Bladen wins neighborhood seat

Justin Tang

Yearbook/Journalism Teacher and Communications Head

Jen Bladen won one of three Residential Renters’ Seats on the Studio City Neighborhood Council (SCNC) on May 16 after running unopposed. She will be officially instated July 19.

SCNC is one of 99 neighborhood councils in Los Angeles that advise the government on community needs and improvement. Bladen said she ran for the Renters’ Seat specifically to advocate for other home renters in Studio City to have more yard space with the addition of River Park.

“One of the issues about renting, especially in an urban place like Studio City and Los Angeles in general, is that I don’t have a yard,” Bladen said. “I fully believe that River Park is a good thing for Studio City and the greater community of Los Angeles. I feel that it will really be a backyard for renters in the area and even homeowners.”

Bladen said the main reason she ran for SCNC was her desire to make a change in her community.

“There was yet another mass shooting, and I was really frustrated,” Bladen said. “One of the Instagram videos I saw said ‘Don’t just be mad, run for office.’”

Bladen said she hopes to help keep Studio City a safe area for people to live.

“My nephew lives with me, and he comes home from work late,” Bladen said. “I hope he can come home to a safe place too and [the students] can come to a safe place.”

In regards to River Park and other future projects, SCNC President Scott Mandell said the council hopes to modernize the community as much as possible despite the size of Studio City.

“With the incentives from the city to build, the challenge is to build within the capacity that Studio City can handle,” Mandell said. “We don’t have many circulation streets because of the hills, the river and the freeway. There’s only so much that Studio City can handle, but it can’t stay frozen in time.”

Lauren Park ’25 said Bladen’s empathy will serve her well as a member of SCNC.

“[Bladen] is one of the most empathetic teachers I have met, and I think her ability to connect with people through vulnerability and compassion is a great quality she possesses,” Park said. “I think this will make her beyond capable of her new role representing honest opinions of the Studio City community.”

By Jade Harris and Hannah Shahidi

Whitney Enenstein ’24 was shocked. She had just heard from a friend that a comment she made at the previous night’s Peer Support meeting had been shared outside of her group. Feeling anxious and trying to recount exactly what she said during the meeting, Enen stein said she could hard ly believe someone had broken the program’s fundamental con fidentiality agree ment, commonly referred to as Big C.

Enenstein said she felt a breach of trust after learning that her comment was shared out side of her group.

“I was like, ‘Who does this guy think he is to share something funny that I said when we were all having fun together?’ Enenstein said. “It’s ridiculous to me. Violation is definitely the word I would use for sure.”

Sometimes, different Peer Support groups will merge together and have joint meetings. Enenstein said her difficult personal experience felt like part of a larger issue within the program.

“[The Big C break] was somebody from a different group,” Enenstein said. “I am just constantly disappointed that people still [break Big C] and that they don’t take it seriously. And it’s not like it was something that was really bad that I said. It was honestly really stupid. Just a silly thing in a game, but still the fact that somebody shared something I said, and that’s specifically what you’re not supposed to do, that was just hurtful to me.”

According to Head of Peer Support & Interdisciplinary Studies and Independent Research Teacher Tina McGraw, Peer Support is one of the largest programs at the school, designed for upper school students to connect with their classmates and listen to each other. Peer Support meetings occur every Monday night and last 75 minutes. The Big C agreement is repeated by group members every week to affirm that no information should be shared outside of the meetings. Enenstein said she feels strange seeing the person who shared her comment outside of the group.

“[The person who broke Big C] was not somebody I was friends with, so it’s fine,” Enenstein said. “But whenever I see that person around, it’s a little bit awkward. I’m pretty sure we just both had that in our heads, like, ‘I got you kicked out of Peer Support. That’s kind of awkward.’ But if you break Big C, you’re out of Peer Support. Everybody knows that.

It’s ingrained in you from the moment you get to group, every single time you go to group. Everybody knows it. Everybody says they respect it.

And clearly, not everybody does.”

In the event of a Big C break, the leaders and coordinators work together to conduct an investigation, according to McGraw.

