The+Health+Issues+of+Generation+Y

Name: Paula Wells Student Number: n5373948 Tutor: Michelle Newcomb

**The Health Issues of Generation Y**

**Cultural Artefact** (WARNING: This video contains mild nudity and strong language) media type="custom" key="10861022" align="center"

(WARNING: The following song lyrics contain adult themes and strong language)

**Lyrics to Sex - NDubz** //I don't mean to be pushy, pushy// //I'm just in it for the pussy, pussy// //Who wants to come get a pie of the piece// //Got time for everyone, I ain't on no leash//

//Be single and mingle around// //Seen one too many get tied down// //That shit right there is pricey// //I ain't got no wifey//

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//I don't mean to be pushy, pushy// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//I'm just in it for the pussy, pussy// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Who wants to come get a pie of the piece// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Got time for everyone, I ain't on no leash//

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Be single and mingle around// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Seen one too many get tied down// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Are you set?// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Back up, let me get that//

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Do you ever get horny reading a text?// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//You ever had sex over the Internet?// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Webcam and shit wet up your tushy// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Cut the story straight play with your pussy//

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//All lovers put the plug in the socket like Bobby and Suzie// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Wet up the place like a hot jacuzzi// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//I might come across sweet, really I'm a rudie//

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Ever since I started puberty// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//I was looking in magazines just to see the nudity// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Truthfully, guess I don't care who you be, be//

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//I'm fine if you take a chicks virginity// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Looking at your phone becomes a misery// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//'Cause she calls you up more times than infinity//

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Bitch, let me be, I don't need no stress// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//I'd rather have a pint and a li'l bit sex// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Who you think I am? I ain't buying you a dress// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//That's candy floss and I ain't here to impress//

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Sex no text, root it then boot it, shag that back// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Fuck all the kissing and cuddling// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Why don't you grab my balls and try juggling//

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Josh slept with Bianca// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Little did she know he was wanker// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//'Cause he was a bi-sexual prick// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//He love slits as well as dicks//

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//He fucked Bianca as hard as Rick// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Never thinking of takin' a trip to the clinic// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Now they're all in it, they might have AIDS// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//I can't have babes//

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//At the end of the day// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Josh should've put on his hood before the rain// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//You know what I'm sayin', anyway washin' in// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Remember me, hey you know how I like it darlin'//

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Sex no text, root it then boot it, shag that back// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Fuck all the kissing and cuddling// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Why don't you put my knob in your mouth and try swallowing//

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Sex is a crazy thing// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Especially if you do it with someone that you don't know// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//There's nothing wrong with a one night stand// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Just watch your possession if she's a ho though//

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//If you only knew what some females have put me through// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Last week, I chased by a beast// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Licking her lips like I'm some feast//

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//I was drunk, my eyes were red// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//I'm kinda known so I wanted some head// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Somehow we ended up in a bed// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Little did I know she dreds on her legs and a wig on her head//

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//I ain't gonna lie, I was scared// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Bit fat mama came all prepared// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//'Bout which color condom would I like// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Get the fuck off me, ooh//

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//I don't mean to be pushy, pushy// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//I'm just in it for the pussy, pussy// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Who wants to come get a pie of the piece// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Got time for everyone, I ain't on no leash//

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Be single and mingle around// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Seen one too many get tied down// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//That shit right there is pricey// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//I ain't got no wifey//

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//I don't mean to be pushy, pushy// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//I'm just in it for the pussy, pussy// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Who wants to come get a pie of the piece// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Got time for everyone, I ain't on no leash//

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Be single and mingle around// <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Seen one to many get tied down, down//

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">//Thanks for your time// <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">// Now go and never come back //

