This week on Catch da Flava, your hosts Thalia, Jamelia, Shejuanah and Kylie had the pleasure to interview Jasmina from EarlyOn, Child and Family Centre to discuss healthy relationships. The youth acquired a wealth of knowledge from Jasmina. Many important questions about controlling behavior and boundaries were discussed. Moreover, many of the misconceptions of sexual relationships were addressed.
This week of Catch da Flava, your hosts Jamila and Kiley are joined by Ish to discuss some basic financial literacy. The trio has been also joined by Hirani Siva over the phone. Hirani is a part-time Financial adviser and a third-year criminology student at Wilfrid Laurier University. In this episode, many great questions about budgeting, delay of instant gratification and chequing/saving accounts were discussed. Additionally, some of the misconceptions of credit cards were addressed.
This week Catch da Flava youth radio show started off with a banger! The hosts Jamelia, Thalia, Shejuanah and Kylie -joined by Ish, discussed the upcoming Federal election and what qualities and goals they wanted to see in the next leader of our beautiful country. Moreover, they debriefed the Federal Election debate for listeners who didn’t get the chance to watch.
On this weeks radio show we had a discussion about Lifestyle (Veganism Vs Meat Eaters). We had our guests Stephan, Raymondo & Diego speak about their experiences and the different lifestyles they live. On the vegan side we had Elise and Stephan and on the meat-eater side we had Raymondo and Diego. Both sides had GREAT arguments but its still unsolved as to which lifestyle is better. Elise Ardizzi hosted this week's show. I (Xavier Ricketts) and Minerva Navasca did the technical work for the show. Overall I enjoyed it this week and I look forward to my last radio show next week!
This is the sixth radio blog of Catch Da Flava Youth Radio Show hosted by Vanessa, Andre, and Iman. The topic is about Opioid and the opioid epidemic here in Canada. Our guest is Sheena Taha from the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction. She gave information about the topic and her opinion about it. This radio show showed the negative side effects of opioid overdoses and how to help others if they are struggling with opioid addiction. This is Iman from Catch Da Flava and hope you tune in for next week's radio show.
Catch da Flava’s topic for our third week was abortion, from how to get an abortion in Canada, the Unplanned pro-life film, and people’s personal opinions about pro-life and pro-choice. The hosting was done by André and Iman since I lost my voice, but I was still there listening to the conversation.
Our 11 am to 12 pm timeslot was slightly hijacked in the beginning by our guest Minerva Navasca, who wished a very happy 19th birthday to our other guest Lorena Florea. Happy birthday Lorena, you’re finally 19!
After we got the show back on track Minerva and Lorena gave their opinions about being pro-choice, and how the pro-life side is adapting to the times. We also discussed the Unplanned movie, an adaptation about Abby Johnson’s switch from pro-choice to pro-life.
After Lorena and Minerva, we had Carolyn Egan from Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada to answer some questions about the current abortion system in Canada and what their organization is doing to help women. Carolyn also gave her opinions about the movie Unplanned. Carolyn especially highlighted how even though Canada has one of the best abortion systems in the world, it still has its struggles for the women in our country.
On April 16th Catch Da Flava hosts Kylie, Thalia, Shejuanah, Iman, and Meredith discussed the topic of “vaccines and vaccinations” with special guest Anne Egger, a registered nurse from Regent Park Health Centre, who was happy to share her knowledge and expertise.
Having Anne was immensely enlightening as she was able to answer the following questions (among others) to our youth—some of which were a little hesitant themselves around the topic:
- How do vaccines work in general?
- What is herd immunity?
- Are there certain populations who cannot get vaccinated? Like pregnant women?
- In modern times like today, why are some individuals opposed to receiving vaccines?
- What are some legal restrictions around vaccinations?
- Does the medical community support the idea of individual choice when it comes to vaccinations?
