(Photo courtesy pbs.org)

By Jordyn Wirth – Staff Reporter

On January 28, Keloni Grand was harassed and threatened to be killed for being a transgender female. This happened as she walked home from school shorty after school was dismissed. A group of males followed her out of Melrose High School in Melrose, Massachusetts, calling her hurtful names, threatening to do harm to her, and threatening to kill her. Grand tried to be the better person by trying to avoid the situation by simply walking away, but the group continued to follow her and harass her. One of the boys even spit on her.  Her grandmother and aunt could not believe what they saw and heard when they arrived to pick her up. Grand had made many complaints to the school and the police about the harassment she was receiving from others and no one acknowledged her.

“Sometimes, I think I should hide myself, but people tell me to keep pushing and be myself,” said Grand.

She claims that she is no longer a stranger to bullying since her transition started a month before this had occurred.

“There were 15, 16 guys out there, and I said, ‘All of them want to fight you for what?’” Grand’s aunt said.

These boys pushed her so far that she now wants to transfer high schools for her own safety.  She is just one of the 55% of LGBTQ youth that lives in a state that does not have laws that explicitly protect them from the discrimination towards them based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Kids are no longer wanting to attend their school’s in the fear of being bullied and harassed. This issue has been a growing world renowned problem for well over a decade. Something must be done to protect these innocent lives.

Many results from the 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Survey shows that, throughout the nation, 31% of United States high school students who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, or bisexual report about having been bullied on school property and 27.1% been cyberbullied in the past year. The study also showed that 10% percent more LGB students than the 6.1% of heterosexual students reported not going to school because of their mental and physical safety concerns. Among students who identified as “not sure” or “unaware” of their sexual orientation, 24.3% of them also reported being bullied on school property, therefore 22% of them being cyberbullied, and 10.7% of them not going to school because of safety concerns.

High school can be extremely challenging for the entire student body at times. High school is about finding yourself, your friend group, and interests. But, the LGBTQ students face additional harassment, abuse, and violence on a daily basis. Daniel Segobiano, who has self-identified as gay since kindergarten has been dealing with the harsh harassment all his life.

“I was bullied for being ‘too feminine and to avoid being teased I’d deepen my voice around others in P.E.,” Segobiano said.

Not only are kids no longer wanting to attend their schools, but they also are trying to change themselves in school to try to avoid the daily harassment that they receive.

LGBTQ students are surprisingly twice as likely to say that they were not planning on finishing out their high school years or even continuing their education on to college. No student deserves to feel like cannot continue their success because of the way others are making them feel.

The issue with harassment towards LGBTQ people has been going on for years and has been growing into a global issue for years as well. Not all people that are a part of the LGBTQ community face these problems everyday. However LGBTQ people, in general, are at a higher risk than the overall population of people in attempting suicide and having suicidal thoughts because of what society and peers put them through every day.

When narrowing the LGBTQ community down to specifically highschool students, these students who self identify as gay, lesbian, transgender or bisexual are almost five times more likely than the population as a whole to attempt to commit suicide and have suicidal thoughts based off of the discrimination, prejudice, denial of civil and human rights, harassment and violence and even family rejection which most parts of the LGBTQ community face.

On April 18, 15-year-old Alabama high school student Nigel Shelby committed suicide due to the harassment towards him for being gay.

“When you have a kid that’s already depressed and going through an immense amount emotionally, for you to call him names that you shouldn’t call them or say stuff to them — it sometimes has a worse effect than it would on a child who’s not struggling with depression,” his mother, Camika Shelby, said.

Nigel was described as “full of light” but he was still battling depression, attending doctors appointments to help him get better although this was very unexpected said his mom, she wanted him to be remembered for so much more than the reason for his death.

“He told me, ‘Mom I’m going to do better in school.’ He kissed me and told me that he loved me,” Camika said. “That was the last conversation that I had with my baby.”

This tragedy became intensely public, spreading so much awareness of suicide prevention and acceptance that even Justin Bieber took one of the articles on Nigel’s death to his instagram platform saying, “This is Horrible.”

“I hate this with a passion… stop the hatred please! I don’t understand how people can be so ignorant and hateful,” Bieber said.

Shelby explained she hopes to see that her son’s death sends an efficient message especially highlighting the harmful effects and long lasting effects of bullying and to encourage tolerance throughout the community.

School should be a safe environment to the whole community for the students to have the ability to learn, process, and build a foundation for their own success. The issue with certain kids not wanting to come to school, certainly reflects on the school itself and the community it is in, in fact nine out of ten students who self identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer reported about the deteriorating harassment and bullying that they were receiving last year.

In the hallways of North Bend High School, the gay and lesbian students are taunted with homophobic slurs. In the cafeteria, students pelted a transgender student with food. When the gay and lesbian students got into trouble, the school’s principal assigned a discriminating and harsh punishment specifically just for them; readings from the Bible.

The state was then able to uncover “substantial evidence” showing discrimination to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer students at North Bend High School.

“The department finds that discrimination on the basis of sex and sexual orientation may have occurred,” the investigator wrote.

People like Keloni Grand and Nigel Shelby should have never even have had to face these difficult situations in the first place. LGBTQ activists insist that a message of acceptance and tolerance must be more well-spread throughout the community highlighting some of these students stories to show the effects of their peers.

(Some information nytimes.com, stompoutbullying.org, nami.org, williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu, people.com)

(Photo courtesy healthination.org)

By Ethan Harrigan – Staff Reporter

Brian Zirkel is a sophomore at Jonathan Law High School, balancing a large course load, including an AP class, with playing varsity tennis for the Law team. He usually gets only 6-7 hours of sleep due to the homework he has to do after his extracurricular activities, and because of the school start time of 7:20 a.m.

