Earthling Report

For inquiry we have been looking at stereotypes. We had a writing activity where we had to write a report as though we were an alien who came across a stack of magazines, and our opinions on humans can only be based on what we see in magazines. Here is my earthling report.

Hello my people, as I was taking a leisurely stroll through our universe I discovered a stack of something called ‘magazines’. These ‘magazines’ were a historical discovery for our population because they contained descriptions and images of another planet’s life. I have learnt that there are two kinds of ‘humans’ as they are referred to. Females and males. I shall begin with the females.

Most of the images in the ‘magazines’ show a lot of females with two big globes down the front of their chest. They are referred to as ‘boobs’, and to quote one of these books directly, “Nicki Minaj has recently gotten more implants,” which was accompanied by an image of her ‘boobs’. The females all have some sort of string on their heads which is styled to form fascinating patterns. A lot of the string is a blonde colour, and looks very smooth and silky. All females have differently coloured lips and each of them have some sort of colour on their eyelids. And each of them has something big sticking out of their lower back, some sort of pillow. The clothes they wear are all very fancy and show quite a bit of skin. They also wear very high things on their feet called ‘high heels’.

The males are all quite beefy. They have weird formations on their stomachs which they call ‘abs’. They do not wear any shirts for some reason, and have perfectly styled string on their head. They have weird lumps in their arms which apparently is attractive.

Something that is very recurrent in these magazines is the happiness and the smiles they have. Everyone looks fit and seems to be living a very happy life. The only downside is that there is never someone to take a picture of you, so everyone just takes photos of themselves. But they live in fantastic homes and have fantastic friends and families. They go to parties every night and have amazing social lives. I wish everyone on our planet could look like everyone on theirs. Perfect skin, perfect clothes, perfect lives.

My Speech

In TK we have all been writing speeches for the school speech competition. Our topic was 'Healthy Bodies, Strong Minds'. Mine was about impressing others.

Why We Shouldn't Try So Hard To Impress Others

Welcome to our world; where personality is based on appearance, where some people’s opinions matter more than others’, and beauty is skin deep. We live in a place where nobody can be anybody without being criticised. Where we can’t say, do or even think what we want without others saying it’s ‘lame’ or ‘pathetic’. And why do we do this? Because everyone else isn’t like us. What I’m trying to say, is that we shouldn’t wake up every morning to impress others. We shouldn’t change our personality because that is what others want. And the only person we should be trying to impress, is ourselves.

Imagine we are all the same. We looked the same, wore the same clothes, had the same ideas and the same taste in music. Every house, game, song, sport and shop were exactly the same. That world is boring. That is why we are different. To be interesting, to have a story to tell others without them having heard it before. To live our life the way we want it. But for some reason in our real world, difference is not accepted. We laugh at others for having opinions, we mock them for being themselves, and bully them because they don’t try to be like everyone else.

Honestly it doesn’t matter how attractive the photos on your social media account are. Or the price of your car, or the brand name of your clothing. Because there is always going to be someone out there who doesn’t like you. There is, no matter how hard you try, always going to be a group of people who think you are weird, awkward, or stupid. But no matter how many people hate you, there are also a lot of people who don’t. The people who like you for who you are, and not who you try to be for others. And if we stopped trying to impress those who don’t like us, and just be ourselves for those who do, then people would stop judging us for someone we’re not.

A lot of us have been in that situation where we have changed our opinion for other's’ sake. We tell them we liked something just because they did, and agree with them, even though you don’t. And then later people start bullying you because you try so hard to be like others, and you look stupid doing it. So you decide to gather your courage and share your own opinion. But later, people are laughing at you because you’re so weird and you always try to be different. It doesn’t matter what you do, because people will laugh at you anyway. So you might as well try to be yourself, because it won’t stop the bullying.

So we should stop now and look at ourselves. Are we seeing what we want to see, or what others want to see? Are people judging you on who you are, or what you have? And are the opinions you have really yours, or actually others? So welcome to our world; where personality is based on appearance, where some people’s opinions matter more than others’, and beauty is skin deep. I hope you like what you see.

Ad Busters

For inquiry we have been looking at stereotypes in adverts. We have been looking at magazine ads and identifying the qualities of the ultimate person. Then, we started to look at anti-ads, or ad-busters. That is where people take an advert and use reality and some irony to make it the opposite of what the ad originally was.  I used an advert for a range rover and turned it into a don't drink and drive ad.

Hauora

Hauora is a Maori word describing the well-being of people. There are four levels of Hauora. Spiritual, physical, mental & emotional, and social.

Social Well-being - taha whanua
going to visit a sick family member

encouraging someone

giving someone our opinion

texting a friend

helping some carry their things

telling someone your problems

Mental & Emotional Well-being - taha hinengaro
receiving a compliment

confidence to try new things

thinking positively

feeling good about yourself

walking away from conflict when angry



Spiritual Well-being - Taha Wairua

religious beliefs

appreciating nature

searching for meaning in life

Physical Well-being - Taha Tinana

improving fitness

growing taller

learning how to play hockey

brushing teeth