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">//‘Sex’// is a song written by N-Dubz, a UK hip hop/R&B band who have had eight top 40 hits on the UK Singles Chart, and have won several music awards in the UK (N-Dubz, 2011). N-Dubz currently have over 1.4 million album sales, 100 million views on YouTube, 1.3 milllion friends on Facebook and over 300,000 followers on Twitter (N-Dubz, 2011). The song ‘Sex’ which featured on their 2008 album //Uncle B// contains sexually explicit lyrics which talk about not committing and having one night stands. The song also touches on themes including internet or ‘cyber’ sex, bi-sexuality, sexually transmitted infections and illicit drugs.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Literature Review
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">The health and wellbeing of young people not only has an impact on their immediate quality of life and productivity but also influences the future health of the entire population and, in a broader social context, the health of society (Eckersley, 2008). Throughout adolescence and early adulthood, young people transition through physical, social, emotional and neural developments (AIWH, 2011). Physical and sexual maturation is usually accomplished by the late teenage years (Lee, 1980) but social, emotional and neural developments occur later (AIHW, 2011). Current evidence suggests that brain development is not finalized until the early 20s, and that the area of the brain responsible for self-control, judgment and decision making is the last to mature (NIMH, 2001). <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">The current generation of adolescents and young adults - Generation Y - faces a unique set of health issues differing from any generation before them. Surprisingly illicit substance use has almost halved over the last decade among 14–24 year olds - declining from 42% to 22% between 1998 and 2007 (AIHW, 2011). Deaths from accidents and poisoning have halved, teen pregnancies have decreased, and risky alcohol drinking levels and consequently related injury have remained relatively stable (AIHW, 2011). All in all many public health campaigns targeted at the current youth consisting of generation Y’s seem to be working, making Generation Y in some ways healthier than their Generation X counterparts.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">However, in the past decade, the number of sexual infections in Australia has skyrocketed, with doctors calling it a "mini-epidemic" (Clark, 2008). Unsafe sexual practices accounted for an estimated 0.4% of the overall disease burden in Australia among 15–24 year olds in 2003 (AIHW, 2011). In 2008, among young people aged 12–24 years there were 40,575 notifications for STIs - a rate of 1,045 per 100,000 young people compared to only 280 per 100,000 in 1998 (AIHW, 2011).

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">STIs remain a major public health concern, contributing to significant long-term morbidity (Bowden et al., 2008; DoHA, 2005). Of the notification for STIs in 2008, nearly 90% of notifications were for Chlamydia, with the rate increasing fivefold from 1998 (AIHW, 2011) (see Figure 1). Chlamydia overwhelmingly affects young heterosexual men and women, with those most at risk being young women aged 15–29 years (AIHW, 2011). Other causative risk factors include a prior history of STIs, new or multiple sex partners, and inconsistent use of barrier contraceptives (DoH,A 2005). Chlamydia’s most important feature is that it is often asymptomatic in both males and females (Braun & Provost, 2010). The AIHW (2011) believe that the recent increase is likely to reflect not only increases in testing and hence case ascertainment, but also true increases in Chlamydia transmission.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Figure 1: Chlamydia notification rates among young people aged 12-24 years, 1998 - 2008** <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">//Source:// AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare). (2011). //Young Australians: Their health and wellbeing 2011.// Canberra: AIHW. Cat. N. PHE 140.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Young people under 25 are more likely than any other demographic to engage in unsafe sexual behaviours, increasing their risk of acquiring sexually transmitted infections (AIHW, 2011). Biologically, adolescents may be more susceptible to STIs due to less mature reproductive and immune systems (Sales & DiClemente, 2010). A lack of knowledge about STIs, and of communication and negotiation skills which can make using condoms difficult, also contributes to adolescents being at increased risk (Sales & DiClemente, 2010).

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">The alarming rise in STIs is largely because young people are having sex earlier, and with more partners than any previous generation (Sales & DiClemente, 2010). In Australia in 2008, 27% of Year 10 students and 56% of Year 12 students had experienced sexual intercourse (AIHW, 2011). Only two-thirds of sexually active students used a condom at their most recent sexual encounter (AIHW, 2011).

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">A BBC Radio 1 poll of 29,623 British young people aged between 16-24 disclosed that 60% of young people believe it is now easier than ever to have casual sex, with 40% believing that one-night stands are "no big deal" (BBC Radio 1, 2006). 30% of the respondents had lost their virginity before reaching the age of consent (16 yrs), and 43% had had more than five sexual partners, with one fifth of respondents having more than 10 (BBC Radio 1, 2006). One-third of the 16-24-year-olds who responded to the survey said they had had unprotected sex with between two and five people, with 60 per cent of young women saying they had done so "simply because they trusted their partner” (BBC Radio 1, 2006). In fact, more respondents were worried about unwanted pregnancies than contracting an STI (BBC Radio 1, 2006). 57% of respondents claimed to have had a one night stand and 38% did not always use a condom with a new partner; with being on the pill and too drunk cited as the most common reasons (BBC Radio 1, 2006).

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">In addition, the survey discovered that 41 per cent of under-24s had either contracted an STI themselves or knew someone who had done so (BBC Radio 1, 2006). More than nine out 10 claimed they would not tell their partner if they thought they had an STI, while a similar proportion of those under 20 had never been tested (BBC Radio 1, 2006).

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Cultural and Social Analysis
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">For the current youth of Australia the evolution to adulthood is made more complicated by the social, environmental, economic and technological developments that have occurred both at home and internationally in recent times (AIHW, 2011). Socially, the present generation of young people has distinct ways of communicating than previous generations, having never known a world without perpetual access to mobile phones, the internet, iPods and email (AIHW, 2011).