“I’m really tired whenever I get to school and it’s hard to get out of bed a lot of times,” Zirkel said.

Zirkel and many other high school students often suffer from the early start times Connecticut schools have, not getting close to the 9-10 hours of optimal rest teens are supposed to get.

The lack of sleep can lead to many different deficiencies and studies have shown that schools with later start times may be beneficial.

The sleep teens lose out on when they wake up early is Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, the phase in which dreams usually occur. Lower amounts of REM sleep have been linked to behavior and memory problems. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adolescents who do not get enough sleep are more likely to be overweight, not engage in daily physical activity, suffer from symptoms of depression, engage in unhealthy risk behaviors such as drinking, smoking tobacco, and using illicit drugs, and perform poorly in school. Lack of sleep can also limit your ability to learn, listen, concentrate and solve problems, as well as making you aggressive or impatient.

Additionally, the National Sleep Foundation(NSF) said that, “Many teens suffer from treatable sleep disorders, such as narcolepsy, insomnia, restless legs syndrome or sleep apnea.”

In an NSF poll, 73% of adolescents who reported feeling unhappy, sad, or depressed also reported not getting enough sleep at night and being excessively sleepy during the day.

Teenagers are proven to have a different biological clock than adults, going to sleep later and statistically needing 9-10 hours of sleep. The onset of puberty lengthens the daily cycle in adolescents and also decreases the rhythm’s sensitivity to light in the morning. These changes cause teens to fall asleep later each night and wake up later each morning relative to most children and adults. These biological changes are often combined with poor sleep habits including irregular bedtimes due to academic responsibilities, and the presence of electronics in the bedroom.

“Biological sleep patterns shift toward later times for both sleeping and waking during adolescence — meaning it is natural to not be able to fall asleep before 11:00 p.m.,” the National Sleep Foundation says.

School start times like those in Connecticut make teens get up early and this is the largest factor preventing them from getting the amount of sleep they need. A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey of youth released in 2017 shows that only one-quarter of high school age adolescents reported sleeping the minimum recommended eight hours each night.

“We’ve put them in between a rock and a hard place where their biology to go to bed later fights with societal expectations,” said Gideon Dunster, Graduate Student studying sleep at the University of Washington. “All of the studies of adolescent sleep patterns in the United States are showing that the time at which teens generally fall asleep is biologically determined—but the time at which they wake up is socially determined.”

Many teenagers in response to their late nights during weekdays, try to catch up on sleep by oversleeping on weekends however this doesn’t entirely benefit them. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), “Although this weekend oversleeping can help offset the weekly sleep deficit, it can worsen circadian disruption and morning sleepiness at school.”

The AAP has a substantial body of research that has demonstrated that delaying school start times is an effective countermeasure to chronic sleep loss and has a wide range of potential benefits to students with regard to physical and mental health, safety, and academic achievement. The AAP has suggested that high schools start at 8:30 a.m. or later to allow teens the chance to get a better amount of sleep, but most Americans start school earlier.

According to the 2014 School Health Policies and Practices Study, 93% of high schools and 83% of middle schools in the U.S. started before 8:30 a.m.

“To ask a teen to be up and alert at 7:30 a.m. is like asking an adult to be active and alert at 5:30 a.m.,” said Horacio de la Iglesia, Professor of Biology at the University of Washington.

In 2017, the Seattle school district changed the school start time from 7:50 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. Researchers gave every student wrist activity monitors to track their sleep. The wrist monitors were worn by the students all day for a period of two weeks, and recorded  light and motion data every 15 seconds, which was used to determine when the students were awake or asleep. Researchers from the University of Washington found that after the time change students got 34 minutes more sleep on average than the earlier start times while bedtimes stayed relatively the same.

“This study shows a significant improvement in the sleep duration of students – all by delaying school start times so that they’re more in line with the natural wake-up times of adolescents,” De Iglesia said.

It also improved the academic performance of the students involved. After Seattle schools changed start times to nearly one hour later, researchers looked at a group of 88 students taking the same biology classes. They also wore wrist activity monitors and kept a sleep diary. The data collected showed improvement in academic ability.  For example, students who took the biology class after the later start time got final grades that were 4.5 percent higher than students who took the class when it started earlier. That could be the difference between a B and an A. This was due to several benefits of the later start times and added sleep.

Students could be more punctual to their morning classes, not having to roll out of bed, eat breakfast and rush to school.

“When we started at 7:50 a.m. there would always be stragglers who were having a hard time getting here,” said Cindy Jatul, who teaches biology at Roosevelt High School in Seattle. Students were groggy and noticeably different from students who took her class later in the day. “For example, if I gave them a project in the lab, they would be the most likely class to mess up,” she said.

The number of students who were tardy or absent decreased significantly, because the later start times gave families in all economic situations more time to get to school. Delayed start times may even lead to a decrease in the achievement gap between students from low and high socioeconomic backgrounds.

“We need to give every bit of equity we can for kids in lower socio-economic families,” said Dr. Cora Collette Breuner, spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics and professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

Teens were more alert and attentive in classes, an improvement from the previous situation. The later start times enabled them to fully participate in class with less drowsiness. Franklin High School science teacher A.J. Katzaroff said “there was lots of yawning” when school started at 7:50 a.m. Students had a hard time engaging in the work or in brief discussions which is a reflection of the amount of sleep they were getting.

