Author: Esther Haguenauer

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Skipping school can be a form of self-care

Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth.

Why having balance and making time for yourself is important during the school semester

With the winter semester coming to a close, it seems more and more students are behind on their work. That isn’t to say they aren’t working as hard as they did at the beginning of the term, or even in the fall. As the low temperatures and cloudy skies persist, however, I think it’s easier to get tired.

The mix of rain, snow and wind has been exhausting, along with a constant yo-yoing between above and below zero degrees Celsius. This type of weather increases people’s chances of getting sick, and their ever-growing workload can prevent students from making a quick and full recovery. According to a 2014 study from Harvard Medical School, the cold weather forces people to stay indoors in close quarters, causing colds to spread. For students who just emerged from midterms and are already staring down the barrel of finals, an impaired immune system and low energy levels are the last thing they need right now.

Additionally, some students experience seasonal affective disorder. According to CBC News, 35 per cent of Canadians get the “winter blues,” while another 10 to 15 per cent are affected by a mild form of seasonal depression. The days are cold, dark and short, which can have a depressing impact on our lives and our bodies. I know it does for me.

Personally, I feel like my body has been shutting down since January. I almost always finish my school day with a massive headache, and I can’t function again until I lay down and rest. But my program and courses don’t always allow for restful days. As a journalism student, even on the days when I don’t have class, my projects keep me fairly busy, and I have to run around town to complete them. Even though I rested during reading week, it barely felt like an actual break. I still had many projects to complete and exams to prepare for. I slept in, but it didn’t feel like I was catching up on all the sleep I needed.

During high school, I never skipped classes, though I don’t pass any judgment on those who did and do. This semester, however, reading the PowerPoints my professor sends to the class is enough to understand my elective and still get reasonable grades. That is why I have decided to skip that class every week. My elective is on Mondays at 8:45 a.m., and since I don’t live close to campus, I would have to wake up very early to get there on time. I would often end up falling asleep in class anyway, which is why I decided it would be better for my mental and physical health to sleep in on Mondays and get some work done from home instead.

I genuinely don’t believe skipping class is a form of laziness. Though some people skip class to take a break and have fun, most of us need to catch up on sleep and homework. I now take the two hours and 45 minutes I spent in that class getting most of my projects completed—and it’s such a relief! Those extra few hours allow me to rest during the weekend, do more work during the week and still take care of myself. I know some people who even use skipped class time to go to the gym. Balance is incredibly important—it’s necessary to make time for all forms of self-care, even if that means occasionally not going to class.

I have been less stressed out since I began skipping my elective, and I feel more rested and prepared for the rest of my courses. Even though finals are quickly creeping up on us, self-care is no joke and shouldn’t be neglected. Regardless of how you cope with cold weather, a heavy workload and seemingly never-ending exams, you need to take care of yourself. So rest-up, relax and focus on the upcoming summer break we all deserve.

Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth

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Shining a spotlight on gender inequality

Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth

Female artists in the music industry need to be recognized by their peers

The music industry celebrated its most important night of the year for the 60th time on Jan. 28—the Grammy Awards. There has been a lot of backlash, with Bruno Mars dominating the awards alongside Kendrick Lamar. The trending hashtag #GrammySoMale is a testament to how frustrated music enthusiasts are. The day before, singer Janelle Monáe tweeted: “A total of 90.7 per cent of [Grammy] nominees between 2013 and 2018 were male, meaning just 9.3 per cent were women.”

Singers, both male and female, supported the #MeToo movement by wearing a white rose on their outfits at the Grammys this year. Despite the recent amplification of female voices in the media, however, it seems women in music still aren’t being heard. Alessia Cara was the only woman to win a major televised award this year.

Honestly, this lack of representation of female musicians makes me feel exhausted. It’s awful that inequality is still so strong and visible, and it’s frustrating to see so little progress in an industry that claims to support women.

According to CNN, Recording Academy president Neil Portnow said women who want to be musicians need “to step up because I think they would be welcome.” Portnow received a lot of backlash for his comment, and rightfully so. I believe the fact that so many women went unrecognized during the Grammys is a step backwards.

Gender inequality affects the music industry in many ways, including through double standards. In a Rolling Stone interview, singer Taylor Swift said: “A man writing about his feelings from a vulnerable place is brave; a woman writing about her feelings from a vulnerable place is oversharing or whining.” People also react very differently when men sing about sexual topics. Women receive constant backlash when their videos or music is sexual, but when men do it, no one seems to be bothered.

