Author: Jimmy/Jordan

Teen Mental Health Crises

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Teen Mental Health Crises

Suicide, self-harm, depression, and anxiety are more prevalent in American teens in recent times. American teens are undergoing somewhat of a metamorphosis hence invoking more suicide numbers. 

 

This article has multiple mentions of suicide and self-ham. Reader discretion is advised.

 

The amount of youth on social media has skyrocketed. A study done in 2018 shows that 97% of people between the ages of 13-18 are on social media and 45% are online constantly.  Studies find that the over usage of social media makes youth insecure. They see people living life and get, in a sense, jealous. This triggers an insecurity factor and insecurity causes more stress and anxiety. More info here. 

 

In the early 2010’s there was a noticeable decline in mental health among teens. With the covid outbreak in 2020, there was more usage on social media. Now there is a decline in mental health in teenagers, now more than ever. 

 

Background

 

The rise of technology and mobile phones and social media started in the early 2000s. It was started in 2003 by MySpace. It was then followed by Face Book in 2004 then Twitter in 2006 and then Instagram in 2010. There was a change in the way the world worked when these platforms were introduced. There was a study conducted in 2007 amongst people the ages of 18-85, and the results show that mental disorders were at 20% and anxiety were at 14.4%. If interested in the whole report click here. In 2021, that percentage has gone up by almost 3 percent. This isn’t counting the amount of undiagnosed depression and anxiety disorders. 

Credit: https://www.vperemen.com

But the number of teens committing suicide as a result of depression is a huge issue. Suicide was the second leading cause of death of ages 15-24 in the U.S and 20% of High School students reported suicidal thoughts An unlucky 9% tried acting on those thoughts. 11% of young adults also reported having serious suicidal thoughts. For more detailed information this website has some useful things. The website is meant as a guide to the mental health journey. It isn’t directly for social media usage and what not but it is very informational.

 

The numbers among this age group are in direct correlation with social media and technology usage. All the social media platforms were emerging and growing as people that are now young adults were kids. Now, the youth today have those social media platforms in a more developed form. 

Credit: WALL STREET JOURNAL

Change

 

How do we change and break this dangerous cycle? It starts with limiting social media usage for example: putting a time limit on TikTok. Or limiting how long screen time is for example: having a designated time in the day to read, spend time with family and friends, and/or doing a hobby that doesn’t involve a screen. 

 

Encourage friends to do the same. Encourage them to set goals for themselves and live a more healthy lifestyle. 

 

Of course there are more factors than social media and there can be a combination of factors contributing to depression but there are still a lot of cases where social media is making them more depressed. Social media is designed to make sure that the user doesn’t put it down. So much so that many states are suing social media platforms. But this hook that social media creates, destroys children’s mental health and is putting them in a vulnerable emotional state. 

 

Help

If going through something like suicidal thoughts, self harming thoughts, or anything that involves harm to ones self there are resources that are free. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline number is 988 and the National Substance/Mental Health Hotline is (800) 662-4357.

On a smaller scale, the Utah number for Suicide Prevention/Mental Health Hotline is  1-800-273-8255. Additionally the SafeUt App is a very helpful resource.

Don’t be afraid to call if you find yourself in a type of situation of which you put your own wellbeing at risk. Don’t be afraid to call and reach out to them if a friend or loved one is experiencing serious suicidal thought.

 

Conclusion

It’s not terrible to have social media but it is the usage of social media that starts to become dangerous. Evaluate personal usage and identify that problem. The many cases of children being victim to manipulation, insecurities, and/or depression due to their social media usage is heartbreaking. The time for change is long overdue and it rests on our shoulders.

School Shootings Affect on American Society

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School Shootings Affect on American Society

Shootings have a grip over American society. School shootings negatively affect the lives of many American students and teachers. 

