2 . The teenage years are probably the most unsettled and stressful years in a person’s life. Teens experience significant physical, emotional, social and cognitive changes. And teens of today face more challenges as they go through more uncertain times of the 21st century.     1    

As teens experience massive physical, social and emotional changes, the challenges are managing social expectations of ideal body images, developing their identity and finding their place in the world. In the past, a teen who was criticized for his or her larger figure or pimpled (有粉刺的) face, might feel embarrassed and dejected in school.     2     Constant comparison and endless posts of picture — perfect images and lives give teens greater pressure to follow current fashion trends. The Wall Street Journal reported that Instagram made body images worse for one in three teenage girls.

    3     Statistics show that most cases of cyber bullying take place on popular social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchats and Twitter, where cyber bullies make emotionally scarring comments. These can be made publicly on a teen’s social media account.     4     As a result, cyber bullying can be more threatening than traditional bullying because it can be shared and viewed repeatedly on social media. In this age of social media, it is also important for teens to learn to cultivate positive, and healthy relationships with people.

There have been many discussions about new technologies and ways of working, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, which will impact future jobs.     5    . Unlike in the past, the situation is different today as AI and automation are causing some jobs to disappear. Teens will have to meet this challenge by adopting an attitude of lifelong learning, and keeping paces with technology.

3 . Singapore cannot afford to have large plots of land dedicated to growing crops—it is just too small. However, farming, or more precisely, urban farming, is now a buzz word here. Instead of looking at the grounds, Singapore has decided to look skyward, towards rooftops!

In 2020, Singapore announced plans to convert the roofs of nine multi-storey car-parks in public housing areas into spaces for commercially farmed vegetables and other crops. This is part of Singapore’s strategy to meet the country’s 30 by 30 goal, which is to produce 30% of its nutritional needs locally by 2030 up from 10% in 2020.

Several companies have taken on the task of cultivating the urban farming scene in Singapore. Citiponics has made a name for itself, building water-efficient organic “growing towers” that can be used to grow anything from butterhead lettuce (奶油生菜) to sweet basil (罗勒). In April 2020, they opened the first commercial farm on the rooftop of a multi-storey car park and now sell their produce via their own brand at local supermarkets. Edible Garden City (EGC) has more than 200farms across the island and works closely with restaurants to ensure sustainable supply and demand. A 460-square-meter farm run by EGC, is positioned on the rooftop of a mall to supply nearby restaurants.

Singapore is not alone in its efforts to go beyond the confines of conventional agriculture. All over the world, cities are seeking to feed their communities with local produce. At Thammasat University located just outside of Bangkok, a formerly disused rooftop has been transformed into a 7,000-square-meter space for organic farming, the largest in Asia.

Urban farming is not restricted to eatable plants such as leafy greens and vegetables. Rooftop Honey, which has over 130 hives throughout various locations in Greater Melbourne specializes in bees. The urban beekeeping operation, founded in 2010, serves two purposes: producing creamy and delicious honey for the city’s residents while also allowing the bees to pollinate (授粉) flowers in the surrounding areas.

There are several benefits to have the farms so close to home. Through community gardens or access to commercial-scale farm produce, the public have an opportunity to understand how food is grown. As the produce is pesticide free, there is also comfort in knowing where the food comes from and its impact on the environment.

4 . Recycling is a great way of doing your bit for the environment and helping to protect the earth’s precious resources. However, a new study has revealed that our desire to be sustainable maybe doing more harm than good. According to waste company Biffa, this is because of “wish-cycling” — assuming that items such as disposable coffee cup sand pizza boxes will be recycled if put in the recycling bin. In fact, pollution from those items or other non-recyclables can result in recyclable items that have been put in the correct bin going to landfill. David Heaton, a business director at Biffa, said: “Pollution happens when items are disposed of in the wrong bins or haven’t been cleaned before being recycled.”

Experts at Biffa analyzed the amounts of non-target and non-recyclable materials that entered UK material recycling facilities between 2016 and 2020. It was found that, in 2016, the average pollution rate of recycling waste was 13.4 percent, rising over four years to 17 percent by the end of 2020. This shows that, even as people are becoming more eco-conscious, wish-cycling is increasing both in households and businesses.

The Biffa experts say that one of the best ways to prevent pollution of recycling is to clean recyclable waste before putting it in the bin. They suggest cutting off the top of old pizza boxes and only recycling that part to avoid pollution from the grease (油脂). Check the on-packaging recycling label to check it can actually be recycled When it comes to plastics, Biffa recommends checking the resin code, the number in the plastic triangle, to know whether it should go in the recycling bin. In general, resin codes 1, 2, 4 and 5 are recyclable, while 3, 6 and 7 are not. Larger items, like electronics, furniture and batteries, can also be recycled but often can not go in household recycling bins as they need specialist separating. These will need to be taken to recycling centers or sustainable waste management companies.