Enenstein said the investigation to find the person who leaked her information was overly intense.

“A lot of people got involved, and it was kind of uncomfortable, but it was what had to be done in order to shut it down,” Enenstein said. “It was just a whole crazy thing and blown out of proportion. And it was confusing. I didn’t know who knew, who did what and who said what. It was just a lot of conversations, like, ‘Okay, who was there that night?

Who could this have been?’ I talked to my leaders very openly about it, like, ‘I heard somebody shared something that I said in a merged group, and I need you to find out who that is. Because I don’t feel safe merging with that group.’”

Led by junior trainees and senior leaders, members of the group first talk about their weekends, and the group has a designated time for “shares,” where members can talk and seek encouragement, and finally, the group plays games together.

Hot Seat, a popular Peer Support game, is where one person is chosen to answer questions, and other members of the group have the chance to ask anything they want.

Peer Support Leader Emily Malkan said group members feel more comfortable breaking Big C because of the games played in Peer Support.

“I think people break Big C a lot for Hot Seat,” Malkan said. “If someone breaks Big C to their friend and the friend never tells anyone, no one will ever know. You’re just extending the confidentiality, so I think [breaks] happen a lot more [than just the cases where people are kicked out].”

Malkan said information leaks occur because students want to feel more significant within the school’s environment.

“The issue is that people, when they have a piece of information, think it makes them powerful and cool,” Malkan said. “They have this insider knowledge, so they want to tell people. Because we’re a bigger private school, everyone knows each other, so we are pretty tight. I think Peer Support plus [the tight school community] breed off of each other.”

When reflecting on a Big C break earlier in the year, Malkan, who is Enenstein’s leader, said it was an exaggerated response.

“No one was expecting [the Big C break],” Malkan said. “We had to investigate, so it was a little dramatic, but it was pretty serious breaking [Big C]. It was really important that we found who that person was, and some people in my group didn’t think it mattered, because ‘Oh, it’s a game.’ We were merging, so it had confusing rules. The other Half of our group was like ‘No, this is literally the definition of breaking Big C. We had to go to people who weren’t even in Peer Sup port to ask who [broke Big C].”

Louis*, a former Peer Support member, was removed from Peer Support per manently because he broke Big C twice.

“I joined last year, once for one meeting, and I wasn’t completely sure about the rules,” Louis said. “It was some very small thing I broke that I got kicked out for like three months for. That wasn’t a big deal. But then later, I joined back that same year, for one more meeting. Right after, I got kicked out permanently, and I still don’t know what it was for. That gives me the impression that the people directing [Peer Support] don’t have [proper] judgment on what actually is being said by people, and whether it’s true or not. They assume that I did spread something, so because of that, I don’t have the highest thoughts of Peer Support. I like the general idea of what they’re trying to do, but it doesn’t exactly come off as what their goal is.”

Louis said the investigation process was unclear and left him with unanswered questions.

“So the first time, it was a threemonth [suspension],” Louis said. “[My leader] was Michael Lapin [’22], and he came up to me and was like, ‘Somebody complained. It’s not a big deal, but for the sake of the other people, they’re just gonna suspend you for three months.’ And then the second time, I got a paragraph text over the summer from [Peer Support Coordinator and Presentations Managing Editor] Leo [Saperstein ’23]. He was just saying that we got to hop on FaceTime. I got on FaceTime, and he said, ‘You said something.’ And I’m like, ‘I don’t know what I said. What did I say?’ They wouldn’t tell me. And I’m like, ‘What should I do?’ And they go, ‘You don’t have any option. We’re kicking you out.’ So it was pretty simple. Not a lot I could do there.”

Louis said the experience was frustrating because of the lack of information he received.

“It’s hard to confront who said it,” Louis said. “Otherwise it’d be an invasion of the person’s privacy. But I don’t know what [I leaked], and that was frustrating for me.” McGraw said despite efforts to uphold Big C, breaks happen and go unreported.

“We don’t have a crystal ball to see who [breaks Big C],” McGraw said. “We hope that those Big C breaks are brought to us, because that will help us keep that space safe for people. We’d want to know who’s breaking Big C, but I am not naive enough to think that it never happens.”