“Some of the best practices in science education have students talk, discuss and investigate together and those are all very hard when the brain is not fully powered,” Katzaroff said.

Starting school later also helped students combat the symptoms of chronic sleep deprivation, such as fatigue, depression, and memory and cognition impairment.

While Connecticut schools don’t start at 7:50 anyways the same results might hold true if the same was done. The problem with school districts is that they have already been accustomed to the start times set in place and don’t want to change them because it’s easier to do what has already been done. Other factors are the extracurricular activities and jobs undertaken by teenagers that are directly after school ends, as well as changing bus schedules. However, schools changing start times could result in healthier students who have less of a need for nurses and counselors. There are pros and cons for both sides of this issue and school districts attempt to look out for what teens want and need.

“I would feel better with an extra half hour of sleep,” Zirkel said. “I wouldn’t have school start at 8:30, but yeah I favor a later start time.”

For now, with summer on the horizon, Zirkel and other high school students sleepily continue their schedules heading into finals and the last full week of school, trying to get the amount of sleep they need.

(Some information courtesy futurity.org, sleepfoundation.org, cdc.org, neatoday.org, npr.org, pediatrics.org)

(Photo courtesy thecollegeinvestor.com)

By Stefanie Lojko – Staff Reporter

Shayna Levay, a senior at Jonathan Law High School, had to make the tough decision between the University Of New Haven and Central Connecticut State University. She thought about all the factors such as dorms, commuting, food, and program types. When she saw how much the prices of each school were, she struggled for a few weeks on deciding what to do, deciding between what she wanted out of her college experience and what she could afford.

In the end, it all came down to the price.

For most seniors like Levay, college is the next step in their educational journey. For many, however, college is a goal that’s just out of their reach.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average cost per year for the 2015-2016 academic year was just over $19,000 for a public four-year university. Middle class families make an income “between $45,000 and $135,000” a year.  

Going to a four-year college for $19,000 a year adds up to $76,000. These numbers are scary to any student that’s been in a free public school for the past 12 years.

The government tries to soften the impact of college pricing with financial aid through grants and loans. Unfortunately, they can’t give a lot to every student because so many students are all doing the same thing – applying to get money help from the government.

Federal student loans average that students will pay off their debt in less than 10 years. Most of the time, that is not the case.

“With a college degree often being a basic requirement for professional jobs, not getting a college degree can put workers at a major disadvantage in the job market,” Camilo Maldonado, co-founder of The Finance Twins, said.

According to the Center On Education And The Workforce, 35% of the job openings require at least a bachelor’s degree and 30% of job openings will require some college or associate’s degree.

One in five college grads still aren’t working a degree-demanding job a decade after leaving school. With many students that do not have a job right out of college, they think of it as a phase but a few months could lead to a few years.

Students will tend to spiral once they do not have a job out of school because they can’t afford to pay back loans and support themselves. They find any job they can but as life goes on, they can not afford to be unemployed looking for a job relating to their degree. They end up in a downward spiral.

Prices for private and public four-year colleges have risen so much in the past 10 years that community college enrollment rates have increased by 25%. Community colleges are a perfect way for many students to get an education without having to pay these crazy loans.

College tuition prices and student loan debt have even become major issues on the 2020 presidential campaign trail.

Many of the 2020 presidential candidates are agreeing that public education needs to be changed. Many, like John Hickenlooper, believe that student loans interest rates should be brought down while some believe that education should be free entirely.

“We need to commit to 16 years of free public education for all our children,” 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden said. “We all know that 12 years of public education is not enough. As a nation let’s make the same commitment to a college education today that we made to a high school education 100 years ago.”

Bernie Sanders believes that public college tuition should be free and that the federal government would fund two-thirds and the states would fund the rest.

“It is totally counterproductive for our future that millions of Americans are carrying outrageous levels of student debt,” Sanders said.

In 1981, the average student debt was only $1,910 and grew to be $16,604 by 2016. That’s a 35 year difference with student debt pricing raising about $16,000.

“Our child is in ecstasy, but where is the money going to come from?” Beth Greulich, financial advisor at Abacus Wealth Partners, said.

Students aren’t the only ones suffering. Parents can no longer think about their retirement plans because they are taking money out of their savings in order for their students to pay for their education.

“Many of these dreams are gone because they would rather help their kids with their own financial stability,” Greulich said.

Many people are starting families and getting married later on in life because their debt is so bad, they can’t afford it. The percentage of graduates moving back home after college have raised to 28% in 2016 after being at 19% in 2005.

Graduates are also having a hard time making down payments on homes after college because they are only in their 20s and are already paying back the debt of college.

For students like Shayna Levay, going with the least pricey option isn’t always enough. Not every student will receive thousands of dollars in scholarships or get help from FAFSA in order to pursue their college career.

It’s time that more people understand this struggle that thousands of students face.

(Some information courtesy ctpost.com, forbes.com, usnews.com, georgetown.edu, debt.org, cnbc.com, collegeboard.com, marketwatch.com, investmentnews.com, higheredtoday.org)

(Photo courtesy theatlantic.com)

By Mia Cerrato – Staff Reporter

Jairo Gomez, a 17-year-old who lives in a one bedroom apartment with his other eight family members, is amidst the horrors of poverty in the U.S. Gomez has grown up in poverty just like one third of kids in New York City. He attempts to support his family financially, but it is very difficult. Gomez had to trade his freedom to support his family. Most 17-year-olds hang out with friends, go to sports practice, or just attend school. But in Gomez’s case, he is working 13-hour shifts, making food deliveries on bike, and in his spare time watching his siblings while his single mother is working as well. He acknowledges that to dig himself out of poverty is impossible without an education, something he is not receiving.