“It’s vital as a nation that we get better at effective ‘pre-cycling’— sorting waste correctly before collection to reduce pollution rates,” added Mr. Heaton.

6 . When kids melt down in the middle of a crowded store or at a holiday dinner with extended family, it can be extremely frustrating. But parents can help kids learn self-control and teach them how to respond without just acting on impulse (冲动).

Teaching self-control is one of the most important things that parents can do for their kids because these skills are some of the most important for success later in life. By learning self-control, kids can make appropriate decisions and respond to stressful situations in ways that can yield positive outcomes. For example, if you say that you’re not serving ice cream until after dinner, your child may cry, plead, or even scream in the hopes that you will give in. But with self-control, your child can understand that a temper tantrum (发脾气) means you’ll take away the ice cream for good and that it’s wiser to wait patiently.

Difficult as it may be, resist the urge to yell when you’re disciplining your kids. Instead, be persistent and matter of fact. During a child’s meltdown, stay calm and explain that yelling, throwing a tantrum, and slamming doors are unacceptable behaviors that have consequences. Your actions will show that tantrums won’t get kids the upper hand. For example, if your child gets, upset in the grocery store after you’ve explained why you won’t buy candy, don’t give in – thus demonstrating that the tantrum was both unacceptable and ineffective. Also, consider speaking to your child’s teachers about classroom settings and appropriate behavior expectations. Ask if problem-solving is taught or demonstrated in school.

And model good self-control yourself. If you’re in an annoyed situation in front of your kids, tell them why you’re frustrated and then discuss potential solutions to the problem. For example, if you’ve misplaced your keys, instead of getting upset, tell your kids the keys are missing and then search for them together. If they don’t turn up, take the next constructive step. Show that good emotional control and problem solving are the ways to deal with a difficult situation.

7 . They say procrastination (拖延) is the thief of time — actually deadlines are. New research has found that if you want someone to help you out with something, it is best not to set a deadline at all. But if you do set a deadline, make it short.

Professor Stephen Knowles tested the effect of deadline length on task completion for their research. Participants were invited to complete an online survey concerning a charity donation. They were given either one week, one month, or no deadline to respond. Professor Knowles says although the topic of the survey was about charity, the results are true of any situation where someone asks another person for help.

The study found responses to the survey were lowest for the one-month deadline and highest when no deadline was specified (明确规定). No deadline and the one-week deadline led to many early responses, while a long deadline appeared to give people permission to procrastinate, and then forget. Professor Knowles wasn’t surprised to find that specifying a shorter deadline increased the chances of receiving a response compared to a longer deadline. However, he did find it interesting that they received the most responses when no deadline was specified.

“We interpret this as evidence that specifying a longer deadline, as opposed to a short deadline or no deadline at all, removes the urgency to act,” he says. “People therefore put off undertaking the task, and since they are inattentive or forget, postponing it results in lower response rates.”

He says of the research that it is possible that not specifying a deadline might still have led participants to assume that there is an unspoken deadline. Professor Knowles hopes his research can help reduce the amount of procrastinating people do. “Many people procrastinate. They have the best intentions of helping someone out, but just do not get around to doing it.”

9 . Some documents have been making the rounds lately — where people who work various positions in different industries share how much they’re paid.

Bravo! It’s about time we blew up that old belief that salaries have to stay secret. This is not just a matter of curiosity. Having information about salaries can help narrow the gender wage gap, which has barely changed for more than a decade. Recently released date from the US Census Bureau shows that, on average, women working full time still are paid only 82 cents for every dollar paid to a man. And the gap is even wider for many women of color: Black women make 62 cents, and Latinas just 54 cents. What’s more, the pay gap even extends into her retirement. Because she earned less and therefore paid less to the social security system, she receives less in social security benefits.

Having greater access to salary information is helping to speed things up. A new research report by the American Association of University Women shows that the wage gap tends to be smaller in job sectors where pay transparency (透明) is a must. For example, among federal government workers, there’s just a 13 percent pay difference between men and women, and in state government, the gap is about 17 percent. But in private, for-profit companies, where salaries are generally kept under wraps, the gender wage gap jumps to 29 percent.

Fortunately, salary information is increasingly available on some websites. Certain companies and many human resources departments are pushing ahead with this practice. Of course, it’s going to take more than salary transparency to equalize earnings between women and men. But sharing salaries can and must be part of the solution. The more information women have about how jobs are valued — and what different people earn — the better they will understand their value in the labor market and be able to push for the pay they deserve.