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Hunger’s Diary
In this story, Youth Radio’s Lauryn Silverman explores her ongoing struggle with anorexia, chronicling the onset of the disorder, her time inside a hospital unit, and her process of recovery. The piece interweaves diary entries, poetry, music, and reflections like this:
I was performing a disappearing act, but at first, people didn't notice I was vanishing. I didn't want them to know...mostly because I had gotten so used to the friendship that anorexia provided me…
My relationship with anorexia was completely one-sided. For more than a year I gave up my time, energy, health, friends and family for it. And in return I lost my health and ability to think straight…Anorexia convinced me if I continued to on its path, I would feel unique, become someone better.
Instead, anorexia made her suffer. Lauryn’s story provides an intense personal account of her struggle with a disorder that affects all genders, ages, ethnicities and classes. Still, the vast majority are women, and more than 80% of people living with anorexia report that the disease started before they turned 20. So it is especially urgent that educators working with teenagers understand this disorder and know how to find help for those who need it. Lauryn Silverman’s story is one place for this understanding to begin.
Click here to find the full script and audio for this story.
Teach Youth Radio
For this month's feature, you will be able to view these strategies and resources:
1. How teachers can align this Youth Radio story to National Standards in the classroom.
2. Suggestions for lesson plans that link the story's content to your classroom's themes and subject areas.
3. Suggestions for lesson plans that explore media literacy, using the story to re-read mainstream media.
4. Bios of the Youth Radio reporters who produced the story.
5. A list of resources and further research related to the story's themes.
6. Links to Youth Radio’s media production techniques as guides and inspiration for your students’ creative media-making projects.
1. NATIONAL STANDARDS: Standards Alignment
Subject: LANGUAGE ARTS
NL-ENG.K-12.1 READING FOR PERSPECTIVE
NL-ENG.K-12.2 UNDERSTANDING THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE
NL-ENG.K-12.3 EVALUATION STRATEGIES
NL-ENG.K-12.6 APPLYING KNOWLEDGE
Subject: HEALTH
NPH-H.9-12.1 HEALTH PROMOTION AND DISEASE PREVENTION
NPH-H.9-12.2 HEALTH INFORMATION, PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
NPH-H.9-12.3 REDUCING HEALTH RISKS
NPH-H.9-12.4 INFLUENCES ON HEALTH
NPH-H.9-12.7 HEALTH ADVOCACY
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2. NEWS YOU CAN USE: Story content in your classroom, Suggestions for lesson plans
Language Arts:
Personification:
As a writer, Lauryn does something striking here with anorexia. She addresses the disorder as a “friend” who turns out to be terribly destructive. Ask students to note the ways in which Lauryn personifies anorexia. What is the effect of this narrative technique? What does it imply about how Lauryn experienced the disorder, and how does it contribute to the intensity of her story? Have students identify another issue, such as alcoholism, domestic violence, or sex. Ask them to do a free-write in which they turn that issue into a person: they meet, they form a relationship, perhaps that relationship changes or ends. Compare students’ narratives with Lauryn’s, and discuss the expressive uses of this narrative technique.
Intertextuality: Lauryn’s piece moves fluidly among various forms of writing, and yet she never stops to tell the reader, “Here’s a poem I wrote,” or “Now, a diary entry from when I was in the hospital.” How does Lauryn create transitions between one genre and the next? Compare how those transitions work in print, when you read the piece, and “to the ear,” when you listen. What are some ways that writers can weave various texts into their narratives without creating confusion for readers or listeners?
Health:
Eating Disorders: Anorexia is one eating disorder, but there are others, such as bulimia and compulsive overeating. Have students develop a chart in which they list the various eating disorders recognized by health providers. Whom do they affect? What are the symptoms? Treatments? Recovery rates? Controversies and debates? Support services available to young people?
Anorexia in Context: Eating disorders are often characterized as illnesses with biological bases as well as social, psychological, and cultural dimensions. Some even frame eating disorders in primarily political terms, emphasizing the sometimes unhealthy effects of gendered expectations and the politics of beauty. Others say disordered eating is really all about trying to find a space of control. What do these various explanations (biological, sociological, psychological, etc.) contribute to your understanding of anorexia? How are they related to one another? Go back to Lauryn’s story and notice the ways in which she frames her complex relationship to anorexia.
Getting Help: Young people with anorexia are not the only ones who live with this disorder. It can affect and reorganize the lives of family members, friends, and teachers as well. Ask your students to identify local and national resources for young people with eating disorders and those who love them. What do these resources say about the kinds of things family members, friends, and teachers can do to help those with eating disorders find the help they need?
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3. CRITICAL MEDIA LITERACY: Putting This Story in Context
“Quit Trying to Force Me”: In one of Lauryn’s poetry passages, she says, “So please quit trying to force me to mold into a certain shape. This is just what I can't take any longer…Twisted thoughts of skin or bone to eat or not, a little or a lotListen to the voice that offers a single lie, Live or die?” ? Who is Lauryn talking to here? In what ways do the entertainment and beauty industries contribute to the idea that there is a “certain shape” that is right? We all know that celebrity culture fetishizes thin-ness. Speaking in concrete terms, what responsibilities do journalists have, when it comes to the well-being of young audiences? (You might encourage students to check out controversies surrounding plans by the FX Network for a television “comedy” called “Starved” about people with eating disorders).
Pro-Anorexia on the Web: Recently a troubling on-line phenomenon has surfaced—so-called “pro-ana” websites that encourage visitors to starve themselves and discourage them from seeking treatment. Ask your students to do some research into this phenomenon (see research and resources below). Who produces these sites? Who do they target? How do they position and define themselves? Some Internet service providers have taken steps to shut down these sites by removing them from search engines. Ask your students to find out the details surrounding these efforts. What ethical and technological challenges do pro-ana sites raise for digital media culture today?
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4. MEET THE COMMENTATOR
Lauren Silverman was born in July of 1988. But she’s no longer Lauren, she’s Lauryn. At eight years old, Lauryn changed the spelling of her name as a joke on a substitute teacher. So far, that joke has lasted eight years. Lauryn grew up with parents who encouraged her to try a lot of new activities, and she did so willingly.
Throughout high school Lauryn has continued to spread herself across a range of activities. She thrives in dance, sculpture, and jewelry making classes, rigorously works as the photography editor of her school newspaper, and writes poetry, but most importantly, she participates in Youth Radio.
Youth Radio fits her outspoken personality like a glove. She’s worked as a peer teacher but migrated in 10th grade to the newsroom, about three feet away. During her time in the newsroom, she’s had the chance to interview college students, attend festivals and cover topics important to her, such as voting and the special education program at Berkeley High. Lauryn plans to continue to write, whether for radio, or simply for her diary, for the rest of her life. She’ll be attending University of Michigan in the fall.
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5. RESOURCES AND RESEARCH
• "National Eating Disorder Association’s guidelines for educators"
• "Report on the dangers of pro-anorexia websites:"
• "A parent/caregiver website:"
• "National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders website:"
• National Mental Health Association fact-sheet on eating disorders:
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6. MEDIA PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES FOR LEARNING: Making Audio Narratives
Click here to link to Youth Radio's guidelines for conducting interviews, writing commentaries, and producing features.
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