In addition to answering these questions, this episode of Catch Da Flava talked about the actual risk—which is to say the very small risk that is actually associated with being vaccinated—a risk that is heavily outweighed by the potential benefits. Moreover, the hosts discussed the origins of a lot of the fear around vaccines that was started by a falsified, and later debunked, study that suggested a connection between the measles and mumps vaccine and autism in young children.
On April 9th Catch Da Flava hosts Kylie, Thalia, Shejuanah, Meredith, Jenna and Jessica discussed the topic of “sleep.”
To start off, our hosts described their own relationship to sleep. Experiences varied, though our teen hosts did have a tendency to stay up late, and even experiment with how long they could go without sleeping. After this, they discussed the stages of sleep, including the rem cycle and how each stage functions and interacts with one another. The hosts discussed the importance of getting to that deep sleep stage, and some sleep-related phenomena like sleep paralysis.
Furthermore, our hosts discussed the importance of actually getting sleep, understanding now that experimenting with their sleep cycles might not have been the healthiest the decision to make. They talked about research that demonstrates the negative implications that a lack of sleep can have on one’s reproductive system, cardiovascular system and immune system, among others, and the increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s or cancers.
The show concluded with some tips toward sleep hygiene, which refers to healthy sleep-related practices that can help individual’s get that proper rest they desperately need. Practices include utilizing the bedroom only for sleeping purposes, having a consistent and regular sleep schedule, cutting down on screen time before bed, and other tips.
Catch Da Flava held another show on April 2nd 2019! This time around, our hosts Thalia, Kylie, Meredith, Iman, and new member Jamelia, held a discussion about nutrition! As guided by Health Canada’s current official food guide, of course.
To start, our hosts began discussing their respective relationships to food. This included concerns about being healthy and preferences toward dining out or dining in. Answers varied host to host. Additionally, the hosts talked about the importance of experiencing the culture, and preserving culture through food.
Afterward, our hosts focused on the new, more holistic parameters of Canada’s food guide, which focuses on overarching wellness instead of caloric intake and physicality. The guide touches on the importance of proper nutrition for physical, mental and social health. Instead of having countless food groups, the guide narrows the essentials down to: fruits and vegetables, protein foods, and whole-grain foods.
Finally, our hosts touched upon the importance of enjoying our food as we eat it, essentially increasing that mindfulness component in what we consume. Before concluding the show, our hosts discussed the dangers of food advertising and stressed the importance of researching and fact-checking ourselves to make sure we are truly consuming what is being advertised to us.
On March 19th, 2019, Catch Da Flava youth expanded on the tragic mosque shooting which occurred on March 15th, 2019. Our hosts for the show were Kylie, Jessica and Meredith. Before they started the show, they gave a warning to their listeners because of the graphic content that was exposed on the show. They incorporated a series of videos, songs, and articles to help to spread awareness on gun violence and to elaborate more on the shooting that occurred. They focused more on the changes implemented post-shooting to put more emphasis on the more positive aspect of things. For instance, New Zealand banned any leisure weapons that people may have in their homes. Most people have been more than happy to adjust to the new law as this tragedy affected everyone in New Zealand. Also, their Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern has stated that their government will take care of all costs for each funeral and any other future assistance.
The videos consisted of survivors who tried to stop the shooting and new reporters interviewed them to hear their take on their horrifying experience. There were also videos of the shooting itself, but because it is too graphic, Prime Minister Ardern banned it from several media sources. New Zealand and many other countries are trying to ban unnecessary weapons that people have in their homes in order to prevent cases such as this one. This has not been the first shooting that occurred, however, governments are doing their best to prevent this from ever happening again.
Catch Da Flava held another show on March 12th 2019! This time around, our hosts Shejuanah, Thalia, Kylie, and Meredith held a discussion about the Black Lives Matter movement.
Our hosts started off by defining the movement (“a member led organization with missions to build local power and to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities”) and its origins.