Credit: Wall Street Journal

Shootings In Media

There was a movie that came out in 2021 called The Fallout that stars Jenna Ortega. With her recent break on the Netflix show Wednesday, more of Ortega’s shows and movies are moving into the current spotlight. The movie is about a girl, Vada played by Ortega, that goes through a school shooting. The director, Megan Park, interviewed with TeenVouge stating how much she enjoyed the process of filming and the actors that she chose to cast. She also shares some insight on the amount of work she put into it. Park also reveals how real she wanted to make the movie without triggering anyone that has fallen victim to school shootings. Park says she did her best to take actual victims’ experiences and apply them to the film. 

This movie is very essential in the kind of world we are living in right now. The movie shows the process of Vada getting through the traumatic event. With the three shootings in California over the weekend, this movie is showing the kind of world we are in today. 

In the movie, the shooting happens in one of the first scenes. Vada goes to the bathroom and another girl, Mia played by Maddie Ziegler, is in there doing her makeup. They two later hear gunshots from outside the restroom and they quickly run into a stall. The two panic when the bathroom door opens but it turns out just to be a boy seeking safety from the shooter. The three wait out the shooting together.

We find that shootings have become more prevalent in recent years. Ever since 2020, shootings have gone up at an exponential rate. It is really scary because it is very real and we are talking about life or death instead of learning and growing. As mentioned earlier, there were three shootings in California in one weekend. A single weekend. 

Vada has a best friend, Nick, that survives and he does his absolute best to speak out and make sure shootings like that don’t happen again. Vada feels numb and just tries to make it through the day. Vada has a little sister who is around ten years old and says something along the lines of, “Sometimes I just think; what year are we living in, you know? I can literally buy a bulletproof backpack off of Amazon.” The little sister says this right after the shooting which is kind of poor taste but she’s a child and doesn’t know the bigger picture and the effect her words might have on her older sister. She does raise a good point, though. What year are we living in? Why do shootings happen so often and why aren’t they going down? 

Vada struggles through the movie on getting through the traumatic event. She starts therapy and in her final session in the movie, she is finally able to admit how she feels about the shooting. Vada tells her therapist that she feels mad. Vada states “I feel mad, because I had no idea one guy with a gun could f–k up my life so hard in six minutes. F–k up so many lives!” This is the voice of victims of shootings in America. Anger is what they should feel. No child deserves to go to school to learn and be met with gunshots, dead classmates, and dead teachers. 

School Shootings

Last year, the Uvalde school shooting shocked not only the state of Texas but most of the world as well. A psychotic 18-year-old decided to shoot up an elementary school and killed twenty-one people. Similar to the quote from The Fallout he messed so many lives up that day, in a short amount of time. That is not only unethical, but it is also unfair. Unfair that that eighteen-year-old can walk away, to jail of course, but he has robbed nineteen children of life and opportunity. He struck their families and that is so unfair. He also took two teachers. Two teachers had spouses and children. Those teachers were supposed to prepare the next generation and make our future bright and strong, but instead, they were met with this tragedy. 

Creator: Michael M. Santiago-Getty Images

It is unfair that someone like the shooter, who is typically dealing with some mental problem, can walk into a public learning space and take the lives of others instead of fixing their own. It is not fair to the lives taken, the hurt communities, and especially the hurt family and friends. It isn’t fair to educators to worry about their student’s safety when threatened. No teacher should ever have to protect their students from active shooters.

 

Creator: Marco Bello-Credit: REUTERS

Unsurprisingly though, this problem is only present in America. America is the only country that is proud of the right to carry. Well, look where that has gotten us. There have been about seventy mass shootings this year alone. It is almost February, and this shooting situation is outrageous. The number of innocent lives lost to a shooting takes ten minutes, give or take. 

The only other two countries that have their right to carry are Mexico and Guatemala but their shooting doesn’t even come close to that of America. No country even comes close to the amount of gun-related deaths that America has. Canada has second place in that area but Canada doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface. America’s gun problem is out of control and it doesn’t seem to be changing. There have been little to no laws put in place to prevent school shootings.