McGraw said Big C is important because Peer Support is meant to be a safe space for students to talk about anything.

“Peer Support is here because we want students to have a space for sharing anything on their mind with people their own age,” McGraw said. “We know students often don’t feel as comfortable talking to adults, so by having a trained group of seniors lead these groups, we hope it creates a space where people can talk about really big stuff that’s going on in their lives or even trivial things that they want to share with somebody.”

By Jade Harris

Sylvee Anderson ’24 was walking on the beach, the heat of the summer sun bearing down on her body. She was sore from the past day’s grueling workout, but she said she was also one step closer to a thin body type. As she looked around, admiring all of the people wearing tank tops, shorts and dresses, Anderson said she couldn’t help but worry about her own appearance.

“I like working out more in the summer and getting into better physical shape in terms of health, but I try not to worry about the aesthetic point anymore,” Anderson said. “I struggled for a while with a minor eating disorder. I wouldn’t eat a lot of the time, or I would eat the minimum I could get away with. Even if I would eat, I would always choose [food] with [fewer] calories to try and maintain this idea of health as being the thinnest physically possible. There was definitely a lot of obsessive working out until I’d be dying by the end.”

Anderson said she felt insecure and judged by others, even though her concerns were internal.

“It doesn’t actually matter whether people are judging you,” Anderson said. “You can definitely get in a mindset where every time you go outside and you see someone dressed nicer than you or someone who has the body type that you want, you’re judging them and saying, ‘Oh, they’re so much better than me.’ You expect that they must also be judging you and saying, ‘Oh, they’re so much worse than me.’”

According to The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, eating disorders have been on the rise worldwide, increasing from 3.5% to 7.8% from 2000 to 2018. Additionally, according to Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center, the com bination of revealing clothing and social media posts exacer bates eating disorders during the summer. Anderson said summertime increases the pressure to have a certain body type.

“In a season where people are at beaches posting swimsuit photos, it could definitely [impact] you, no matter who you are,” Anderson said. “Especially during summer, because that is the time [when] you’re wearing lighter clothing, [there] can defi nitely be a lot of stress. And that [is] coupled with the fact that you have so much free time to think about the pre-existing culture around summer dieting and working out. There’s definitely a lot of pressure, both internal and external.”

Some students have used their experience with eating disorders and diet culture to cre ate organizations that promote healthy eating. Sophomore Prefect Daisy Pritzker ’25 and her twin brother Jay Pritzker run One

Bite at a Time, where they bake and sell cookies. Their marketing and packaging advocate against diet culture, and 10% of the proceeds are donated to the National Eating Disorders Association.

Pritzker said she was inspired to start One Bite at a Time by her experience with an eating disorder.

“I had anorexia,” Pritzker said. “I’m recovered now, but I still know a lot of people who struggle with it, like family members and really close friends. Even if it’s in really subtle ways, I see how much it harms people every day, and I also know what that feels like.”

Pritzker said diet culture made her believe her anorexia was perfectly healthy.

“I was barely eating, and I was told that was healthy,” Pritzker said. “But my body didn’t feel good, and there are things even now that I don’t eat because they don’t make my body feel good. That is what’s healthy for me, and what’s healthy for each person is so different.”

Pritzker said the school’s competitive nature impacts students’ diets, as they try to compete with one another to eat less.

“Because Harvard-Westlake has such a competitive and perfectionistic culture, it is a breeding ground for disordered eating,” Pritzker said. “I hear people talking on the Quad about how little sugar they ate that day, and people don’t understand it’s not healthy. Being competitive is such a big part of people’s eating disorders. You need to eat less than everyone else, or you need to eat healthier than everyone else. Since we’re supposed to be competing against each other, it’s like, ‘Oh, here’s another way I can be better than other people.’”

According to the Journal of American Medical Association, eating disorders are the second deadliest mental illness, following only opioid overdoses. Despite being a Prefect, Pritzker said it’s been hard to bring about change when people are so hesitant to talk about eating disorders.

