Is Anorexia an Illness, or Simply a Normal Part of Growing Up in North American Society Today?

Anorexia nervosa has become one of the leading psychiatric conditions among young women today. There is great discussion as to what factors have caused this illness to grow to almost epidemic proportions.

The media has been blamed as being the culprit, as young girls watch stick thin figures modeling the latest and trendy fashions and secretly wish they can be like them.

Although the media can absorb some of the blame, we need to face up to the fact that the food paradox we have today is unlike any before our times.

We are living in a country that celebrates slenderness, yet in this same country food Is so abundant as never before. This paradox is bound to cause problems. And not only is food abundant, but it is also very enticing, high calorie foods, that are low in nutrients.

Beauty ideals are higher than ever, yet we are bombarded with enticing foods constantly. This causes a struggle leading to a nation obsessed with food and weight, anorexics on one side and obesity on the other.

In the Documentary Thin which highlights four young women's struggle in an eating disorder clinic, the girls are given high fat junk foods and taught that "It is unwise to restrict eating in any way, and paying attention to nutritional content is a form of restricting."

Yet many of those same nurses who are directing treatment, are not just overweight, but even obese. Although the girls are told they may not count calories at all, these same nurses are shown discussing their own personal weight loss woes, and their best methods of losing weight.

As one former anorexic wrote, after watching the film;

"All this serves to highlight how truly dysfunctional our collective attitudes toward food has become in our society. The uncomfortable truth is that anyone who eats a diet consisting mostly of the types of processed junk food featured in the film, without regulation, will likely end up struggling with weight issues. We obsess about diet and calories because there really is no other way to remain healthy."

Women with eating disorders have simply taken our universal preoccupation to the extreme, exhibiting their thinness as a sign of discipline, a superior ability to overcome their temptations where others have failed.

Anorexia may not be as irrational as people who have no experience with the disorder may believe. Anorexia is a desperate attempt at gaining some type of control of a situation that seems overwhelming to young girls.

The fact that the illness afflicts young girls to a greater degree than more mature individuals shows us that education may be the key to putting a lid on this epidemic.

The more mature mind has a greater ability to deal with all this confusion regarding food, but the young immature mind without proper education has a much harder time at grasping how to handle the anxiety experienced by this confusion.

Young girls have very little understanding of how they are affecting their bodies with their behaviors. At that time the body still feels so invincible to them, it is difficult for young people to comprehend the care their bodies need to stay strong. Often once the anorexic loses weight and feels the weakness, it comes as a shock to them, and sometimes even assists in recovery.

Special Education Seems to Be Overwhelmed - Discussion

Right now, our schools are overloaded and the classrooms are filling up. Teachers have been laid off and serious budget cuts have been made which will indeed adversely affect this generation of children in their education. That's not very funny, but it is the reality and anyone that works for school district that still has a job that is, realizes this.

Even tougher is special education, and there seems to be a great rift and divide on how money should be spent between special education, and regular classroom education. After all special education often requires one-on-one teacher or teacher's aide assistance. Another problem is the ever-increasing number of children who have been diagnosed with developmental disabilities. The numbers have grown so strong that it is very much impacting school budgets.

There was an interesting article recently in U.S. Health News Online found in the Health Day Section titled "U.S. Study Finds 1 in 6 Kids Now Have a Developmental Disability, Perhaps Due to Better Diagnosis" by Jenifer Goodwin Health Day Reporter - published on May 23, 2011. The article stated that the disorders included such things as: "autism, learning disorders or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to new research from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

The article also made mention of the apparent drastic increases "1997-1999, about 12.8 percent of kids were diagnosed with a developmental disability, up to 15 percent in 2006-2008 - or an additional 1.8 million U.S. children. Driven by rising rates of autism and ADHD, experts say."

Okay so, I have some comments to add here today. Are all these kids really having developmental disabilities? And what about when we went to school, there were a number of kids that had behavioral issues, and they perhaps were not properly diagnosed, but due to the Discipline factor they were brought into compliance, and the teaching went on, and most all those kids did graduate, and they did so in regular classrooms.

If we are going to be honest with ourselves, and provide an appropriate education for every child, then we need to come to terms with what normality is. What is the definition of a normal child? With so many developmental documented challenges and so many psychologists who are making diagnoses, how can we be sure if any of this is correct. The schools of yesteryear seem to do okay, and one has to ask if there really is a difference, if the problem really is growing.

