The Edge of Seventeen, Film Conveys the Importance of School Professionals Related to Teenage Depression
When students don’t have access to adequate resources in social and school settings that afford them the opportunity to decompress and find support for their mental well-being, they run a higher risk of falling into a more severe state of depression. The film, The Edge of Seventeen, examines the life of a seventeen-year-old high school girl named Nadine Byrd and her struggles. The movie focuses on the issue of depression and suicidal thoughts and the impact her teacher has on her decisions. The scenes involving Nadine and Mr. Bruner depict the importance of school mental health professionals as mentors for students experiencing dangerous
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Included in the paper Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors, “school mental health professionals are in an excellent position to provide the necessary care and resources to prevent, intervene, and respond to youth suicide” (Eklund and Gueldner, 2011). There’s a scene in the film where Nadine seems to hit rock bottom and the person she reaches out to in her time of need is Mr. Bruner. He welcomes her into his home and she gets some unexpected helpful advice from his wife, Greer Bruner, “Look I just want to say I don’t know the whole story, but whatever it is it will pass. I went through a rough time not too long ago too, but look where it led me” (Craig, 2016). Nadine’s teacher and his wife play an important role in acting as mentors and confidants during her struggles. In the textbook, Creating Safe Schools and Fostering Student’s Mental Health, “In this vein, some students make threats because they feel desperate to improve their situation and because they lack conflict management skills” (Sulkowksi and Lazarus, 2017). Nadine, luckily, found a teacher who knew exactly how to handle her situation and her reactions to certain
In her essay responding to handling of mental issues in America Anna Quindlen employers parents, educators, and politicians to recognize mental issues in teens as a legitimate medical condition rather than a character flaw. Qunidlen’s use of rhetorical strategies such as tone, bias, understatement, and concerned diction allows her to demonstrate to her audience that teens such as Kip Kinkle and Sam Manzie are teens who need support from the array of people surrounding them. Quindlen utilizes a worried and aggravated tone by showing fury towards those adults who believe that teenagers have nothing to be depressed about. She mentions that these beliefs are getting in the way of those troubled teens who actually do need help.
On October 5, 2016, Fowlerville High School freshman, Brendan Kangas, committed suicide. His whole school and community was struck with grief, previously unaware of Brendan’s battle with depression. The next day school was held on schedule, and it was a very unproductive day. According to the faculty, kids were crying in classrooms, and uninstructed teachers did not know how to handle the situation (Brent). Many Fowlerville students have struggled academically, unable to cope with the news of Brendan’s death. Fowlerville was not prepared to handle such a crisis and administrators were unaware of the effect Brendan’s suicide would have on the school. Since then, several other students in Brendan’s community have attempted to take their lives as well (Brent). Suicide has not only a problem in
Compare and Contrast the approach to studying children’s friendships taken in the Bigelow and La Gaipa (1975) study with that taken by William Corsaro.
Craig is a fifteen year old boy living in Brooklyn with his family of four, and all he wants is to succeed in life, if he doesn’t kill himself first. He is depressed and pretty much hates his life, he wants to be normal. His best friend, Aaron, stole his crush, Nia, which makes him hate life even more. His stress eventually manifests itself in an eating disorder, use of pot, affected sleep habits, and suicidal thoughts. So, he admits himself to a nearby psychiatric hospital. "I'm fine. Well, I'm not fine -- I'm here." (Vizzini, 11) Many teens deal with stress themselves and cope in many different ways, and don’t pay attention to what is going on within themselves because they are too busy just making sure they are doing what they are supposed to be doing.
It is not uncommon to hear stories about a teenager experiencing mood swings and rebelling against those in authority. Nor is it uncommon to experience general sadness or anxiety in high school and college. However, it is often difficult to tell the difference between normal teenage angst and clinical depression. It is not commonly known that there has recently been a staggering rise of depression in adolescents. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, one in twelve adolescents in the United States suffer from depression, which is 8.3 % of the teenage population. In order to combat the problem of adolescent depression, it is essential that parents take an active role in their adolescent’s life by both acknowledging and
The novel “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” by Ned Vizzini says a lot about adolescent mental illness and how teenagers cope with stress. The main character, Craig Gilner, is a freshman in the Executive Pre-Professional High School, the most prestigious school in his area. He studied for weeks to pass the test to get in, but once he succeeded he felt overwhelmed by school work and anxiety until he stopped eating, started doing drugs, and eventually admitted himself into a mental health ward for suicidal thoughts. Of course, I’ve never experienced that kind of severe depression or been in a mental ward, but I could easily relate to Craig as a teenager with my fair share of school-related stress. Craig shared a lot of qualities with me, like his ambition, social life, and many aspects of his personality.