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">While it is clear that the youth of generation Y are having sex earlier and with more partners than any previous generation, the reasons for this are complicated, and seem to be driven by a wide variety of factors. In the USA— a country which has had a troubling tilt towards abstinence-only sex education in the past decade— the media have arguably developed into the leading sex educator of young people (Strasburger, 2009). According to Strasburger in 2009, there were five longitudinal studies linking the exposure of youth to sexy media to an earlier onset of sexual intercourse. In a case in point, in their 2009 study Brown & L'Engle found that two-thirds of males and more than one-third of females aged less than 15 yrs had seen at least one form of sexually explicit media in the 12 months. Longitudinal analyses showed that early exposure for males predicted less progressive gender role attitudes, more permissive sexual norms, sexual harassment perpetration, and having oral sex and sexual intercourse around two years earlier (Brown & L’Engle, 2009). A different study drawing from a sample of 2,343 Dutch adolescents aged 13 to 20 also found that more frequent exposure to sexually explicit Internet material is associated with greater sexual uncertainty and more positive attitudes toward uncommitted sexual exploration (i.e. sexual relations with casual partners/friends or with sexual partners in one-night stands) (Peter & Valkenburg, 2008).

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Whilst it may be possible for parents to exercise some control over their teenagers exposure to sexy media content by using internet filters and monitoring television and movie viewing, there are some forms of media that are nearly possible to avoid. Music plays a significant role in the socialisation of children and adolescents, and is present almost everywhere; easily available through the radio, the internet, and new technologies, allowing teenagers to listen to it in various settings and situations, alone or shared with friends (Council on Communications & Media, 2009). Lyrics have become more explicit in their references to drugs, sex, and violence over the years, particularly in certain genres, and it seems that this is also having an influence on the current youth, particularly in regards to sexual attitudes and behaviours.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">In the US, the Council on Communications and Media (2009) found that teens whose iPods are full of music with provocative and sexual lyrics begin having sex earlier than those who prefer less raunchy songs. The influence of music on their behaviour appears to depend on how sex is portrayed, with music depicting men as “sex-driven studs”, women as sexual objects and with explicit references to sexual acts being more likely to trigger early sexual behavior than those where sexual references are more indirect and relationships portrayed as more committed (Council on Communications and Media, 2009). This supports the findings of a previous study conducted in 2006, where it was found that teenagers who said they listened to lots of music with degrading sexual messages were found to be almost twice as likely to start having intercourse or other sexual activities within the following two years as were adolescents who listened to little or no sexually degrading music (Brown et al, 2006).

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Whilst it is impossible to blame the ealier sexual maturation and greater rate of STIs found in generation y solely on the increase in sexual media or the increase in exposure to sexually explicit material, there is clearly a strong link. It seems logical that for a developing adolescent frequent exposure to messages promoting uncommitted sexual exploration would result in subsequent behavioural change in order to fit in with surrounding social norms; especially at an age where social acceptance is key. The issue however seems to lie in an apparent lack of exposure to messages regarding sexual safety in terms of the use of appropriate barrier contraceptives and a reluctance in youth to get regularly tested for sexual infections. All those with a commitment to the health and safety of youth, and in turn society, therefore need to work harder in getting these messages across, assisting in helping generation y to be sexually safer and healthier.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Analysis of The Artefact and Learning Reflections
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">The song ‘Sex’ by N-Dubz highlights explicitly the type of messages that the current youth are exposed to through popular music in regards to sexual attitudes. The song clearly promotes having casual sex and one-night stands through lines such as ‘//Be single and mingle around’//, and interestingly talks about the role of sexual media in the sexual development of adolescents through the line ‘//Ever since I started puberty I was looking in magazines just to see the nudity’.//

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Despite the potentially morally objectionable lyrics throughout most of the song, N-Dubz do nevertheless address sexual health through the use of contraceptives. The lines “//Never thinking of takin' a trip to the clinic, Now they're all in it, they might have AIDS, I can't have babes, At the end of the day, Josh should've put on his hood before the rain”,// appear to refer to reluctance of sexually active people to get sexual health checks and the subsequent transmission of sexual infections (namely HIV) due to Josh’s reluctance to //‘put on his hood before the// //rain’// – a metaphor for using a condom during sex. Whilst N-Dubz could arguably be applauded for their effort to encourage sexual safety, this message could easily be missed amidst a variety of stronger messages; messages which according to research appear to contribute to the earlier sexualisation of and the increase in the number of sexual partners of adolescents, and thus the increase in the transmission rate of STIs.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> While it is easy to point blame at one music group or genre, it is less likely to be a specific song or movie that is the influencing factor in an adolescents decision to engage in sexual intercourse at a young age, but rather the constant bombardment of today’s youth with highly sexualised media throughout their formative years. The solution required to prevent the continual increase of STI rates in generation y is unclear. What is clear however is that more needs to be done to address it. If we cannot prevent the sexualisation of adolescents at a younger age than ever before, we at least need to ensure that when they do become sexually active, that they know how to do so safely.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Links
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">N-Dubz Fan Page

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|The graphic sexual imagery in many top 40 songs would appall most parents... So do you know what's on your child's iPod?]

