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Paying School Fees

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This term Year 9 Home Economics students have been learning how to develop menus for Banquet –style meals. This has involved learning about menu design, developing main and dessert course

meals, practising food presentation techniques and working successfully as team members. In our final assessment task, these skills were put to the test in the preparation of a two course banquet meal to celebrate a special cultural event. With everything from Risotto, Sweet & Sour Chicken, Pesto Polenta, Mini Tacos and Roo Stew to Lemon Myrtle Cheesecake, Tiramisu, Cannoli and Deep Fried Ice Cream, the meals served were delicious and showcased a wide variety of cooking skills.

Well done Year 9 on a very tasty and successful end to the term!

Study Central - Library Extended Hours

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Chris’ Weekly Spot

Alcohol and the Teenage Brain: Ever played Chinese

whispers? Well your brain does every day, getting messages from

your nerve cells to your body. It needs to send the correct messages

throughout your body so it is able to function properly.

What if we add alcohol to the mix? Alcohol acts as a depressant (slows down the central

nervous system). It does this by acting on the nerve cells (neurons) of the brain and disrupts

the communication between nerve cells and other cells of the body. Alcohol does this by

altering the actions of two major neurotransmitters in the brain. Neurotransmitters are

chemical messages, which enable nerve cells to talk to each other and to other cells in the

body. The 2 major neurotransmitters affected are GABA and Glutamate. As these are found

throughout the brain, alcohol has widespread effects on the drinker. For example, when you

drink alcohol the cerebellum is affected, causing changes to balance and movement, and

changes to the frontal lobe that can cause your speech to become slurred.

In adulthood, as the brain has fully developed, the effects of moderate alcohol drinking are not

usually permanent, but this is not the case during adolescence. During adolescence the brain

undergoes many changes. Full brain development does not occur until the mid-20s. As the

brain is still developing, it is more vulnerable to damage. Two parts of the brain are

particularly vulnerable to the effects of alcohol during this period: the prefrontal cortex and

the hippocampus. The hippocampus is responsible for learning and memory. The prefrontal

cortex is the final part of the brain to fully mature and it plays an important role in planning,

judgement, decision making, impulse control, problem solving and reasoning.

In these two particular areas, brain development has three stages:

Proliferation of pathways – this is where the brain is creating many new neurons and

synapses (gaps between nerve cells). Neurotransmitters enable the neurons to still be able to

talk with each other and transmit these messages over the gaps. The brain creates lots of

neuron pathways to increase adaptability to a wider range of environments that it may be

exposed to.

Chris’ Weekly Spot (Cont)

Pruning of these pathways – the brain does not need to keep all of these pathways produced

and so, with experience, the unused pathways are eliminated.

Myelination – a process where a fatty layer called myelin accumulates around neurons, enabling

them to transmit information faster and more effectively.

Drinking alcohol during adolescence affects two of these vital stages. Firstly, it inhibits the

growth of neurons and secondly, it decreases the process of myelination. Therefore, alcohol

consumption whilst the brain is still developing can inhibit the number of neural pathways

created, and affect the speed and efficiency of the messages transmitted.

Studies have shown physical changes in the brain resulting from young people’s alcohol use.

Heavy and extended alcohol use is associated with a 10% reduction in the size of the

hippocampus. It has also been identified that adolescents who consume alcohol regularly, have

smaller prefrontal cortexes than those of the same age who do not drink. As a result, there is

evidence of impaired learning, judgement, memory retention and problem solving that may

continue through into adulthood.

Alcohol, even in small doses, is associated with a reduction in the activity of the normal

inhibitory brain processes in young and old alike. Given that such processes are less developed in

adolescents, alcohol use is likely to be associated with greater levels of risk-taking behaviour

than that seen in adults. A loss of inhibitions and decision making skills can leave adolescents

vulnerable to accidents, violence and sexual coercion.

Drinking alcohol at a young age may increase their risk of developing mental health problems

such as depression and anxiety later in life. The risk of alcohol dependence also increases

significantly.

Evidence tells us alcohol CAN damage the developing brain, increase risky behaviours and affect

the mental health and wellbeing of young people. There are no clear guidelines as to the amount

of alcohol required to impart such detrimental effects. For these reasons, it is recommended

that for under 18’s NO alcohol is the safest choice and that the initiation of drinking is delayed

for as long as possible!!!

STAY SAFE, STAY RESPONSIBLE…..HAPPY HOLIDAYS

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