Many teenagers are affected by their suicidal thoughts and actions. Although statistics show that only a small percentage of adolescents are invaded with serious suicidal tendencies and thoughts, some millions of lives are still at stake. Anxiety and depression can also be tastefully depicted in stories such as Catcher in the Rye. Stories where it shows the main character’s thought process and their slow deterioration. We need to help our adolescents in the community to make life easier for adults and teenagers
In the United States, suicide is the third leading cause of death for 10 to 14-year-olds (CDC, 2015) and for 15 to 19-year-olds (Friedman, 2008). In 2013, 17.0% of students grades 9 to 12 in the United States seriously thought about committing suicide, 13.6% made a suicide plan, 8.0% attempted suicide, and 2.7% attempted suicide in which required medical attention (CDC, 2015). These alarming statistics show that there is something wrong with the way mental illness is handled in today’s society. Also, approximately 21% of all teenagers have a treatable mental illness (Friedman, 2008), although 60% do not receive the help that they need (Horowitz, Ballard, & Pao, 2009).
Although the times have changed, from day to day life, youth still face a great deal of the same struggles that are displayed in the movie. Comparable to the movie, in today’s society, a teenager has to battle the stress of attempting to achieve good grades, an inner battle with themselves based on their self-image, popularity, and parents.
In the United States, suicide is the third-leading cause of death for 10 to 14-year-olds (CDC, 2015) and for 15 to 19-year-olds (Friedman, 2008). In 2013, 17.0% of students grades 9 to 12 in the United States seriously thought about committing suicide; 13.6% made a suicide plan; 8.0% attempted suicide; and 2.7% attempted suicide in which required medical attention (CDC, 2015). These alarming statistics show that there is something wrong with the way suicide is handled in today’s society. In order to alleviate the devastating consequences of teenage suicide, it is important to get at the root of what causes it all: mental illness. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Protection (2013), mental illness is the imbalance of thinking, state of mind, and mood. Approximately 90% of all suicides are committed by people with mental illnesses (NAMI, n.d.). This shows that there is a correlation between mental illness and suicide. If mental illnesses are not treated, deadly consequences could occur. It would make sense that if there is a correlation between mental illness and suicide across all ages, the same should be thought for adolescents. Approximately 21% of all teenagers have a treatable mental illness (Friedman, 2008), although 60% do not receive the help that they need (Horowitz, Ballard, & Pao, 2009). If mental illnesses are not found and treated in teenagers, some of them may pay the ultimate price.
Teenage mental-health severely impacts a developing child's success in school and their day-to-day lives. Issues like depression and suicide need to be explored in our education because many are being affected.
Teen suicide is something that is endless, it will never stop but if everyone was educated on it, it could help prevent deaths. I think with people provided with statistics and further information can help avoid adolescent suicide attempts. I think most teen suicide cases could be prevent if we knew the signs to look for and the ways to stop it. I believe parents would feel safer if they knew knowledge on the issue and how to handle it. The intended audiences for this essay is parents or friends of suicidal teens. This essay is important because, as mentioned earlier, we need to be educated on suicide to end tons of tragedies. It is also important to be aware of the warning signs to help prevent. This essay is relevant because teen suicide is a war that happens daily, and will continue to happen, until we take control of the situation and do something to stop it. If family members were informed of the cause and symptoms leading up to the attempt of suicide, then there is less likely that teenagers would try and commit
Today’s teenagers are faced with the ever changing world around them and the biological changes of their bodies. Many teens are also faced with depression. Approximately half of teenagers with untreated depression may attempt suicide, which remains the third leading cause of death in this age group. (Bostic). This depression affects their school, family lives, and robs them of their self image. Depression affects many teens and often goes by unnoticed and untreated.
Day to day, teens suffer from peer pressure, problem from home, and stress from academics. Despise their status in the environment, majority of high school students refrain from acknowledging the presence of their reality. The problem in most situations in that students feel shut in, trapped in a never ending misery. How do they cope? What are their ways of dealing? Most students live in denial. Others have friends to confide in. For the devastating part, most students are not as open to these ideas and it leaves them with this alternative: suicide. Suicide is the third leading cause in teens the ages 14 to 19 within rural underserved areas. Suicidal ideation (SI), suicidal thoughts, were surveyed in over 12 high schools and it was found that in the past year, thoughts of (SI) were not shared with peers or even adults in the pursuit of receiving help or support (Pisani, 2012). Because a student spends most of their day at school, it is ideal for schools to provide realistic opportunities and school-based programs to assist with the suicide among the youth. The Surviving the Teens Suicide Prevention and Depression Awareness Program designed four 50 minute session or each high school student. This presented information in regards to factual information about depression, suicidal warning signs, suicidal risk factors and myths associated with suicide (King, 2010). The program provide coping strategies for everyday life, referral sources if feeling suicidal, and how to recognize
There are thousands of poems floating around written by bitter or depressed teenagers that are never recognised as works of art. Another form of escape for teenagers is, unfortunately, suicide. It is alarming how high the teen suicide rates have risen over the past decade. Yet, it is comforting that there are support groups and counsellors available now to aid teens through their troubles. Because no one wants to see a life full of promise and potential end abruptly because of a little sorrow in one kid's life. Another reason for teen suicide is their home life. The teenager gets caught in the middle of an argument between their parents, and they take the blame personally. This is not right. Sometimes the child is beaten or abused and is forced to run away into the streets, where they become homeless, and sometimes abducted. Sometimes they just die in a back alley during a cold winterOs night, and they are never missed. At sixteen, a teenager knows about suffering, because he himself has suffered, but he barely knows that other beings also suffer.