“The school does a really bad job of addressing it,” Pritzker said.

“I’m a Prefect, so I was trying to get [the school] to bring in a Sophomore Seminar or an allschool speaker to do a series on eating disorders because they’re not addressed at all. We address all these other mental health issues, but no one talks about eating disorders, even though they’re such a huge issue and the second deadliest mental health issue. Every time I would bring up getting a speaker to talk about eating disorders, people would agree, but no one knew how to talk about it.”

While Pritzker was impacted by societal pressures, other students, like Isaac Wiener ’23, are forced to maintain a strict diet for sports. As a member of the wrestling team, Wiener carefully maintains his weight. Wrestling has 14 weight classes which are about eight pounds apart. Wiener said although the lower weight classes are closer together, weight divisions have significantly impacted his diet.

“I never eat the day of a [wrestling competition] in order to make the weight

[division],” Wiener said. “During my freshman year, I was struggling to make [the] weight [division], so I ate less.”

Wiener said that there’s pressure on the entire team to maintain a certain weight since it impacts the competition.

“Frequently, there are people in the weight class above and below you, so if you don’t make weight, someone isn’t able to wrestle,” Wiener said. “I think our team is much more relaxed about our weights than other wrestling teams, but there still is pressure to stay on weight. I think [toxic weight issues] are just a part of wrestling, although they can be diminished with good coaches. To compete at a high level, you have to cut weight since other people do, but not having a coach forcing you to cut unhealthy amounts of weight makes things better.”

Although the school has a Sports Psychologist and multiple counselors, there is currently no one specialized in nutrition. Wiener said a sports nutritionist at the school could be promoting healthy eating habits.

“The addition of a sports nutritionist would be very helpful since it would allow us to cut in a more healthy way while being happier,” Wiener said. “Cutting is very unpleasant and sometimes unhealthy and straining our ability to perform in school, and I think structured advice from a nutritionist could help.”

For aesthetic sports, the appearances of athletes are judged, according to Team U.S.A. Theatre on Ice figure skater Olivia Wang ’23. Wang said pressure to lose weight is common in her sport.

“Because you’re putting on a performance and half of it is being judged on how graceful you are, how pretty you are and the way you carry yourself is an inherent part of figure skating,” Wang said. “When you look at figure skating idols, they’re all gorgeous women or men. I think it is a lot of pressure if you can’t see yourself in them or you feel left out. There’s definitely a pressure to either be skinny or pret ty.”

Wang said her coach es have been supportive, but there has been gossip among parents about athletes’ appearance.

“[My coaches] didn’t really comment on my body,” Wang said. “It was more of gossip to parents or maybe some judgment. I think I had a pretty good relationship with most of my coaches, so it didn’t really receive that kind of pressure, but you could definitely hear whispers in terms of parents.”

Wang said social media helped her teammates deal with eating disorders.

“I had some skating friends who went online and started posting about their eating disorders and spreading an issue that needs to be recognized,” Wang said. “That did help because when they posted, it was a very scary step for them. But they were able to receive support from all of our other friends who may have gone through similar experiences. I’m proud of them because other skaters who are younger and may fall into this hole feel like they’re not alone.”

Despite growing conversation about eating disorders, Wang said body image pressure is deep-rooted in the sport.

“I do think [increased discussion] is helping,” Wang said.

“In figure skating, they have been trying to promote more conversation about eating disorders and body dysphoria. But I feel like the traditional pressure to maintain the classic skinny figure is still there. It’s helping, but you probably also need a change of mindset from the beginning.”

Counselor and Independent Research Teacher Michelle Bracken said despite how common food issues are in the school, conversations about eating disorders might cause more harm than oneon-one professional help.

“Research has shown that talking about [eating disorders] in this environment encourages more people to think about it,” Bracken said. “We know that for eating disorders, there are a lot of people who will think they’re supposed to start counting their calories. It’s an issue, even in eating disorder treatment centers, because people will teach each other tricks on how to avoid the weighins. It’s really difficult [at the school] to address it. We address it individually, and we get people connected to outside people. That’s the best resource for us.”