Below are the winning articles of the 2023 Young Voices Awards.
JUNIOR ARTICLE
How the sea dies
The colour is sucked from their old vibrant shells,
Nothing but dead grey and pearl white dwell,
Then fish no longer have a home,
And must leave their lives in a trail of foam,
Where will the families of little fish go,
Not even these fish know.
All that pretty coral that used to be,
On the floor of the sandy, sandy sea,
Is crying and dying and soon will be gone,
As most of us humans sit back and yawn.
Fish by the thousands are hauled over by nets,
And the ships race away using their jets,
The fish suffocate after being caught,
Then they travel to land to be bought,
And sold in the markets for high prices,
While put on tables next to herbs and spices,
After all the men’s buying and selling is done,
They say goodbye to their loved one,
Next are back on their boat to do it again,
To find more fish the silly fishermen.
Stacks and stacks of plastic objects
Killing the sea animals, what’s next?
Oh yeah, the seas rivers and lakes!
And all the other dumb mistakes,
Like fish getting stuck in plastic beer rings,
And other sea creatures in different things,
And Plastic bags float around looking sluggish,
So then turtles eat them like a bunch of jellyfish,
They slowly die once the plastic is ingested,
Is this how the sea ends us being bested.
When you help the cause it’s a great win,
Even if you just put your rubbish in the bin,
Or a more friendly and sustainable option,
Like bamboo and metal is quite a good adoption,
Other ways like cooking sustainably, and picking up rubbish,
Is a great way to start helping the fish,
And educating yourself about environmental problems that matter,
So, you can help spread awareness and chatter,
Even though this generation has done a lot,
More needs to happen no matter what.
Hi, I am just a girl from Newcastle NSW, but I can’t help but see a future we might face if we keep destroying our oceans, lakes, and rivers. I can’t imagine Australia without its bodies of water, can you? It’s one of the things that makes Australia so great because we have those wonderous things, that’s so full of life and colour and if we don’t stop, we’ll destroy much more than just our oceans. We will destroy us.
— Rose Hartcher, ‘How the sea dies’, Year 6, St Therese’s New Lambton, NSW.
INTERMEDIATE ARTICLE
Winds of heaven
The leaves turn
As the wind falls from heaven above,
The trees o how they greet the breeze
With open arms and faces turned
But some people swear,
“The breeze should never be there”,
As papers fly
And bird’s glide
As the wind falls from heaven above,
The people with their walls so high
Block it.
And stop it.
The trees with no breeze to greet
Drop their arms and faces to the floor,
No leaves shall turn anymore
As the wind no longer falls from heaven above.
The final goodbye
The diamonds of the sky are hidden,
Hiding behind the thick blanket
Covering our cities
Soaking them in heat
Melting the icebergs, burning the forests
Say goodbye to the animals,
The beautiful beasts that walk the earth
Say goodbye to the exotic forests,
The shelters and suppliers of the world
Say goodbye to the things that are affected by our choices,
The beautiful and unique things
Our icebergs are melting.
Our forests are burning.
Our animals are disappearing.
We are losing the years
Crossing them off day by day
Polluting every inch of space we see
It needs to stop.
We need to save our years,
We need to save our planet,
So, it needs to stop.
— Kiera Short, ‘Winds of Heaven’, Year 9, Loreto Normanhurst NSW.
SENIOR ARTICLE
Neurodivergence in the Blue Mountains: inclusivity and obstacles
Neurodiverse? A problem? Something wrong with you? All common misconceptions which haunt the everyday Lives of some people living with autism or ADHD. One in 100 Australians are autistic. One in 20 Australians have ADHD.
It is important to understand what it means to be neurodivergent. It means that an individual differs in mental or neurological function. People with a neurodivergence may experience issues in social situations, a lack of ability to concentrate or hyper-fixations.
I think that accommodating people who are not neurotypical and providing them with the same opportunities as neurotypical people is important. The following interviews aim to negate the stigma surrounding neurological differences and to encourage people to do what they can do to help. In order to do this, I interviewed two neurodivergent people and one neurotypical person who thinks they may be on the autism spectrum, their answers to my questions are as follows.
My initial interview was with a high school student. She identifies as neurotypical.
Do you often feel isolated? “I have social anxiety but not problems with social cues. It’s more people thinking about what I am doing.”
Do you feel alone or like you don’t fit in? “Not in like a feeling different because your autistic way, just like, my own individuality.”
Are you prone to procrastination? “Every single minute of every single day I procrastinate, I can never concentrate!”
Do you have a low social battery? “Yes! I saw one person in the six-week holidays. If I am with someone for an extended period of time I just have to not see people.”
How would you feel if someone mentioned to you the possibility of you being autistic or having ADHD? “I wouldn’t be offended. It honestly makes sense. There’s nothing wrong with it.”
My next interview was with a 36-year-old woman who lives in Springwood. She has autism and ADHD. Her answers to the same questions are as follows. ‘Yes. I often find myself feeling isolated as I don’t always understand the social situation and over analyse it afterwards. I often feel like I’ve done something wrong even if I logically know I haven’t. I feel different from the people around me all the time. I don’t always understand the regular, normal things people are interested in and I don’t always understand why they care about certain things. I am constantly distracted. I even got distracted before I could answer these questions. I can put washing away in one room, then see if the bed needs to be made. Then I forget about the washing and make the bed. Only to realise the washing is still there 3 hours later.”
Her partner, who is also autistic says this about his experiences. ‘I struggle to form meaningful friendships as a result of my neuro divergence. I have level one autism and have always found it difficult to fit in. As a child I didn’t like the same things as other kids and often felt very different. I struggle with tone and sometimes speak very monotone or too loud. Sometimes neurotypical people don’t understand my sense of humour or think I am too serious, when reality is I just don’t understand some of the ‘normal’ social concepts.’
I myself can attest that being neurodivergent can make life more difficult. It places obstacles in your everyday life that otherwise would not be there. By reading articles such as this one you can gain insight into the mind and lives of people with autism or ADHD. As a neurotypical person the best thing that you can do is further educate yourself and be a catalyst for inclusion and change. This is the only way to challenge stereotypes surrounding neurodiverse communities.
— Taylah Cowley, ‘Neurodivergence in the Blue Mountains: Inclusivity and Obstacles’, Year 10, St Columba's Catholic College Springwood NSW.