The Reality of Periods
Has there ever been a day you
have had to stay home from
school because you don’t have
any sanitary towels or tampons,
because you can’t afford them?
Thankfully, for many of us this has
never been an issue, but for some
girls this is their reality.
Studies have recently shown that
more and more girls are skipping
school because they simply do not
have the money to buy tampons
or pads. A UK funding appeal has
been launched to stock schools
with as much sanitary towels as
possible. This has been launched
as part of a crowd-funding page,
where people can go online and
donate money towards the cause.
‘Freedom4Girls’ is the charity that has set
up the page. The charity originally raised
money to send sanitary wear over to girls
in Kenya, but after hearing about the
problem in the UK have been focusing
their efforts towards sol ving this. The
founder of the charity Tina Leslie, has said
“I knew it was happening to homeless
women and women accessing food
banks, but not in schools. It’s something
you don’t think about until somebody
tells you.”
This is a cause we at Whateva think is
necessary to try to x, and we hope you
as readers do too. If you or your parents
want to donate to this worthwhile cause,
please visit www.gofundme.com/free-
dom4girls
You see Yellow, Parents see red.
Teenager-Made App
gains popularity
Mental health is becoming more
and more common in teenagers,
with few choosing to seek help and
talk about it. A group of teens
decided to do something about
this, and build their own mental
health app, ‘For Me’ back in March.
For Me was originally a school
project, but NSPCC’s Childline has
made it come to life. Laura Hindle,
one of the creators of For Me, says
“I can’t believe this app is a reality
and is out there for people all over
the country to access and use”.
The purpose of the app is for you
to talk about being bullied, and to
get access to counselling if you
need it.
Yellow is a new app for teens to 'make
friends', this app for 'teens' has also
changed it's age rating to 13-18. But
it's basically like Tinder as it works in
the same way. You log in with your
Snapchat, then you have to swipe
right if you like the person or left if
you don't. If you swipe right for
someone, and vice versa then you
automatically add their snap chat. As
it is starting to become more popu-
lar, it is an extremely controversial
topic as parents fear for their kids. A
teacher at Wanstead High School, Ella
Warner said 'I would discourage my
students and any teens to stay away
from the app, you don't know whose
on the other side, and it could be
anyone'.
The app includes a private ‘locker’
area, where you get a daily mood
tracker and can write down your
thoughts, a bit like an online diary.
A counsellor is also available for
you to talk to.
Laura also explains that she hopes
young people “now realise they
have somewhere to go and with
the support they need, they can
overcome their problems”.
For Me seems to be gaining
popularity, so get downloading
now. It is free to download from
the iOS app store and on Android
via Google Play.
All teens want to be older and
mature, 13 year old Sophia
Isabelle states 'we're old
enough to know what we are
doing, we're not stupid and we
wouldn't just speak to anyone'.
However parents disagree,
Shirly Smith found her 15 year
old daughter on the app and
made her delete it immediate-
ly. The daughter had the app
'because everyone had it'. But
Ms Smith argues 'this is not like
snap chat, that has privacy
controls and it's not something
I want my child on'. Would you
download the app? Whateva
you do, just be careful.
Whateva - Issue 1 5