Sex Education: Its Importance and Need in the Society

Sex Education, as the term clearly indicates, refers to education which is based on human sexual behavior. Parents, schools or caretakers offer it in some parts of the world to educate the children, who are stepping into their adolescence. If formally received, sex education is either taught as a full course at high school or junior high school level or in biology, health, home economics classes. Teaching sex education is rather a controversial issue; debates have been going on for several decades discussing if it should be taught formally in schools or not. Sex education in schools should exist without any doubts and apprehensions as it offers many benefits.

Adolescence is called the "age of storm and stress". The young teenagers, during this phase of life are under deep psychological pressure. Mainly, this psychological pressure is the result of one's growing sexual needs and the biological changes and hormonal effects on the individuals. During this time, most of the children are observed to become easily irritable. They find it difficult in most situations to deal with the family members. They might not want to talk to them about the natural changes taking place in their body and mind. In such circumstances, one highly suitable option is that of the teachers who are able to teach them to control their urges until a proper age. In schools, trained teachers would help the students to know how to deal with their sexual impulses. This role can not be replaced by parents or other entities. A classroom discussion and lesson would make them feel it is natural, and they would also feel that they are being understood by someone. However, taking them individually to psychologists or other trained educators would not help. In such a situation they might consider themselves to be different and misunderstood by family and people around them. Therefore, it becomes crystal clear that the best way to offer sex education is always in school.

It is a psychological phenomenon that children at young age are under an immense peer pressure. Something that they learn in the class with their peer group is what makes a better impression on their minds than otherwise. They are more focused in the lessons that teachers offer and are more eager asking question to clear their ambiguities. They might feel embarrassed and uneasy questioning their parents about it, but it always differs in case of the teacher in the class. This is because everyone in the class is going through the same stage. A class discussion becomes healthy source of learning as it helps in enhancing the knowledge on the subject.

Many people advocate that sex education should only be restricted to families, that is, that parents should personally educate their children. This view is totally illogical and holds complications and questions. The first point is that not all the parents would be willing to do it or would be able to do it. Secondly, this education needs a proper channel through which it should reach its required learners. There could be many possible problems in the families so they might not be able to take the role of a teacher in educating their children regarding sex. The demand of annulment of sex education from the schools is highly conservative.

Most importantly, there are many single parents, how would they take up this challenge of educating their children on their own? Parents can not properly educate their children about sex also because they lack details that qualified sex educators convey in schools. Thus, the stance of abolishing sex education in school is not a favorable thought. In many observed cases where parents or children are embarrassed about talking over sexual matters with each other, it is most likely to be uneasy situation at both the ends. This keeps the children from learning the answers to the questions they might have in their minds. This can be a great flaw of shifting the duty of sexual education from teachers to the parents. It will leave the children only half or less educated about the issue and as they say "Little knowledge is a dangerous thing", this might end up in grave situations.

According to research, most of the parents also feel uneasy because they know that they are not equipped to provide the apt sexual information to their children. They also fail to comprehend what details and information should be concealed and what should be revealed, keeping in mind their children's age. On the other hand, there might also be parents who would feel comfortable talking to their children about sexual matters, but only when the children bring the matter up.

Most parents, around the world, may also lack role models to look up to as they would not have talked over sexual issues with their own parents in their adolescent. This makes them inefficient to trigger their roles of educating their children in an effective way as the assigned teachers are able to do in schools.

Sex education is not limited to only a single branch of knowledge. This education focuses on a number of significant sexual matters that are offered with especially designed courses and programs. Sex education covers the education of relationships, sexual abstinence at a certain level and teaching to practice safe sex to the level of children who are thought to be sexually active. Therefore, its claim for being appropriate and guiding holds strong base.

At a certain age of adolescence, growing children have problems facing relationships and controlling their personal emotions. Conflicts related to such matters persuade many youngsters to commit suicides or take part in other immoral activities. Proper sex education in schools also concentrates in making the youngsters emotionally stronger and in educating ways to cope with relationship problems. This argument strongly shows the immense benefit of sex education in schools.

Sex education is an important health strategy and this cannot be denied. AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases can only be controlled if people are aware of precautions and have a vast knowledge in this case. This knowledge is conveyed through sex education, and if sex education is banned in schools and if parents have to educate their children, then it would not be as beneficial to the individuals and the society on the whole as teaching in school could be.

Sex education does not exist in all parts of the world. Asians are commonly regarded conservative when compared to westerners. It is not a part of their course in schools; this does not in any way mean that their teenage pregnancy rate is any lower if they are not exposed to sexual matters openly. In fact, this is one way how peers can mislead most of the youngsters and persuade them to bask in young age sexual relationships without any attempts for safety. This has resulted in serious problems such as the spread of fatal diseases like AIDS and has also increased rate of illegitimate births.

