TEENS STRUGGLE TO COMBAT CONFORMITY

1. In the Twilight Zone episode 'Eye of the Beholder' by Rod Serling, a woman
   goes through surgery after surgery in order to try to achieve the beauty by
   which she is surrounded. Each surgery ends up as a failure, and with each she
   grows more and more hopeless that she is unlike everyone else around her. At
   the end of the episode, it is revealed that a beautiful woman is really trying to                  (5)
   conform to the faces of everyone else, or the societal norm, highlighting the way
   society's concept of 'beauty' can sometimes be truly absurd, subjective and
   alienating.
   
   
2. This episode is a perfect example of conformity: shaping actions and beliefs to
   align with the opinions and behaviours of others.                                                           (10)
   
   
3. Unfortunately, fiction has become reality. Currently, teenagers conform to
   anything and everything to avoid standing out in the fear of being judged or
   exiled by their peers. They do so, even if they do not agree with the beliefs of
   the clique to which they choose to belong.
    
4. Of course, there is healthy conformity. Listening when your mother tells you to             (15)
   wash the dishes is considered healthy and normal. However, the unhealthy
   kind, in which teens blindly follow the ideas and actions of a group of people,
   without realising what kind of negative effects it has on them and society today,
   is growing to be increasingly common.
   
   
5. There are some major causes for the increase in conformity in the past few                   (20)
   years. Seeing skinny models with perfect bodies in magazines and on social
   media makes teens believe the only way they will feel good about themselves is
   to look like those models. If they don't, they pretend – 'fake it until you make it'.
   However, most pictures in magazines and on social media are photoshopped in
   such a way that an unrealistic expectation is created.                                                      (25)
   
   
6. Also, teenagers are still exploring themselves. They want to establish their
   identity without being the same as their parents. They often conclude that acting
   like a certain group of people will allow them to establish their identity and have
   stability and acceptance in their lives. When they find that sense of family within
   their clique, they do not realise that they have been conforming.              (30)
   
   
7. Some of the effects of this level of conformity are that teens tend to mature at a
   younger age in the hope of fitting in. The use of make-up among teenagers has
   shot up by 90 percent just in the last decade. Moreover, diversity has been lost.
   Groups like goths¹ have ceased to exist, because they try to fit in with what they
   think is considered 'cool', and have blended in with everyone else. Even misfits             (35)
   tend to dress and act like one another in order to fit in amongst themselves.
   
   
8. Teens tend to change their personality when they come into contact with new
   people, shifting from being shallow and petty to caring in a matter of minutes.
   This stress of always needing to fit in causes teens to be afraid of the possibility
   of not being able to fit in, even at lunch or at a school dance.                           (40)
   
   
9. In the Ash Experiment, part of a study done on conformity and human behaviour,
   a teen sat with many actors and was given a set of lines. He was asked to
   determine which of the two lines was equally sized. Every time he gave the
   correct answer, the actors would give the wrong answer. After only two or three
   questions, the teen started giving the same incorrect answer as the rest of the              (45)
   actors, because he was not confident enough to trust what he saw with his own
   eyes.
   
   
10. However, it's not entirely the fault of teenagers that they feel the need to
    conform. In today's world, there are numerous outside influences that put too
    much pressure on them, such as commercials and social media. However,                    (50)
    conformity can be lessened. If all teenagers received a sense of empathy and
    understanding from their families, they might not feel such a huge need to
    conform to their friends or a certain clique. It is very important for parents to
    develop connections with their children, and influence them in ways in which they
    are able to accept diversity, to empathise with others, and to reject negative                  (55)
    influences.
    
    
11. Comfortable teens are able to develop the ability to make choices about what to
    think, how to act, and also to make individual decisions, without feeling anxiety
    when those decisions do not conform to peer and societal norms.

[Adapted from www.dailyrecord.com] 

 UNDER PRESSURE:
HOW STRESS CAN CHANGE OUR LIVES FOR THE BETTER

Stress has become a defining feature of the 21st century, contributing to the mental health crisis. But it is not always the villain it is made out to be. Daniela Kaufer, a neuroscientist says, 'There's this perception that stress is always bad for the brain, but that's not true. Your stress response is crucial to your survival.' It is important for alertness. Stress also prepares you to adapt to the next thing that comes along.

The notion of eustress (the 'eu' prefix is from the ancient Greek for 'well' or 'good') makes intuitive sense. People can tell when the feelings associated with adrenaline gets them going. 'Stressful situations,' she says, 'actually tend to push our performance.' This effect with which experts are well acquainted, takes one out of one's comfort zone and improves one's overall well-being.

When pushing ourselves through a eustress situation, we have to focus in a way that we've not done before. This doesn't mean we should overdo things. If the balance tips from eustress to distress, the positive effects are inhibited. So, embracing more situations that are scary but don't pose any serious threat – riding rollercoasters, public speaking, job interviews – is strongly encouraged. 'Another key reason why we all need to know about eustress,' says Richard Stephens, 'is that it is possible to convert distress into eustress by reframing stressful situations as positive challenges – and reaping the benefits.'

When it comes to the effects of stress, perspective is king. 'This is where we end up talking about emotion regulation, which is the idea that we apply different strategies to experience favourable outcomes. Get used to your emotions and learn to live with them and be more accepting of them rather than trying to over-manage them,' says Stephens.

Kaufer's research has found that the energy and arousal associated with eustress can combat fatigue. She says that 'people with indicators of eustress – feeling happy or experiencing more meaningfulness during the workday – generally experienced lower levels of fatigue overall.'

If we are struggling to see the positives in a situation, remember some stress is desirable and even necessary, because that's how we demonstrate that we are active in the world. Without challenge comes boredom. [Adapted from theguardian.com]

You won't find anything artificial about Heinz Tomato Ketchup. No artificial thickeners. No artificial preservatives. No artificial colouring. No artificial flavour. They just don't grow in Heinz ketchup bottles.
It's only good natural ingredients you'll find there. A few homely spices and a whole lot of tomatoes. In fact, we use a pound and a half of good ripe tomatoes to make just three-quarters of a pound of thick, rich Heinz ketchup.
You can't improve on nature, we reckon.

No other ketchup tastes like Heinz 

THIS IS WHAT 'ADULTING' MEANS

1. English speakers love to turn nouns into verbs. There was rain before it rained.
   There was Google before we googled. And there were adults before we adulted.
   
   
2. The linguistics journal American Speech has offered these definitions of the verb
   'adult': to behave in an adult manner; to make someone behave as an adult.
   This noun that has been turned into a verb has been turned back into a noun,              (5)
   the form of an activity known as adulting.
   
   
3. 'The millennials,' said a lexicographer at dictionary.com, 'are going through life
   stages that other generations have gone through much later in life, like starting
   families and owning homes.' The age of first-time mothers is indeed at a
   histrionic high of 26.                                                                                                       (10)
   
   
4. And so this jokey way of describing one's engagement in adult behaviours –
   whether it is filing your taxes, buying your first lawnmower or being someone's
   boss – can help millennials concede and admit that transition.
   
   
5. Depending on the person and their listeners, different motivations may drive the
   'adulting' experience. The disinterested millennials may wish to imply that they're       (15)
   so young and hip that it is laughable for them to be, say, ironing serviettes
   before a dinner party.

[Adapted from time.com]