asking price. Goldenpalace.com also gave her another $5,000 for her trouble.

Another person, inspired by Karolyne is currently auctioning his forehead as ad space on ebay.

-Bass Van Rilen

Questions: What do you think about this? Do you feel like Smith's decision was justified or too extreme? What if you were in this position, what would you do?

Gay rights groups now focus on 'helping' gay penguins

A zoo in Germany has scrapped its plans to break up homosexual penguin couples after gay rights groups protested against it.

The Bremerhaven Zoo had noticed that three penguin couples turned out to be all male. In an attempt to encourage the penguins to reproduce the zoo had flown in four female penguins.

The plan was too introduce the female birds too the male which would hopefully lead to the endangered species reproducing, but the zoo abandoned its plans after gay rights groups protested against the experiment.

The zoo's director Heike Kueck said: "Everyone can live here as they please."

Kueck said it was never their intention to separate the couples by force and even if it was their intention, it wouldn't be possible to make them be interested in their new female companions.

Gay groups had earlier protested against "the organised and forced harassment through female seductresses" in an open letter to Bremerhaven's Mayor.

-Paul van der Maas

Something to Consider: Is this just a case of anthropomorphism to the extreme? Or is sexuality maybe not as rigid as humans would like to think?