A handful of European countries rewrite their constitution every decade so they can keep up with the current times. America hasn’t been rewritten ever. In current times, it really should be. 

LGBTQ+ Struggles

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LGBTQ+ Struggles

Introducing LGBTQ+ Struggles 

Finding out who you are is an extraordinary journey, and the journey is never easy. It can be a very emotional ride. Some are harder than others, but LGBTQ+ youth might have it very hard. Finding what fits you and experimenting with pronouns and names can be hard, but finding people that support you can be even harder.

When growing up in the LGBTQ+ community, you have higher rates of suicide, the experience of homelessness, and the use of illegal drugs. This is all due to the stigma in society towards queer people.

Brooklyn Owen

In 2018 Brooklyn Owen, formerly known as Seth Owen, was a valedictorian. She was a top student, captain of the swim team, and had a 4.61 GPA. Brooklyn was on her way to her dream college when she found out that the college required a contribution from her parents. The problem was that her parents had kicked her out because they found out that she was gay. Brooklyn’s parents were very conservative and were a part of a baptist church. Brooklyn’s dad found out she was gay and outed her to her mom. They told Brooklyn that it wasn’t acceptable that she was gay.

Her teachers realized that her situation was getting worse, so they decided to make a GoFundMe page for Brooklyn. The goal was $20,000, but they exceeded the goal and raised $50,000! Brooklyn said she is very grateful to her peers and teachers for the support. She says it felt like unconditional love according to her interview on insider.com.

Jordan Steffy

In November 2019, Jordan Steffy finally decided to stand up to his bully. Jordan came out in middle school and started getting bullied because he is gay. His bully stayed with him up until high school. One day he had enough and decided to stand up to his bully. The bully called him a homophobic slur as he confronted him. Jordan responded by punching and hitting his bully.

Jordan stated that he just got sick of it. A classmate recorded it and posted it on Twitter where it got over 3 million views. Jordan says he would take it back if he could, but he is glad he stood up for himself. I don’t think Jordan was ever bullied again after that.

Addressing the Problem

Many queer teens have similar stories to these two students. Being themselves and loving who they love gets them bullied or abused by a parent or close relative. It can get you kicked out of certain programs. It’s sad how often someone a part of the LGBTQ+ community can tell stories about how they got harassed in middle school or got called slurs by their parents, or weren’t allowed to play for a team just because of who they were.

Some kids feel school is not a safe place for them to go. This is because of the bullying or harassment they have to withstand. There are designated safe spaces for members of the LGBTQ+ community because of the ongoing stigma towards them. There are even gay bars. But even then, some straight people invade the bars. There is little way around getting harassed when you’re a queer person.

It is heartbreaking to see people that are just being themselves get bullied or harassed or, in some cases, murdered. It happens if you come out to someone, it happens if you don’t dress to a certain standard, it happens if you’re with your friends or significant other. It’s really sad, but it gets frustrating and annoying after a while. What makes it super frustrating is when straight people will say that none of those things happen, and we just want the attention. Or when straight women go to lesbian bars because it simply isn’t for them, there are safe spaces for us for a reason. Straight people can go out in public with their friends without getting barked at or getting slurs yelled at them whereas, a queer person or friend group will go out to a carnival and have people call them slurs, bark at them, almost or do get into a fistfight.

 

  Some scary things can happen for simply loving who you love or being who you are. All you can do is be careful and do your best to stay safe. 

Attack on the Asian Community

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Attack on the Asian Community

Origins

  Ever since the pandemic started, hate crimes and violence towards Asians in America rose at an alarming rate. Newly recorded data by the FBI found that anti-Asian hate crimes went up by more than 73% in 2020. There were 161 reported anti-Asian hate crimes in 2019. In 2020 there were almost double, there were 279 reported anti-Asian hate crimes. 

