Culture - Taha Wairua - Health

White Sunday

White Sunday for many Pasifika churches has been a time to celebrate children and a time of

togetherness and performances. For some children, however, it is a time of stress and pressure. White Sunday was brought to New Zealand by the people of Samoa, where it is a national holiday falling on the second Sunday in October, followed by a public holiday on the Monday. According to Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, the day was originally set aside by the London Missionary Society to honour the children of Samoa.

The White Sunday meal is the biggest feast of the year for many samoan families in New Zealand and back home in the islands. For some children White Sunday was a day where they were given freedom to treats such as ice-cream that they don't get to eat often.

But there are differing opinions with regards to the origins of White Sunday. Some say it is a Christian adaption of an indigenous pre-colonial-contact celebration at certain planting and harvesting seasons.

The day is for parents and communities to acknowledge and celebrate childhood by hosting special programs during church services which include spiritual recitations, biblical story reenactments, and creative dance performances. Children receive gifts (often new clothing and/or school supplies) on White Sunday and are allowed privileges normally reserved for elders, such as being the first to be served food at home at family meal time.

On White Sunday, Samoan women and children dress completely in white clothing, Some of them trim the clothes with the other two colours of the Samoan flag, red and blue. Men will wear white shirts with either white slacks or the traditional ie faitaga form of the lavalava. For me White Sunday used to be one of the scariest Sunday celebrations in my life, I used to not look forward to white Sunday because I didn't want to stand up in front a massive crowd and speak especially with strict Polynesian parents I had no choice, overall White Sunday was way more fun back in the islands rather than here in New Zealand.

Personal Values - Health

 In health this week we have been working on Taha Wairua which is Spiritual well-being. Our values reflect what is important to us. They are a shorthand way of describing our individual motivations. Together without beliefs, they are the casual factors that drive our decision-making. In class I took a self value assessment online and it got me to answers some questions then it sent me my results on what personal values I have.

For me letting go of fears and having the courage to grow and develop is the most important value to me. Any undesirable emotion that you feel or a thought which causes you great distress can be referred to as fear. Most of us live our life with a certain kind of fear. This may come in the form of being afraid of heights, change, or even the feeling of rejection.  Regardless of what your fears are, it is your choice if you want these fears to limit your ability progress to your maximum potential as a person or conquer your fears once and for all. The choice lies within you.  There are several reasons why you should face your fear. In the same manner, you will also get to enjoy several benefits in doing so. 

What is courage? 

Courage is when you face danger, pain, life obstacles and having courage is to overcome them. To have courage is to be brave. It is the ability to confront fear, pain, risk, danger, uncertainty or intimidation. Life has its struggles and battles but it is how you live life that counts. 

Courage is the mental muscle that conquers fear. Like all muscles, the more you use them the stronger they become. Courage is not something you are born with, it must be developed. 

Health Create Discovery - Social Media

This term in Health, we had the opportunity to research about a health subject that interests us. For Ms Aitken's health class I decided to work on Social Media. 

What is Social Media?

• Social Media refers to interaction among people in which they create, share, and/or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks.
• "Social" refers to instinctual needs humans have to connect with other humans
• "Media" - what we use to make connections with other humans
• "Social Media" - Media uses for social interaction

Popular Social Media Tools and Websites

• Whatsapps
• Twitter      
  
  
  
• TikTok
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Snapchat
• Messenger
• Youtube 

According to a poll:

- 22% of teenagers long on to their favourite social media site more than 10 times a day.

More than half of adolescents long on to a social media site more than once a day

Sevety-five percent of teenagers now own cell phones. 

In health we had to create a learning outcome of our research, I decided to create a documentary, I thought that creating a documentary would be a good idea because I get to involve other students and get their opinions on social media. 

