Is Photoshop Affecting our Youth?

Everyday we see pictures of models and celebrities looking seamlessly flawless. Everyone admires their beauty and stands in awe at how perfect celebrities seem to be. What we do not realize is how fake this actually looks. Hundreds of companies and brands Photoshop their models in order to achieve the "look". They shrink women's waist, accentuate their legs and arms, just to achieve "perfection".

Since we see this look of "perfection" on a daily bases, we do not realize that people do not actually look this way. People all over the world try to have the "look" but fail, because no one looks this way. We should all appreciate the way we look and how unique we all are. Instead, these brands are taking people who are already beautiful and morphing them into something far from reality.

Most say, "Oh Photoshop does not affect anyone in a negative way. It just accentuate their beauty." What they do not understand is this has a destructive affect on young boys and girls. Statistics show that 42% of girls in grades 1-3 want to be thinner. Appearance is the last thing a little second grader should be thinking about. When I was 6 the only thing I cared about was coloring inside the lines and when recces was. 78% of 17-year-old girls are unhappy with their bodies.30% of high-school girls and 16% of high-school boys have an eating disorder. This is a serious issue that should not be taken lightly. 

We must stand up to these companies and tell them the way they are exploding women and men is unacceptable. It has a serious affect on the way children have an outlook on life. The influences that Photoshop has is taking a toll on our mental health. With Photoshop it creates this idea that everyone should look the same. It teaches the youth to not embrace their unique side.

Brittany Spears before and after

Jessica Alba before and after

    

Ice Ice Baby

Figure skating's origins trace back directly to an American named Jackson Haines who was born in New York in 1840.(http://www.usfsa.org) Well obviously I have not been skating since 1840 because that would be impossible. It has had a pretty huge impact in my life. My interest for skating sparked when I was around five years old and I saw people skating on TV during Christmas at the Rockefeller Center in New York. I asked my dad what they were doing and I wanted to try it. So the next day he signed me up for lessons. After my first lesson I had this feeling inside like that is what I was meant to do.

I was very motivated to work hard everyday to be the best I could. It was a strenuous commitment that I was willing to take. I woke up every morning at four to go skating before school. People would always ask me, "isn't it hard to wake up that early every morning?" and I would say, "yes, but when you do something you love, it's worth it." It's worth waking up at crazy times, going through all that stress to become a better skater. I would do the same routine every morning. Wake up, get ready, go to the rink, skate for three hours, change, and go to school. I would get tired and stressed and at times I would ask my self, "why am I doing this? I want to quite, and sleep with a normal schedule." No matter how many times I said this, I never quit.

I did not quit, I did not give up. Until one morning. Everyone was getting ready for the up coming competition, including me. I went through my program and everything seemed okay. Then I went into a jump, known as a double-flip. I felt fine in the air, then I landed the jump in a funny way and heard a pop in my ankle, and I went down. I skated off and my ankle looked like a golf ball. I went to the doctors and they said I had a stress fracture in my growth plate. I had to wear a cast for four weeks. However, I was in a boot for five months. 

After I healed I was very eager to get back on the ice. When I did, nothing felt the same. I felt as if I did not belong there, as if I was an outcast. My friends were still there for me and supported me with all that I did, but it still felt weird. An outcast in the only place I felt I belonged. It felt horrible, as though I was never meant to be here in the first place.

I eventually got over this feeling of not belonging. However, I never got back into skating. What I miss most is the way I used to feel. Skating used to feel like I was the only person in the universe. It was just me and the ice. I tried again and again to skate, but it never worked out. Then school got in the way, and I started cross country. However, that did not go so well because I am injured again with a torn ligament in my ankle. I guess I am just a walking accident waiting to happen.