 

  As we all probably know, the coronavirus started in a city in China and it then spread throughout China and now all around the world. Thus making it a pandemic. It has made life hard for many people. So many people lost their jobs, family, way of life and many other things that can be very personal to some people. But the Asian community has had it so bad ever since this pandemic started. Elderly Asian people were getting harassed and even murdered just in the streets. It got so bad that Asian people would start disguising themselves in anything to hide their identity. 

 

  There were many cases that anyone can look into from last year but one in particular spiked my interest, it was about a Filipino American man, Noel, whose face got slashed on his way to work. Noel was standing, waiting for his train and another man came up to him and started kicking his bag. Noel thought the other man was going to punch him until he saw the box cutter. He cuts Noel across the face. Noel said to reporters, “I shouted for help, but nobody helped me.” which shows just how normal it is to see harassment or assault and people are afraid to speak out or do anything about it. Noel then goes on to say that if it was just him that experienced this, it would be OK, but since there are Asian Americans that haven’t survived attacks like this, it is not okay. An 84-year-old Thai man was murdered just 2 days after he was shoved to the ground while on his morning walk. An old married couple, Mr. and Mrs.Lee, said they only go out once a month because they are scared of potentially losing their lives or getting hurt out in public. There are tons of other examples and it’s so heartbreaking.

 

#StopAsianHate

  In the summer, the hashtag BlackLivesMatter was trending. It is still a very big and growing movement. But it was a little unsettling that no one was talking about the movement “StopAsianHate” Not many people know about it because it isn’t being talked about.

 

    I have only seen very few media influencers speak about it. The only ones that I have seen speak out about it are the ones that keep up with k-pop or watch anime or Asian’s themselves. It wasn’t until the k-drama “Squid Game” came out that people started treating Asians a bit too well. The Asian community is now getting fetishized because of their almond-shaped eyes and their clear skin. The character Kang Sae-Byeok, from ‘Squid Game” has been “analyzed” because she’s so hot and no one knows why. But it’s really because people can’t accept the fact that someone who isn’t white, can be hot just for the sake of being hot. The actress, HoYeon Jung, is a South Korean model and actress who started her career in 2010. Since she was exposed to the western audience with her starring in Squid Game, people have been analyzing her face to find out why she’s so pretty. But it’s just a cover for Americans’ internalized xenophobia and racism. People just don’t know how to accept that Asians and people of color can be pretty, if not prettier, than white people.

 

Speaking Out

  Even fans of anime, K-pop, and K-dramas wouldn’t speak out about it or even know about all the Asian hate going around. True fans would speak out about it and hold people accountable but a lot of other fans would brush it off to the side as nothing happened. Even the fans that do talk about it, will make things more secret. There is this podcast called, “Daebak show w/ Eric Nam” if you don’t know, Eric Nam is an American K-pop idol, singer-songwriter, and he has a podcast where he will talk about K-pop, and a lot of the time he invites other idols on the show to talk about their new songs or a recent comeback. Eric Nam did an episode where he spoke about #StopAsianHate. In the K-pop community, everyone keeps up with certain groups and shows and that will become a trend. When Eric Nam posted this episode, no one was talking about it. The only thing I saw about Eric Nam was his memes. It was almost like no one cared about this huge event that is going down. 

 

  Throughout 2020, Asian people were getting harassed way more than usual because they were getting blamed for bringing over the Coronavirus. In 2021, the Korean drama Squid Game dropped on Netflix and now Asians are getting fetishized. In the past year, the Asian community has been under attack and enough is enough. What’s going on isn’t right, Asians should not have to endure this because they are Asian. 