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|The Drum Opinion - The Sexualisation of Children]

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Australian Government - Sexual Health]

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">References
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare). (2011). //Young Australians: Their health and wellbeing 2011.// Canberra: AIHW. Cat. N. PHE 140.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">BBC Radio 1. (2006). //Bare All Youth Sex Survey//. Retrieved from []

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Bowden, F.J., Tabrizi, S.N., Garland, S.M., & Fairley, C.K. (2002). Infectious diseases 6: Sexually transmitted infections: New diagnostic approaches and treatments. //Medical Journal of Australia, 176//(11), 551–7.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Braun, R.A., & Provost, J.M. (2010). Bridging the Gap: Using School-Based Health Services to Improve Chlamydia Screening Among Young Women. American //Journal of Public Health, 100//(9), 1624-1629.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Brown, J., L'Engle, K.L., Pardun, C.J., Guo, G., Kenneavy, K., & Jackson, C. (2006). Sexy Media Matter: Exposure to Sexual Content in Music, Movies, Television, and Magazines Predicts Black and White Adolescents' Sexual Behavior. Pediatrics, //117// //(4),// //1018 -1027.//

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Brown, J.D., & L'Engle, K.L. (2009). X-Rated : Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors Associated With U.S. Early Adolescents' Exposure to Sexually Explicit Media //Communication Research, 36,// 129.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Clark, S. (2008). //Sexual infections rise among Gen Y//. Retrieved from Sydney Morning Herald website []

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Council on Communications and Media. (2009). Impact of Music, Music Lyrics, and Music Videos on Children and Youth. //Pediatrics//, //124//, 1488.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">DoHA (Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing). (2005). //National sexual transmissible infections strategy: 2005-2008.// Canberra: DoHA. Retrieved from []

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Eckersley, R. (2008). //Never better–or getting worse? The health and wellbeing of young Australians.// Canberra: Australia 21. Retrieved from []

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lee, P.A. (1980). Normal ages of pubertal events among American males and females. //Journal of Adolescent Health Care, 1//(1), 26–9.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">N-Dubz (2011).N-Dubz. Retrieved 20 October, 2011 from []

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health). (2001). //Teenage brain: a work in progress.// NIH publication no. 01-4929. USA: NIMH. Retrieved from []

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Peter, J., & Valkenburg, P.M. (2008). Adolescents' Exposure to Sexually Explicit Internet Material, Sexual Uncertainty, and Attitudes Toward Uncommitted Sexual Exploration : Is There a Link? //Communication Research,// 35, 579.

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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">**Reflective Comments**


 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Young Blokes Don't Cry...But suffer in silence**

It's absolutely heartbreaking to read stories such as this. I personally witnessed the suicide of a young male under the influence of drugs after a music festival a few years ago. He was talented, well liked and seemed to have everything going for him, but whether the drugs were to blame or whether they just magnified the underlying issues will never be clear. Similar to the family from your artefact, I am sure his death left a lot of people wondering why, and wishing they could have helped to prevent this. I know from my interactions and conversations with my male friends that they often feel as though they can't talk about how they feel in the same way as females can. Especially to other male friends. Interestingly though, indigenous youth suicide (which you touched on briefly) tends to be completely different from Caucasian Australian youth suicide in that it appears to not have the same links to underlying mental health issues. There has been a recent surge in Youth Suicides in the NT recently which I am sure will have an impact on these figures. A beautifully written piece which raises a lot of questions. For me personally it makes me feel motivated to really check in with how my male friends are feeling - even though they don't like to talk about it!


 * The High Tech Arena - Fighting to Survive the Overfed mind of Information**

Such a well written piece! It's absolutely fascinating (and quite scary) to read about the psychological impacts that new technology is having, especially on the youth of today. Technology is so often heralded as being the solution to nearly everything, but it is interesting to learn about how it not only changes our social interactions but also our fundamental brain composition. It is so very true that as a generation, we are always connected but not really connecting with others in the most basic human sense. I personally always find it amazing as a part of generation Y when I will be with a group of friends and everyone will be using their mobile phone to communicate with others via sms, facebook, twitter etc, rather than focusing on the face to face opportunities presenting themselves. There are undoubtedly a huge range of benefits coming from the ICT revolution, but I think we need to find a way to balance this within our lives in order to protect our mental health. Very well written and enjoyable to read Hazel.