Judgment Statement

• Youth violence has substantial negative impact on young Australians’ overall wellbeing.
• This assessment is based on its severity of health consequences and widespread occurrence across populations.

Physical and Mental Health Impact

• Violence causes severe adverse effects on young people’s physical and mental health.
• Evidence shows one in four Australian students experience weekly bullying resulting in physical injuries like bruising, fractures, and head trauma.
• Mental health consequences include depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts that persist into adulthood.
• These effects further act to disrupt education and sport participation and can be a major contributor to measurable long-term health deterioration.
• The combination of immediate physical harm and lasting psychological damage indicates major health impacts.

Social Wellbeing and Community Connection

• Violence achieves considerable disruption to social relationships and community participation.
• Victims experience social isolation, trust issues and withdrawal from protective activities like team sports.
• Studies indicate a strong correlation between a young person’s exposure to violence and school disengagement.
• Further, this research shows violence creates social anxiety preventing healthy peer relationships.
• When all factors are considered, violence substantially undermines social support systems.

Overall Assessment

• On the whole, youth violence proves highly damaging across all wellbeing dimensions. The substantial quantity of evidence confirms violence as a major public health concern.
• Physical injuries, mental health disorders, and social disconnection combine to create comprehensive harm.
• Implications of this assessment suggest the urgent implementation of prevention strategies and support services is required.
• Creating safer environments requires policy reforms addressing this significant threat to young Australians’ wellbeing.

• Lower socioeconomic status directly impacts food security, with the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reporting that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds have limited access to fresh, nutritious foods due to cost barriers and geographic food deserts.
• Educational disparity affects nutritional literacy, as young people from higher socioeconomic backgrounds typically receive more comprehensive education about nutrition at home and school, enhancing their ability to make informed food choices.
• Time poverty in lower-income families often results in greater reliance on convenience and fast foods, as parents working multiple jobs have less time for meal preparation, resulting in higher consumption of processed foods high in salt, sugar and unhealthy fats.
• Cultural food practices intersect with socioeconomic status, influencing dietary patterns and nutritional intake across different communities, with some traditional diets offering protective health benefits despite economic challenges.
• Food marketing disproportionately targets lower socioeconomic areas with unhealthy options, with research showing higher densities of fast food advertising in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, influencing young people’s food preferences and consumption patterns.
• Government initiatives like school breakfast programs and subsidised healthy canteens can help minimise socioeconomic differences in nutrition, though implementation varies significantly across different communities and school districts.

ANSWER STYLE #2: Highly structured

Evaluation Statement

• Social media is partially effective in influencing young people’s health behaviours.
• This evaluation examines reach and engagement capabilities versus harmful content exposure.

Reach and Engagement

• Social media demonstrates superior reach for health messaging to young audiences.
• Evidence supporting this includes health campaigns achieving millions of views through youth influencers.
• Online support communities successfully connect isolated young people managing anxiety or chronic illnesses.
• Online platforms are very good at engaging young people through interactive features and peer-to-peer support networks.
• For example, youth-led content about quitting smoking shows 60% higher engagement than traditional campaigns.
• Another critical strength is 24/7 accessibility allowing immediate health information access.

Harmful Content Exposure

• Social media can often fail to achieve safe health information delivery for vulnerable youth.
• Research indicates that Instagram use correlates with increased eating disorders among teenagers due to its algorithms creating echo chambers that reinforce extreme dieting.
• Platforms inadequately fulfil their responsibility to filter health misinformation. While strong in spreading content, online platforms do not consider it their responsibility to verify its accuracy.
• As a result, harmful content such as unqualified influencers promoting dangerous detox teas can reach more youth than qualified health professionals.

Final Evaluation

• Weighing these factors shows social media’s influence is a double-edged sword.
• The strengths partially outweigh weaknesses because positive campaigns can counteract harmful content.
• Although effective for health promotion reach, it proves less suitable for ensuring information quality.
• The overall evaluation demonstrates urgent need for digital health literacy education.
• Implications suggest platforms should be pressured to implement stricter controls over the accuracy of content that appears on their site.

• Alcohol affects brain development in young people, potentially causing long-term cognitive impairment and memory problems as the brain continues developing until approximately age 25.
• Binge drinking increases risk-taking behaviors such as unsafe sex, violence, and dangerous driving, leading to higher rates of accidents and injuries.
• Young people who drink regularly are more susceptible to developing alcohol dependence later in life, creating long-term health concerns.
• Alcohol consumption can interfere with academic performance through poor concentration, missed classes and reduced study time, affecting future opportunities.
• Social impacts include damaged relationships with family and friends, legal consequences from underage drinking, and reduced participation in healthy activities like sports and community engagement.

*Language highlighting the cause-effect relationship is bolded in the answer below.

• Unhealthy body image leads to disordered eating patterns and eating disorders that compromise physical health. This occurs because young people restrict food intake or engage in purging behaviours, which causes nutrient deficiencies affecting growth and development.
• Low self-esteem and negative self-worth develop from poor body image. This relationship results in a cycle where negative thoughts reinforce body dissatisfaction, which leads to depression and anxiety.
• Social withdrawal occurs when body insecurities create discomfort in social settings. The reason for this is that body shame generates social anxiety, causing young people to avoid peer interactions and limiting their support network development.
• Academic performance declines as a result of mental resources being diverted to appearance concerns. This happens when constant body image worry consumes cognitive energy needed for learning.
• Excessive exercise or dangerous weight loss methods cause physical harm. This is due to extreme behaviours disrupting hormonal balance and immunity, which leads to serious health complications including bone density loss.

Position Statement

• Social media use is justifiably classified as a significant health issue for young Australians.
• Evidence confirms widespread usage, mental health impacts, and cyberbullying prevalence.

Mental Health and Usage Impacts

• Research shows one-third of teenagers aged 13-17 use social media “almost constantly”.
• This demonstrates significant risks because almost 50% of young Australians report negative online experiences.
• Studies indicate strong links between social media and increased anxiety and depression.
• Excessive screen time decreases physical activity, contributing to obesity.
• The significance of this health issue is compounded because it affects both mental and physical health simultaneously.

Cyberbullying and Sleep Disruption

• The eSafety Commissioner identifies cyberbullying as causing serious psychological distress.
• Additionally, excessive use disrupts sleep through blue light exposure.
• The negative health impacts of poor sleep grow in significance due to the direct influence they have on cognitive function and academic performance.
• Evidence confirms these effects further compound existing mental health vulnerabilities.

Reinforcement

• While social media provides benefits like health information access, negative impacts outweigh positives.
• The evidence remains compelling because harm affects the core health areas.
• This justifies urgent public health responses including education programs.
• Classification as significant is warranted given the widespread, multifaceted health consequences.

• Vaping can lead to nicotine addiction as vapes can contain up to 50 times the nicotine of a cigarette, making young people much more likely to start smoking cigarettes.
• Vaping exposes young people to harmful chemicals including formaldehyde which can cause serious lung diseases, cardiovascular disease and respiratory disorders.
• The developing adolescent brain is vulnerable to nicotine, with vaping potentially impairing cognitive development.

• Mental health conditions affect approximately 39% of Australians aged 16-24, with females (46%) experiencing higher rates than males (32%).
• Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health condition among young people, affecting approximately 17% of the population.
• Despite increasing prevalence, help-seeking behaviours have improved with young people more likely to access mental health services than any other age group.