By Graham Jaeger
Mental Health has played a major role in schools across the country for over the past decade. Each and every year, students feel more and more pressure as they have to adapt from their summer into new school routines (Suldo, Shaunessy, Hardesty, 2008). Students suffer from mental health largely because of stress, but other factors such as addiction, rape, and even school violence are heavy contributors as well. A perfect example of mental health issues within high school students is displayed in the Netflix television series titled 13 Reasons Why. Throughout this show, you see depression take over kids lives which ultimately has a huge impact on the rest of the students in the show. 13 Reasons Why received a lot of criticism because suicide rates in teens rapidly increased after the show was released. Many say it was due to the connection they could feel with Hannah throughout the show, and others felt like they were in her position where they felt it was the only thing left to do. It is extremely saddening to know what these kids are going through and not being able to help. It doesn't matter who you are, mental health is a disease that can find you and tear you down. Nobody can run from mental health and it is time we treat this problem and get students in schools the help they deserve.
“Mental health disorders have been estimated to affect approximately one in five children ages 9 to 17 years (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999)” ( Suldo, Shaunessy, Hardesty, 2008). This statistic makes it inevitable that students all over the country deal with some sort of depression on a daily basis. Even the smallest thing you say to someone could change their life in a way you would never imagine. Depression is so weight baring that kids feel like the only thing that can relieve their pain are either drugs or suicide. Since 2014, icons such as Robin Williams, Anthony Bourdain, Mac Miller, and many more have all had their careers come to an end because they felt there was nothing left to do than take their own life. This affects students in a violent way because they grow up watching these celebrities in Robin Williams, they love the food industry because of Anthony Bourdain, and Mac Miller’s music allowed kids to escape their pain and be at peace. What students do not understand is that suicide affects way more than just themselves. As you see in 13 Reasons Why, after the main character Hannah Baker takes her own life, everyone in the life around her suffers from it. Hannah’s friend Alex Standall, unsuccessfully attempts suicide at the end of season one and as a result is coping with permanent physical disability in season two. Hannah Baker took up her health issues to the guidance counselor in season 1, but sadly he let her walk out the day she committed suicide and knows that he could have done more as he testifies for her in season 2.
I cannot imagine losing a loved one due to suicide because I would always feel like I could have done more. Unfortunately, “the annual age-adjusted suicide rate is 13.42 per 100,000 individuals” (Suicide Statistics, 2018). These numbers are extremely terrifying, and it all starts with counseling, guidance, and treatment schools and parents are providing for their kids. Being a role model and bringing positive energy to students across the country goes a long way, but even more so you never know if today is the day you are going to save someone's life.
References
Suldo M. Shannon, Shaughnessy Elizabeth, Hardesty Robin. (2008) Relationships among stress, coping, and mental health in high-achieving high school Students. Wiley Periodicals Inc., Vol 45(4), 1-19. http://web.a.ebscohost.com.duproxy.palni.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=1bbeacc1-1773-4ba0-a5e1-38fac6c6eac3%40sessionmgr4009
“Suicide Statistics.” AFSP, 2018, afsp.org/about-suicide/suicide-statistics/.
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Graham,
ReplyDeleteI want to start by praising how respectfully you approached this topic. Choosing to discuss something as grave as mental illness and suicide was a risk, but your effort was successful. You were able to dissect mental health's portrayal in media while still remaining conscious of the topic's emotional nature.
Your choice of examples touched on two different media forms, television and music, resulting in a thorough analysis. You also did a strong job bringing your two main points together in your discussion about the fallout and effects on other people after a suicide occurs. This shows your ability to synthesize effectively.
One area that may be interesting for future exploration is how sexuality and suicide are tied together in media representation. After reading the chapter in "Pop Culture Freaks" for this week, I see possibility for a more focused analysis.
Graham, solid effort. Just a few things of note:
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the "house style" formatting we've discussed in class, I've got a few notes.
1. Ensure you space down (via enter) on your first line, otherwise, you'll have your byline capitalized.
2. Your APA in-text citation in your second paragraph is off, as well as citation in reference list, best to review the guidelines prior to your second blog post.
For the most part, you've got a pretty good first post. For flow's sake, I've got a minor note. You present a statistic mentioning depression rates in children at the beginning of paragraph two - set up the information just a bit more!
Thank you for the feedback! I will keep note each of these things. I appreciate it!
DeleteGraham,
ReplyDeleteI concur with Colleen and David on much of this. You've done a fine job dealing with a sensitive topic.
All the same, I'd like to see a bit less editorializing, especially at the end of your post. Best to keep the focus on media representation of teen suicide.
That is to say, your discussion of celebrity suicide, while noteworthy, detracts from what could be your principal focus: 13 Reasons Why. In other words, you allude to the controversy surrounding this show, but don't pursue this line of thought.
And yet, given the stigma surrounding the show's subject matter, 13 Reasons Why creates a discursive space to explore an issue that is all but taboo in American (popular) culture.
In addition to the formatting issues David identifies, you want to watch your spacing between paragraphs. More critically, some of your sentence construction is awkward and hard to follow. For instance, you write, "... watching these celebrities in Robin Williams..."
I get it, but this should read more clearly. Likewise, check your use of punctuation, see the passage on Alex Standall.
Finally, check your use of secondary sources (i.e., DHHS 1999) in APA style.
In short, this is a very good start. With more discrete focus and more attention to proof reading, your posts will be all the more engaging and incisive.
26/30 pts.
Graham,
DeleteI agree with everybody that has responded, you did a very good job with covering this sensitive topic. This is a very serious issue in our country. I like how you said that nobody is immune from becoming depressed or getting a mental disorder.
The thing that I liked the most is how you brought up how something you say to somebody could change their life in a way that you would never know. Also, at the end of your article you had a call to action to all people to bring positive energy to everybody and I think that is big. This just shows how important it is to respect everybody.
Overall a really good article on a good topic that needs to continue being talked about.