As a woman, I truly want to believe there is something we can do to bring equality to the music industry—but is there really? As fans, all we can do is listen to women’s music, go to their concerts, follow them on social media and support them. But change is slow—especially in the entertainment industries—and the issue is an ancient one. Women have always been in the background of any creative industry. Even in the 1800s, the women who wrote classics like Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights hid behind pen names to get their works published. Although there has been progress in terms of female recognition, some might assume everything has been fixed—clearly there’s still a lot of work to be done.

In my opinion, women’s voices can make a huge difference in our society as well as in the music industry. The #MeToo movement is just one example of women’s voices being heard. However, the 2018 Grammy Awards highlighted that not all creative industries have been so drastically affected by this powerful conversation. The Grammy Awards showed that gender equality in creative industries is still far away—but not impossible. As consumers, I believe we can help make a difference when we choose to support female artists and their messages.

The way I see it, we are still far from gender equality in every part of society. The inequality is simply more obvious when those affected are celebrities in the spotlight. However, I do believe we are on the right path. These movements, and the men and women who stand up for gender equality, make it possible to believe the message is being conveyed. And this makes me believe that things will change for the better, someday, in all creative industries.

Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth

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The line between enthusiasm and addiction

Graphic by Zeze Le Lin

Classifying gaming addiction as a mental disorder can have a positive impact on gamers

Later this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) will classify gaming addiction as a mental health condition in the 11th edition of their International Classification of Diseases. The organization’s diagnostic manual states that, in the case of any addiction, “the unhealthy behaviour will have had to continue for at least a year before diagnosis is confirmed.”

I believe the classification of gaming addiction as a disorder has been a long time coming, and it’s becoming a more prominent issue as children get electronic devices earlier in life. Nearly 40 per cent of children under the age of two used a mobile device in 2013, a jump from 10 per cent in 2011, according to a study done by the California-based non-profit organization Common Sense Media.

As soon as video games became accessible on multiple platforms (phones, computers, etc.), their potential risk and impact on gamers increased. According to the WHO website, “in an increasing number of countries and jurisdictions, the problem [of gaming addiction] has reached the magnitude of a significant public health concern.”

I’m astonished by the amount of time children under the age of 10, and sometimes as young as five, spend on tablets or phones. Kids seem captivated by their screens. In my experience, millennials usually received their first phones—flip phones used only for texting, calling and sometimes playing Snake—at about 10 years old and smartphones much later in their teens.

However, according to the online tech news outlet TechCrunch, on average, kids these days are given their first smartphones at the age of 10. The percentage of infants to eight-year-olds who have used mobile devices nearly doubled from 38 per cent in 2011 to 72 per cent in 2013, according to Common Sense Media.

But enough about phones; let’s get back to video games. A Kaiser Family Foundation study conducted in 2009 found that children in the United States between the ages of eight and 10 spent an average of eight hours per day using electronic devices, which is longer than the time they spend in school.

In addition to consuming so much of children’s time, there are more sinister aspects to gaming, including negative physical and psychological effects. Playing video games for too long can cause migraines and the person might forget to get up, eat and drink, and sometimes even sleep. Violent action games such as Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty were proven to have a negative impact on the hippocampus in the brain, causing lack of orientation and loss of memory, as well as psychiatric illnesses such as depression and potentially Alzheimer’s disease, according to Global News.

The way I see it, the fact that playing video games can lead to serious health conditions is an indicator of how grave the issue is. In my opinion, young gamers are too quick to dismiss how big of an impact videogames can have on their lives. Therefore, gamers tend to deny the fact that they can’t stop playing, which only makes matters worse.  

I believe people tend to be scared of using the term “mental illness,” assuming it is a sign of weakness. Frankly, it isn’t. Though people might not want to admit how real the problem is, I think the use of this powerful term highlights the importance of the matter. It points to the fact that adults as well as children should take gaming addiction as seriously as any other illness.

But do not despair. As long as they’re played in moderation, video games have the potential to expand certain brain capacities, such as perception, attention and reaction time, according to Global News.

As such, I believe it’s important to remember that there is a difference between gaming enthusiasts and addicts. The key is for players to remember there is a life outside of video games, to take a step back and prevent isolation. It’s also important to remember that seeking help isn’t a sign of weakness. If someone has trouble putting down the controller and engaging with the world, family and professionals are there to help.

Graphic by Zeze Le Lin

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