Jairo Gomez is just one of millions of teenagers fighting poverty in the U.S. every day. According to Child International, one in seven children will be born into poverty in the United States. Poverty is an issue that impacts kids mentally and physically. It will affect every aspect of their life.

Jenny Brundin of Colorado Public Radio said, “Poverty can have long lasting impacts on children, mainly because of the stress and trauma associated with it. Researchers are finding a significant link between that stress, brain development and academic performance.”

Many kids in poverty are controlled by their endless responsibilities. For instance, those in poverty must worry about feeding their siblings or helping to pay rent. 

“‘I know a student’s got a better life than me when all they have to do is go home and do homework,” 17-year-old Chaunsae Dyson said. “Working a job is a necessity; it is a need for me.’”

Many children in poverty also lack strong parental figures; they often don’t have anyone to look up to or rely on.

Luis Robles, a teen directly impacted by poverty, said, “‘As a young man you see your dad or your older brother as a role model – for me it was a role model of what I did not want to do. I would see my brother – he was into smoking marijuana – my dad he was an alcoholic – so I always told myself, that’s not what I want to do. When I grow up to that age – I don’t want to be like them.”

In many of these cases, a teacher can take the place of a parent or guardian. A teacher’s attention and support makes a large impact on how a student performs and feels. It enables them to see their own potential.

Brudin said, “It takes one teacher noticing them, telling them they have potential. That’s made the difference.”

According to Brudin, creativeness, imagination, and motivation could be in danger for kids living in poverty. These kids could improve and grow if they were provided with the right people, resources, and circumstances. Poverty also has colossal impact on brain development.

A new study in the Journal of Health Affairs shows that for the one in five children who’ve been through at least two of these traumatic experiences, the consequences can be dire. Those kids were twice as likely as their peers to have a chronic condition and special health needs. They were 2.5 times more likely to repeat grades in school.

Their often chaotic living situation also greatly contributes to brain development. Studies have shown that poverty impairs vocabulary and language development. Poverty-related stress can lower the prefrontal cortex’s ability to process information. For instance, learning and memory.

Researcher Pilyoung Kim has written about how this stress impairs development in the prefrontal cortex – that’s the part of the brain that regulates emotions like fear, sadness, and anger. She found that too much stress strengthens connections in the amygdala, which helps us detect dangers and threats from the environment.

“If there is imbalance in communication between two regions, one possibility would be the child needs a lot longer time to recover from negative states like being very anxious, fearful or sometimes angry when experiencing a stressor, like someone reacting to them in a hostile way,” Kim said.

This can explain some hostile, violent behaviors in children living in poverty and why they think that harmless situations or interactions are threatening. Mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety go hand and hand with the development of the brain.

Destiny Carney, 18, grew up in severe poverty. For a majority of her life, Carney was homeless with her mother who struggled with addiction. Her mother often neglected her and she was bullied in school because of these circumstances.

There are many studies that show mothers and children in extreme poverty will suffer from depression.

“‘I feel that when you are homeless and the environment the people you are around sometimes kind of make you feel like you can’t do it,” Carney said.

Those in poverty have to deal with constant negativity, whether it be people they are surrounded by or situations they are in. To most, it feels like they will be stuck in poverty forever.

“Because some of the other people are, ‘well, you know I really wanted to do this but I’m just going to get Section 8,'” Carney said. “They’re not really trying hard and other people want to bring you down and there’s drama and I feel like once you get in poverty, it’s kind of hard to get out.’”

Race plays a large role in poverty as well. Hispanic and black children are more likely to live in poor families than their non-Hispanic white and Asian children. In 2017, 11 percent of both non-Hispanic white and Asian children were impoverished, compared with 25 percent of Hispanic children and 29 percent of black children.

In the same year, more than half of Hispanic (54 percent) and black (57 percent) children were in low income families. By contrast, 27 percent of Asian and of non-Hispanic white children lived in low-income families. Black children were more likely than Hispanic children to be in deep poverty (15 and 11 percent, respectively), and both were more likely to be in deep poverty than non-Hispanic white or Asian children (each at 5 percent).

Age is also connected to poverty and homelessness.

Research agency Child Trends wrote, “In 2017, the poverty rate for children under age 5 was higher than for children ages 5 to 17, at 19 and 16 percent, respectively.”

According to Jill Rosen of John Hopkins University, 5.6% of kids from 0-5 years of age, 10% of teen girls from 12-18 years of age and 14% of teen boys  from 12-18 years of age aren’t receiving enough to eat.

Those who suffered the most from food deprivation are boys.

About six percent of children up to five years of age weren’t getting enough to eat, and slightly older children, those up to age 11, fared about the same. But with children 12 to 18, nearly 12 percent of them regularly went hungry.

It’s unclear why teenage boys go hungry more often than girls. It could be because of their need for more calories and being outside of the house often.

Adults on the other hand have different hunger statistics.

“Researchers found 12 percent of the adults in these disadvantaged families suffered from extreme food hardship, answering ‘yes’ to several of the screening questions,” Rosen said.

Yet, there are various supports for these low income families to reduce poverty and apparently have long term effects.

Some assistance programs funded by the federal government are Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and the Earned Income Credit (EIC).

There are other programs that are not funded by the government in hopes to end poverty such as, Save the Children, Children’s Hunger Alliance, The Hunger Project, Bread for the World and many more.