Intending to hold protests and speak out against issues like police brutality and racial profiling, the movement ignited after the murder of 17-year old Trayvon Martin, committed by George Zimmerman, and was further emboldened following the murder of Michael Brown, at the hands of police officer Darren Wilson. Both perpetrators were let off. Our hosts take some time to confirm that these incidents are not purely circumstantial and that racialized individuals in the United States, particularly unarmed black men, are statistically twice as likely to be shot by police.
They also discuss the prevalence of this issue in Toronto, and the frequent notion that our society is often quick to dismiss these kinds of problems in Canada because of the issue is not as statistically widespread as in the United States. Other misconceptions and counter-arguments are also mentioned.
To conclude the discussion, our hosts take a moment to recognize the role of Black Lives Matter Toronto, particularly the demands they requested in 2016 as the guest of honor at the Pride parade. They requested increased funding in Pride programming for Black and other racialized youth, as well as for the exclusion of uniformed police officers marching in the parade.
For Catch Da Flava’s March 5th show our hosts were Jessica, Meredith, Iman and Shejuanah. The topic of the show was Post-secondary funding and tuition. They spoke about the struggles of paying back tuition, the absence of the 6-month grace period for paying back OSAP, and ultimately how post-secondary funding can be detrimental to one’s physical and mental health. One of the main issues they spoke upon was the 10% discount students will get off their tuition and students who come from low-income families will no longer be provided with free tuition for their post-secondary education. There are also cutbacks from grants which means more than 50% of the money will be loans, meaning students will have to pay back more money within a short period of time.
It is difficult for students to maintain a part-time job and to be enrolled in post-secondary schooling as school may cause stress and can essentially affect one’s well-being. Without the 6-month grace period for paying back, OSAP students will have no time to search for jobs and to save money to pay back their loans. Many students will struggle in the future because of this issue, including some of our own youth and hosts from our Catch Da Flava show.
The Ford government was responsible for implementing these changes, following this, several universities and college students protested against these issues hoping to make a difference to their future. Families and schools continuously debate on whether these changes could be a positive thing in the future or if it limits youth from attending Colleges and Universities.
For the February 19th live show of the Catch da Flava youth radio program, our hosts Kylie, Thalia, and Meredith explored issues that youth experience in schools that can affect mental, physical, and social health and wellness. We focused mainly on high school issues and experiences, but we did briefly touch on some issues experienced in earlier school years also.
All of us had moved to a different school at some point during our high school years, so we started our discussion off with a comparison of the different experiences between the different schools we attended, such as the differences between public school, Catholic school, and private or specialized schools. All three of us felt that in our experiences with Catholic schools, religion played a very large part in all aspects of education and general student life, and quite frequently it crossed the line of being relied on and used as reasoning for decision-making far too often.
We also discussed school uniforms and dress codes, and how that can impact students. We talked about how clothing can be a source of bullying in schools, so sometimes school uniforms can actually be a helpful aspect of school life for students, as they take away the difference in clothing from student to student that can create divisions and make certain students targets for bullying. We also looked at the down sides of uniforms and dress codes, which can often disproportionately affect girls in schools, as dress codes seem to target girls' clothing much more harshly than boys'. Reasoning for disciplinary action and/or removing girls from class due to dress code violations will often cite the girls and their clothing as being a "distraction" to the male students, taking any responsibility off the boys for their behaviour, and prioritizing the education of the male students over the education and well-being of the girls.
Our discussion then moved to the topic of disciplinary action and conflict resolution in schools. We talked about how conflicts are resolved in schools by teachers and administrators, and how that process is often unfair and can be more punishment-based than rehabilitative or actually concerned with genuine resolution and making the situation better for all involved moving forward. We discussed how racism and other types of prejudice can come into play in disciplinary action in schools, especially with positions like School Resource Officers (essentially police officers in schools who use legal punishment as a means of behaviour control and conflict resolution) that often perpetuate the school to prison pipeline, especially for racialized and otherwise discriminated-against "minority" students.