Researches have shown that the cause for ramification of STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) in the eras of 80s and 90s in the US and the UK is the lack of knowledge and information provided about sex in schools or home. Home and family has never and will never play an integral part in conveying sex education to teenagers, therefore to rely on the option of home, is to deceive your own self from the expected exigency in the future.

Some conservative groups assert that to discuss sexual issues openly is to devalue religion. No religion in the world abstain its followers from spreading the information that is so essential for human lives. Sexual behavior is natural and takes place through biological changes and this cannot be questioned as this is a part of human life. Thus people who take refuge under the religious shelter, to make their arguments strong, are misinterpreting religious ideas and laws.

Modern time is the time of internet and powerful media. Teenagers are exposed to Hollywood, TV and internet. These sources offer demonstration of sex which is highly thoughtless and casual; in this situation it is almost illogical to leave the teenagers on their sexual choices. They are young and fully excited; therefore they can not make a favorable choice. Sex education in school offers the information and knowledge they need to understand to know the responsibility that is accompanied by sexual relationships. The teacher in school helps the students to know the difference between a thoughtless and thoughtful sex. Having an urge for sex is not a problem; it is a natural process showing that the young people are developing to become adults; however the problem is having unsafe sex and hurting people through sexual choices.

People who claim that sex education in schools have more cons than pros, often come up with the statements suggesting that sex education in classroom should be avoided because the most effective tool for offering sex education, according to them is TV, films, magazines and media. Such people fail to understand that trained sex educators under especially designed programs teach sex education to children in schools. They are thus able to handle children's problems and clear their ambiguities in the best possible way, whereas magazines, films, TV and other channels and mediums of providing sex education are be reliable. They are most of the times urging the young people by encouraging their sexual promiscuity rather than effectively teaching and educating them. This wrong approach damages the society and the individuals in disguise of ameliorating them.

People contradicting the notion insist that sex education always makes the learners have sex and experience it personally, once they learn about it in school. The reality is that sexual urge for any human being is a natural occurrence. When children reach to a certain age, whether they find people to educated them about sex or not, they do have natural instincts about it, and therefore if provided a chance they would surely want to satisfy their urge. This natural reaction can not in any way be related to the outcome of sex education in schools. In fact, the best time for letting sex education play its role is when the sexual urge increases and the teenagers want to find a source for its satisfaction. It offers individuals with the required knowledge so that they are careful. It is only then that they understand the consequences of sex leading to child birth as well as sexually transmitted diseases. Thus sex education is basically a warning and a caution for such children who are stepping into the phase of life where they would need to know all this.

Some people who go against the topic also argue that even though sex education exists, it has still not decreased the rate of teenage pregnancies. I would rather not go deep in to the moral issue of the topic, but it is important here to discuss and point out the shortcomings of our society. Social values that insist that being single, pregnant and teenagers is fine, is what has to be changed. Through educating the children and making them aware that it is just not 'cool' to be pregnant when single or teenager, and just because 'others are also doing it' does not in any way justify their actions, this change can be achieved. There are many sexual education programs that teach the learners about the grave consequences that can result in having early sex. This type of sex education in schools is helpful and makes the learners responsible and mature enough to understand the difference between morality and immorality.

People, who are against the notion, repeatedly state the question that why sex education is given so much importance when there are also many other issues connected with juvenile delinquencies such as drugs, drinking and aggressive bullying. No doubt, there are also many other issues to consider important enough to be taught in school for awareness but psychological researches show that behind most of the juvenile behavioral problems, one main reason is always the active sexual urge which drives the young people to indulge themselves in harmful activities like drug abuse and alcoholism. It is also commonly observed that young teenagers who indulge into such activities are unaware of proper sex education. Once they are given a true picture of sex and its consequences their mental status relaxes and they are easily able to cope with other social taboos.

Parents, who believe that sex education pollutes the minds of their children, have in large number taken their children out of schools promoting sex education. In this process of instilling in their minds their religious and family values, they forget that the media, their children are largely exposed to can also lead them astray. Sex education in schools does not in any way offers them an invitation to have open sex by making them aware of the risks; it just educates them about the matter in the best way.

Apart from educating the students about safe sex, sex education in schools is also helpful as it helps students to learn proper terminology for reproductive system, STDs and birth contraceptives rather than the street lingo that is commonly used by laymen. Sex education classes are gender based and that is why the young learners are not embarrassed and are only taught what is related to their gender. Early inclusion of classes also helps the teenagers to either become abstinent for some time or to become responsible if they are already active. Therefore, many sexual problems that occur in adulthood can be controlled if effective and apt sex education is given at the right time.