Although, these programs and organizations could only do so much for citizens such as Jairo Gomez.

“It gets me mad that my mom works so hard,” said Gomez. “And there are people out there who are just born into it.”

People who are born into wealth don’t have to endure the struggles others have.

“They make money like nothing,” said Gomez. “They don’t have to clean houses, wake up early, drain themselves. We’re told, ‘If you work hard, you’ll get results.’ But for my family, there haven’t been any results – just survival.”

(Some information courtesy futurity.org, cpr.org)

(Photo courtesy psycom.net)

By Anish Sikhinam – Staff Reporter

Jake is a high school junior in North Carolina who takes three Advanced Placement courses, runs cross country for his school, and has attended multiple Model U.N. conferences. Although Jake worked hard, failure at anything always scared him. Jake believed he couldn’t keep up with his peers, or that he won’t succeed in life.

All of a sudden, Jake had a massive stress breakdown, and he felt that going to school was impossible. Jake was prescribed Prozac, an antidepressant given to depressed and anxious teenagers by his physician. The drug, which was one of many Jake would soon be prescribed, did not work, and seemed to make an already tough situation even worse.

A few weeks later, Jake locked and tried to drown himself in the bathroom. After being hospitalized for four days, Jake started hiding out in his room, and argued with his parents about going to school, making him feel more anxious and depressed. He even began to threaten suicide again.

After two more hospitalizations, Jake’s parents have sent him to a residential facility in New Hampshire that has programs geared towards stressed and anxious teenagers like Jake.

Jake is one of the many high school and college teenagers and students that suffer from anxiety from school, which has recently overtaken depression as the reason that many students seek out guidance and help. High school teenagers have many activities, and responsibilities to keep up with in their lives – doing good in AP classes, as well as in honors classes, playing one or more sports, playing instruments, joining and participating in clubs, doing community service, and much more. In addition to this, many students feel that if they don’t succeed at any of these, they won’t succeed in their career or their life.

Students also have a lot going on in terms of social life, due to the smartphone bringing social media apps like Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat to prominence. Teenage students usually spend a lot of time on these websites, and some often lose sleep over keeping up with all of these things, and they often have little to no free time to get rest or spend valuable time with their family.

There have been an overwhelming amount of studies done on this topic, and many statistics have been found supporting the increasing amounts of student burnout, exhaust, and stress, especially in a time of smartphones and fast internet and social media. According to the American College Health Association, there has been a significant increase in stress over the past few years – from 50 percent in 2011 to 62 percent in 2016.

“Anxiety is the most common mental-health disorder in the United States, affecting nearly one-third of both adolescents and adults, according to the National Institute of Mental Health,” New York Times journalist Benoit Denizet-Lewis said. “But unlike depression, with which it routinely occurs, anxiety is often seen as a less serious problem.”

Forms of severe stress and anxiety similar to what Jake and many other high school students experience is often overlooked. This is because everyone has stress and anxiety to a level – it was an evolutionary feature that helped early ancestors escape threats and dangerous situations by triggering a “fight or flight” response.

“Highly anxious people, though, have an overactive fight-or-flight response that perceives threats where there often are none,” Denizet-Lewis said.

According to Suniya Luthar, a professor of psychology at Arizona State University studying stress in all students, the privileged students are often more stressed.

“These kids are incredibly anxious and perfectionistic,” Luthar said. For many students, they can “never get to the point where they can say, ‘I’ve done enough, and now I can stop.’” Her research shows that “kids have a sense that they’re not measuring up” and that “the pressure is relentless and getting worse”.

The increase in competitiveness in schools can also pressure students, causing stress.

“School is putting so much pressure on them with the competitiveness … I’ve seen eighth graders admitted as inpatients, saying they have to choose a career,” said Marco Grados, an associate professor of psychiatry and clinical director of child and adolescent psychiatry at John Hopkins Hospital.

In addition to stress from school, social media sites such as Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat can increase the anxiety levels that a student experiences everyday. Due to the rise in prominence of smartphones and social media networking sites over the last decade, this is something that many parents of students cannot relate to. This current generation is the first to experiment with social media and actually see its effects on human behavior, especially with regards to stress and anxiety. Indeed, “when it comes to treating anxiety in children and teens, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook are the bane of therapists’ work,” Washington Post journalist Amy Ellis Nutt writes.

Grados notes that “with (social media), it’s all about the self-image – who’s ‘liking’ them, who’s watching them, who clicked on their picture. Everything can turn into something negative… [K]ids are exposed to that day after day, and it’s not good for them.”

And the numbers really do add up. A UCLA study done by the Higher Education Research Institute asked incoming college freshmen if they “felt overwhelmed” by their experience going forward. According to the study, 18 percent said yes in 1985. By 2000, that number had climbed to 28 percent, and by 2016, this number had climbed to 41 percent. Jean Twenge, psychology professor at San Diego State University, looked at Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) results. The MMPI is one of the oldest surveys assessing human psychology and psychopathology, and it is still in use today, dating back to the era of the Great Depression. After looking at the responses of more than 77,500 high school and college students over the decades, she concluded that five times as many students in 2007 “surpassed thresholds” in more than one mental health category, and anxiety and depression were six times more common since 1938.

This anxiety problem also seems to be affecting some more than others. According to the National Survey of Children’s Health, among the parents who responded “yes” to if their child had feelings of anxiety or depression, 10.7 percent of parents reported that their child’s depression was severe. Furthermore, 15.2 percent reported that their child’s anxiety was severe. The survey also found that anxiety and depression were more common amongst white and non-Hispanic people. Another study done by the National Institutes of Health describes the incidence of stress among girls as 38.0 percent – far above the incidence of stress among boys, which was 26.1 percent.