Influences & Fixes - Health - Backstabbing

This week in Health, we are still learning about Relationships. 
In relationships there could be real people and fake people, meaning that some of your friends could act all nice to your face and the opposite behind your back. That is called backstabbing. 
People often have to deal with backstabbers everywhere. If you want to know how to catch a backstabber, here's a clue. They want to gain something for themselves and gain power over you. You might have friends who smile at you but behind your back, they attack you. You also have to be very careful about who you hang out with because you don't know who are real and who are not. 

Empathy - Health

This week in Health, one of the tasks I did was to research what empathy means and why is it important to be a empathetic person.

What does Empathy mean?

Empathy is the ability to recognise and respond to others feelings appropriately. These skills help us with social problem-solving, managing our own and other people’s emotions and avoiding conflict. 

When was a time where I or my friends show empathy?

I showed empathy when one of my close friends was going through a hard time, and I had to give her some personal space and understand her emotions and what she’s going through. 

Why is it important to be an empathetic person?

Empathy is important because it helps us understand how others are feeling so we can respond appropriately to the situation.

Empathy also helps us to communicate our ideas in a way that makes sense to others, and it helps us 

  

Online relationships VS real-life relationships

Welcome to another blog-post, this week in Health we are currently learning about relationships. 

Today our task was to write a blog post that debated the statement "Online relationships are not as important as real-life relationships", therefore our debate must present both sides of the argument.

In health we discuss the statement "Online relationships can be dangerous sometimes. 

Online relationships is not as trustworthy as face to face relationships meaning that you can't see the other person you're talking with, You don't know how they feel, and it's hard to tell their emotions.

One big problem with online relationship is catfish, it is when someone uses a fake identity, such as lie about their age or lie about what they do and where they live. 

Ghosting also occurs when you're in an online relationships, how do you feel when someone just leaves you on seen? or how do you feel if you saw a friend at school and just totally ignored you? 

It can be hurtful and make you feel sad, it can also lead to depression. 

Therefore on the other hand, Online relationships is a great way to communicate with each other such as family members and friends, During lockdown we weren't able to communicate with each other face to face, so we used Google meets to communicate with our teachers about schoolwork. During lockdown churches were also shut down, the only way we could gather together or communicate with church families was through social media. Online-relationships is very useful but can be harmful. If you have social media accounts it's very important that you are aware that you're keeping your identity safe by not sharing any private information. 

I personally think that social media is a great source of communication, therefore face to face relationship is more important because you can see their face, know their emotions and you trust them. 

Anxiety - Health

Welcome to another blog-post, Below is a Slideshow of one of our set task in Health. 

We were to pick a mental health issue and explain different ways of how we can cope with them. I picked Anxiety. 

Hauora - Wellbeing

A conclusion on what the "Whare Tapa Wha" is, 

Learning Reflection:

and how it illustrates Hauora?

Te Whare Tapa Wha is a maori marae or a house. 
Te Whare Tapa Wha compares health to the four walls of a house where all
four walls are necessary to ensure strength.
The four aspects of Hauora are Taha Tinana (Physical), Taha Wairua (Spiritual,
Taha Hinegaro (Mental & Emotional), and Taha Whanau (Social).

Taha Whanau:
"The capacity to belong, to care, and to share"
Taha Whanau (social wellbeing) refers to the connections people have with others,
including their family, friends and wider social circles. 

Taha Tinana:
"The capacity of physical growth and development"
Taha Tinana (physical wellbeing) refers to the growth and development of the body 
and ways of caring it. 

Taha Hinegaro:
"The capacity to communicate, to think, and to feel"
Taha hinegaro (mental and emotional wellbeing) refers to the feelings and thoughts 
people have and how they are connected to behaviour.

Taha Wairua:
"The values values and beliefs that determine how people live"
Taha wairua (spiritual wellbeing) refers to the value and beliefs people 
have. 

How Did I participate during this lesson?
I participated in this lesson by completing set task, and participating in 
class activites, and also contributing to class conversations such as answering questions and being able to explain to peers what I learnt..

What is the current state of your Hauora?
I feel like there's nothing I need to improve on, also all four aspects of my 
are all good and healthy.

Evidence:
Link to Google Docs Work

Link to Matching Cards