This was a good opportunity for the youth to speak about their own experiences with school, issues and challenges they have faced navigating their school life, and to discuss their true feelings about the topic without feeling like their concerns are falling on deaf ears as they often do at school, and without feeling like they may be disciplined for their comments and feelings.
Catch Da Flava had their third show of the new year on January 29th 2019! This time around, our hosts Shejuanah, Thalia, Kylie, Jenna and Jessica held a discussion around healthy relationships.
Our hosts first began by defining the different kinds of relationships that can exist in our lives, whether that be friendships, familial relationships, professional relationships or romantic relationships. They then went on to compare the qualities that make up a healthy relationship versus an unhealthy relationship.
Healthy qualities that were spoken about included trust, empathy, communication, compatibility, support, mutual happiness, reciprocation, mutual pre-established boundaries, as well as respect and consent. Some unhealthy qualities that were discussed included abuse, whether it be emotional or physical, manipulation and similar tactics like guilting and gaslighting, betrayal and cheating, lying and general untrustworthiness, jealousy, possessiveness and unhealthy habits that fall outside of established boundaries.
Finally, our hosts concluded the segment with a conversation around consent, defining implicit and explicit consent, and speaking to the importance of attaining consent in every situation, not just those involving physical intimacy, for every person, regardless of gender or identity.
On January 22nd, 2019, Catch Da Flava had another radio show regarding social media and the effects it has on one’s mental health. We had our special guest Mike Stroh from Starts With Me come in and talk about this topic with us. Our hosts were Iman, Kylie, Kayla, Jessica and Meredith.
Our hosts had some interesting questions for Mike, some including does social media impact youth differently than adults? And how does an addiction to social media affect someone mentally and physically? They talked about the positives and negatives of social media has on youth and adults and how in the long run impacts an individuals’ well being.
Mike informed us about the good and bad aspects of social media, some of which includes networking with others or social media taking up too much time throughout our day. Also, with this generation teenagers are generally using their phones and on social media minimally 2 hours a day. With phones being more advanced both teenagers and adults are known to be using their phones more often than face to face contact. Social media has several affects on teenagers and adults some including social isolation or addiction.
Catch Da Flava had their third show of the new year on January 19th 2019! This time around, our hosts Shejuanah, Thalia, Kylie, Jenna and Jessica held a discussion around healthy relationships.
Our hosts first began by defining the different kinds of relationships that can exist in our lives, whether that be friendships, familial relationships, professional relationships or romantic relationships. They then went on to compare the qualities that make up a healthy relationship versus an unhealthy relationship.
Healthy qualities that were spoken about included trust, empathy, communication, compatibility, support, mutual happiness, reciprocation, mutual pre-established boundaries, as well as respect and consent. Some unhealthy qualities that were discussed included abuse, whether it be emotional or physical, manipulation and similar tactics like guilting and gaslighting, betrayal and cheating, lying and general untrustworthiness, jealousy, possessiveness and unhealthy habits that fall outside of established boundaries.
Finally, our hosts concluded the segment with a conversation around consent, defining implicit and explicit consent, and speaking to the importance of attaining consent in every situation, not just those involving physical intimacy, for every person, regardless of gender or identity.
Catch Da Flava had their first show of the new year on January 15th 2019! Our hosts Shejuanah, Thalia, Jessica and Meredith held a captivating discussion on women’s sexual health.
Our hosts began by defining the concept of feminism as “the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of sexes,” and went on to discuss their own experiences with women’s sexual health related topics like birth control, PMS, consent, and the current sexual education curriculum in secondary schools.
Throughout the discussion it became apparent that our hosts had varying experiences when it came to the PMS symptoms they felt, the kind of sexual education they received, and even the attitudes they were accustomed to around the subject matter.
What was unanimous however, was their belief in the importance of normalizing women’s sexual health topics through discussion and education, with a particular emphasis on the importance of consent. Moreover they shared their hope in the possibility that male birth control alternatives will be established in the near future, along with a more progressive update of Doug Ford’s current sex-ed curriculum..