Moreover, clinicians have stated that anxiety in teenagers can lead to many other health problems down the road. In the National Survey of Children’s Health, it was found that children with anxiety or depression were more likely obese compared to their peers.

“I have a wide range [of patients], take all insurances, do inpatients, day hospital, outpatients, and see anxiety across all strata,” Grados said. He regularly treats patients with anxiety and sees them as part of his clinical practice.

“Anxiety can be an early stage of other conditions,” Grados said. “Bipolar, schizophrenia later in life can initially manifest as anxiety.”

However, there is hope for those with stress and anxiety. Mountain Valley is a non-profit “residential treatment facility and one of a growing number of programs for acutely anxious teenagers,” Denizet-Lewis said. These facilities are usually a last resort – after conventional therapy – however, more and more students arrive at them each year due to the increase in anxiety.

“The young people I met there suffered from a range of anxiety disorders, including social anxiety, separation anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder,” Denizet-Lewis reports after visiting Mountain Valley.

After going to Mountain Valley for three months, Jake had improved significantly and was in much better shape compared to his past self and other newcomers there. During Jake’s time at anxious facilities like Mountain Valley, he had learned to analyze and cope with his thoughts of being unsuccessful and a total failure.

“I’m free to play the part of terrible, evil thoughts for anyone who needs them,” Jake said. Teens also learn to voice their insecurities that cause them to feel stressed and talk about it amongst others. By talking about it amongst each other, these problems seem more relatable to teenagers, and they don’t have the feeling that “they’re the only one.”

Jake had also learned mindfulness techniques, and had participated in art, equine, and most importantly, exposure therapy. Exposure therapy exposes teenagers like Jake to their fears – in this case, their thoughts of being unsuccessful – incrementally, allowing them to familiarize themselves with the cause of their anxiety. Therapists at Mountain Valley had devised exercises tailored to specific fears that students like Jake had. Since Jake’s main fear was failure, he learned ways to cope with imperfection and ways to de-stress when he seemed anxious.

After leaving Mountain Valley, Jake eventually got into his dream school – University of North Carolina. However, the change that Jake experienced during his time at the treatment facility was invaluable. As of now, Jake says that if he hadn’t gotten into UNC, that he would have been disappointed, but he really would have been fine. According to him, ¨there are other schools in the world where I would have been happy. I definitely wouldn’t have believed that a couple years ago, but a lot’s changed.”

(Some information courtesy nytimes.com, washingtonpost.com)

(Photo courtesy collective-evolution.com)

By Stephanie Caron – Staff Reporter

A recent nationwide survey of high school students in the United States found that 16% of students reported seriously considering suicide, 13% reported creating a plan, and 8% reporting trying to take their own life in the 12 months preceding the survey.

Milford student, “Jenny Parkers” is all too familiar with that statistic. She is still dealing with the death of an 18-year-old family member who took his own life in October 2017.

“I’m still not over it,” Parkers said. “It’s better now, it’s been two years, but it is also still hard. When the day it happens comes around, and his birthday.”

Suicide and depression affects many more people each year. Suicide also affects an entire community, families of the victim, and friends.

With suicide increasing in teens and young adults it has now become the second leading cause of death for 10- to 24-year-olds.

In Dallas County, Texas, the numbers are alarming. “The suicide rate for children 14 to 17 in Dallas County increased 79 percent from 2015 to 2016. Between 2008 and 2015, rates of children seen for suicidal ideation and behaviors in hospitals and emergency rooms almost doubled,” Psychiatrist Betsy Kennard said. “The Children’s Medical Center has also experienced a similar increase in those seen for suicidal thoughts and behaviors during that time period”

This begs the question: Why are these numbers on the rise? Why are more and more teens depressed or committing suicide? There are many theories as to why it has increased greatly in the past years.

One theory is that there is more stress on families and teens which may be a factor to depression and other mood disorders.

“Disruption in family structure can lead to several adverse events impacting both the mental health of children and their parents. Not all disruptions have equal effects. More emotional and behavioral problems occur in families disrupted by divorce than compared to other types of disruptions, for example, death of a parent,” Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist  Dr. Aniruddh Prakash said. “ Certain characteristics have been identified in caregivers as well as the children themselves that serve as risk factors for abuse. Young age, depression, substance abuse, poverty, and history of mothers being separated from their own mothers during childhood serve as risk factors.”

Some believe the popular Netflix show “13 Reasons Why” has been big factor in the increase of teen suicide. The show is seen by some to glorify suicide in teens. A recent study that was conducted by using segmented quasi-Poisson regression and Holt-Winters forecasting models assessed monthly rates of suicide among individuals aged 10 to 64 years grouped into 3 age categories (10–17, 18–29, and 30–64 years) between January 1, 2013, and December 31, 2017, it was shown that, “After accounting for seasonal effects and an underlying increasing trend in monthly suicide rates, the overall suicide rate among 10- to 17-year-olds increased significantly in the month immediately following the release of ‘13 Reasons Why;’ Holt-Winters forecasting revealed elevated observed suicide rates in the month after release and in two subsequent months, relative to corresponding forecasted rates,” Jeffrey A. Bridge, PhD said.

In another study, American Academy of Pediatrics researchers found, “in the days following the premier of ‘13 Reasons Why,’ a significant spike in internet searches using terms such as ‘how to commit suicide’ and ‘how to kill yourself.’”A more recent study funded by the National Institutes of Health found a 29% increase in suicide among U.S. adolescents between ages 10-17 after the release of Season 1. In April 2017, the month after Netflix released all 13 episodes for streaming, the teen suicide rate in this age group reached a 19-year high. It remained high the rest of the year, with 195 more suicides reported in this age group than would have been expected.

Depression is increasing in teens at a rapid rate. Twenty percent of adolescents experience depression before adulthood, and 80% of that percent goes undiagnosed. Many of those adolescents show warning signs of being suicidal, or having suicidal thoughts that go unnoticed.

There are many signs to depression, such as poor performance in school, withdrawal from friends and activities, sadness and hopelessness, lack of energy or motivation, anger or rage. But although it might not seem someone is going through depression, most of it is very secretive and goes under the radar for many families, or friends to notice. Something parents are having a hard time noticing is; is it normal teenage blues or are they dealing with something more serious. If you take a closer look it might come clear to if it is just teenage blues, or something way more serious. Paying closer attention could save many more teenagers’ lives. The family of Natalie, a 13-year-old who took her life due to bullying,said there weren’t any warning signs.

As the bullying continued and Natalie’s behavior spiraled, her family says the school proposed moving Natalie to an alternative school in Nashville,” Natalie’s grandmother, Colleen Lindsay said.  “They never got that far. On March 3, the day of her 13th birthday, Natalie was found dead. I don’t think Natalie meant to do it. She just made a rash choice that went too far.”

Another theory is that teens don’t have any escape from negative communication and bullying because it happens online and over text messaging. Social media is so popular with impressionable young people and could be a factor in the increase in suicide and depression. Kids who might be getting taunted at school could also experience it at home through social media or text messages. This could leave kids feeling like they have no escape from the rude comments or taunting words they could be receiving at school.

A study conducted at the University of Pittsburgh found social media has played a huge role in increasing depression rates. One study out of the University of Pittsburgh, for example, found a correlation between time spent scrolling through social media apps and negative body image feedback. Those who had spent more time on social media had 2.2 times the risk of reporting eating and body image concerns, compared to their peers who spent less time on social media. The participants who spent the most time on social media had 2.6 times the risk. 1 Results from a separate study from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine showed that the more time young adults spent on social media, the more likely they were to have problems sleeping and report symptoms of depression. And another small study of teens ages 13-18 from the UCLA Brain Mapping Center found that receiving a high number of likes on photos showed increased activity in the reward center of the brain. Further, teens are influenced to like photos, regardless of content, based on high numbers of likes.

The best thing people can do is to become aware of the rising risks of teen and early adolescent depression. Many people are devoted to publishing educational articles and studies on how to notice when teens are showing suicidal signs or signs of being depressed. These articles give tips on how to try to prevent suicide and what to do after you might suspect that someone might be battling with depression or suicidal thoughts. Another aspect these articles provide is advice to someone who thinks their friend might be dealing with depression or suicidal thoughts. They encourage peers to talk to a trusted adult if they see these warning signs in a friend.

To decrease the alarming rising number in teen suicide, it is important to learn the warning signs. Having the knowledge of the first signs of depression and or suicidal thoughts can and will save many lives. Experts say that reaching out to the peers or family members you may be concerned with and offering help or advice can be a significant factor in the decrease of the suicide rates within the teens.

“Jenny Parkers” is just one example of someone dealing with the lost of a loved one from suicide. She hopes she is one of the last.

(Some information courtesy psycom.net healthychildren.org mayoclinic.org mentalhealthamerica.net usatoday.com)

(Photo courtesy tonedeaf.com)

By Jessica Owens – Staff Reporter

Death is inevitable but it’s always a little hard to believe when some of the most legendary or promising musicians pass on. It’s easy to feel personally connected to these artists through their music. Unfortunately, 2018 and 2019 have already seen the heartbreaking deaths of a long list of influential rappers and singers. A Billboard-charting newcomer lost his life after he was reportedly gunned down in a botched robbery; a rising talent out of Toronto with ties to Drake was killed in a triple shooting; a hip hop pioneer caved into health issues; a rising talent from Washington D.C. was murdered in cold blood. Sadly, the list goes on and on. Although these stars are gone, their art, talent, and performances are forever in fans’ memories.

Mac Miller

Twenty-six-year-old rapper Mac Miller was found dead in his home from an apparent overdose on September 7, 2018. Miller has struggled with substance abuse and depression throughout his career. Many of his songs were about the use of various drugs and Miller had long struggled with addiction. While he was attempting sobriety, he had frequent “slip-ups;” he openly brought up his dependence on lean, a combination of codeine and promethazine. It started around the time he was making his 2012 mixtape, “Macadelic.”

“He had sort of made a turn after the making of [his 2011 debut album] ‘Blue Slide Park,’ where I think he got a little bit deeper into drugs and was talking about it,” said Benjy Grinberg, the founder of independent Pittsburgh record label, Rostrum Records, who signed Mac to his first record deal in 2010 and served as his de facto manager for several years afterward. “It was definitely scary. I had never been that close to somebody who had issues like that.”

Miller’s death came as a shock. He was in his best mental and physical condition in years when he died. Miller had been working with his sobriety coach since 2016, and was working out at an L.A. gym nearly every day. His final album, ‘Swimming,’ was considered to be his best and was an indication that he had more to offer as an artist. There was a tribute concert held in his honor, benefitting the newly founded Mac Miller Circles Fund, a charity established in his name. Travis Scott, Chance The Rapper, SZA, and others performed at the show, and many of Miller’s friends and collaborators weighed in with what made him a talented artist.

XXXTentacion

On June 18, 2018, American rapper XXXTentacion, real name Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy, was shot and killed in an apparent robbery just outside RIVA Motorsports, an upscale seller of motorcycles and watercraft in Deerfield Beach, Florida. He was shot multiple times in the neck and was in critical condition before being pronounced dead at exactly 5:30 p.m. He first found fame with the track “Look At Me.” Onfroy’s fame accelerated by multiple Billboard-charting hits and his No. 1 album “?.” By early 2018, Onfroy was arrested on charges of domestic battery. He maintained his innocence, but never saw his day in court. In XXXTentacion’s last Instagram Live before he passed, he discussed what he hoped his legacy would be.

“If worse things comes to worst…and I’m not able to see out my dreams, I at least want to know that the kids perceived my message and were able to make something of themselves and able to take my message and use it and turn it into something positive and to at least have a good life,” he said.”If I’m going to die or ever be a sacrifice, I want to make sure that my life made at least five million kids happy, or they found some sort of answers or resolve in my life regardless of the negative around my name, regardless of the bad things people say to me. Do not let your depression make you. Do not let your body define your soul, let your soul find your body. Your mind is limitless. You are worth more than you can believe. All you have to do is dream and all you have to do is want to fulfill that dream and have the strength.”   

Lil Peep

Lil Peep died of an overdose of fentanyl and generic Xanax on November 15, 2017, according to the Pima Country Office of the Medical Examiner. His death at age 21 was said to be accidental by the medical examiner. Lil Peep released two albums, one posthumously on November 9, 2107, and many mixtapes and EPs. He left a lasting impact that is still felt by his fans even a year after his death. Lil Peep was not just  the next wave in emo, but a voice who touched upon the very real pain that comes with just existing in today’s day and age. Many of his songs were outlets to younger listeners and took their pain away from everyday problems or issues that they were going through. Many looked up to Lil Peep because he went through a lot and he came out the other end but ending up losing his battle with drugs. His mother, Liza Womack, was devastated hearing the news of her son’s passing.

“If you had seen Gus at night walking down the street, you might have been put off, scared even. You might have thought, ‘What a loser,’” she said. “If you had made these judgments about this teenager, about this young man struggling on his own to find meaning as a man, then I ask you to use this moment, right now, as a time to reflect on your actions. Ask yourself these questions: ‘Do I really know this person? Have I sat down face to face and asked to tell me about himself? Do I know what matters to him? Do I know what he values?’ Please do not make assumptions about people, or events, in ignorance. Try to step outside of your own box, and open your mind to new ideas. Must everyone fit into the box? Why must we have a box? My sweet little Peeper is gone, but he has surely left us a lot of wonderful material to review and consider. He has left me with new people to know. I am so proud of him. You have no idea.”

Christina Grimmie

Christina Grimmie, a former contestant on “The Voice,” was killed during a post-concert meet and greet with fans on June 10, 2016, and her death has been ruled a homicide.  In 2014, Grimmie was a contestant on Season 6 of “The Voice” and finished in third place. Adam Levine, her coach on the show, announced in the finale that regardless of the results he would sign her to his label 222 Records. Lil Wayne also offered to sign her to his label, Young Money Entertainment. She was signed with Island Records for a short time before being dropped.In 2016, Grimmie released her second EP, “Side A.” This same year, she also took on an acting role, making her first and only motion picture appearance in “The Matchbreaker.”

At Grimmie’s funeral, her father said, “The three things that keep me walking upright, otherwise I would just be a crumpled up mess in the corner, are that I know I’m going to see her again…she’s way better off now, she’s more alive now than she’s ever been, she’s not going to be hurt anymore, and thirdly, and this is where I’m wrestling, is that God’s plan is better than my plan.”

He said that his daughter was given a gift, and while many use their talents to bless themselves, she used that gift to love others.

Nipsey Hussle

Nipsey Hussle, whose real name is Ermias Asghedom, died Sunday, March 31, after a shooting in Los Angeles near a clothing store he owned. Two other people were injured in the shooting around 3:20 p.m. The shooting occurred in the area of Slauson Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard. The victims were taken to a hospital, where one of them was pronounced dead, the other two were in stable condition. In 2010, Hussle, founded the record label All Money In, which he debuted with the release of “The Marathon,” the rapper’s fifth official mixtape. His 2013 “Crenshaw” release sold more than 1,000 cassettes each priced at $100.

The next year, he performed across the country in his Crenshaw Tour. Hussle teamed up with dozens of successful artists, including Kendrick Lamar, Drake, YG, Ty Dolla Sign, Meek Mill, and Young Thug. He also did things outside the music industry. Last year, he launched the first Marathon Clothing smart store at 3420 W. Slauson Avenue in Los Angeles. He also owned The Marathon Agency, SC Commercial Ventures, Proud 2 Pay, and All Money In, No Money Out Records.

Nipsey’s mom shared beautiful words of encouragement to everyone, including her, mourning the death of her son.

“I have strength, and I want to lift you up,” she said. “Please do not stay down, do not stay stuck, do not mourn. Because Nipsey is great. And now he’s even greater because he has no bounds and no limits. His energy is everywhere. He’s there with you now and he’s here with me now. And please be encouraged. When you walk this earth and you do good deeds for people and you are loving and kind, those are the things that will show on your face — you will look more beautiful.”

(Some information courtesy rollingstone.com, ladbible.com, billboard.com, tosavealife.com, nbcnews.com)