BTS Influence On The U.S

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BTS Influence On The U.S

BTS’ Influence on Western Audience

  K-pop was first introduced to the U.S in 2012 by PSY’s Gangnam Style. BTS started becoming bigger in America in 2020 with their first full English hit, Dynamite. This summer they released another full English single Butter. Now that BTS has grabbed the attention of the Western audience, it gives them a chance to get singing opportunities, publicity, and more fans. Ever since BTS released their new two singles Butter and Permission to Dance, BTS has been getting tons of interviews and more singers want to get featured on their songs.

  BTS is breaking many records and is the first k-pop group to get big in America. Since they have brought and made their music popular in the U.S, it’s shown a lot of American citizens other k-pop groups. BLACK PINK has also gotten very popular in the U.S ever since they debuted. A lot of teenagers now are k-pop fans because of how much these groups are influencing their music in the U.S.

 

BTS Throughout the Years

  BTS first debuted in 2013 with No More Dream. BTS has come a long way since then. Even when they released Boy With Luv ft. Halsey in 2019, got more attention from western audiences. BTS has changed their style a few times to become the group they are today. When they first started, they were rappers with a dark concept and throughout their years, they became schoolboy rappers.

Bts Group Photo 2019 - 1200x812 Wallpaper - teahub.io

(BTS members starting from the bottom left: RM, Suga, Jung-Kook, Jin, V, Jimin, J-Hope) 

 The leader of famous k-pop group, BTS, learned English partly through a well-known show, “Friends” The leader, RM or Kim Nam-Joon, says he learned most of his English through the subtitles of “Friends” It started with the Korean subtitles changing to English and then losing the subtitles entirely. But no matter how many k-dramas I watch, I can’t learn Korean. Although RM did have English tutors, he learned a lot of his English from the “Friends” and even helped his members with their English. With the band getting more interviews because of their recent releases, you can see how much the members have been working on their English and RM still helps translate and helps his members here and there with the pronunciation and/or phrasing. 

   With their fan base, ARMY, so big and good at trolling this reached the creators and cast of the show, which isn’t a bad thing for once. RM saying this caused the show to have a reunion starring the band. Now they have a guest appearance on the very popular show, “Friends” BTS is scheduled to have a cameo in the show but Ben Winston, the director of the specials, refuses to share any big details on the cameo to avoid any spoilers. 

BTS Fan Base

 

  In about 2016, one of the members (Jung-kook) had a dating scandal. Because rumors were floating around, ARMY decided that Jung-kook belonged to ARMY and he couldn’t live his own life as a human being. In response to Jung-kook’s rumors, they started a hashtag called “cutforkookie” Basically what they would do is start self-harming and cutting their wrists and ankles to show Jung-kook that they loved him more than anyone else could. They tried to show him that he was being selfish in dating some girl. ARMY clearly didn’t understand that Jung-kook does not belong to them. Although ARMY has done some very questionable things in the past including trolling and bullying people just because they don’t like BTS, the boys still love them. 

   The most recent and big thing the BTS ARMY has done is cancel James Cordon. In one of his more recent episodes, he said something that offended ARMY. James said that the ARMY was a bunch of 15-year-old girls that we’re jealous of a bunch of older men in a room with BTS. James also said that it was unusual that BTS would be speaking at the UN when BTS has spoken two other times. ARMY wasn’t happy with it and decided to start rating his show at 1 and canceled him for his remarks.

 

  Out of all the k-pop groups, BTS has the biggest bandom. I have had many friends strictly because they liked BTS. Next to directioners and swifties, ARMY has been the biggest bandom since 2016.

Police Aren’t as Trustworthy as we Thought

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Police Aren’t as Trustworthy as we Thought

Police Aren’t as Trustworthy as we Thought

 Police are given too much power. There have been many cases where officers commit crimes and use their badge as an excuse or use it to create fear. The people that are sworn to protect us have let a lot of us down. 

Police Cases

 Officer Bradley Stewart Wagner. According to cnn10.com, Bradley raped a woman in a parking lot on a night in California. She was getting followed by the officer after she had filled up on gas. He pulled her over and asked for a license and registration but as an undocumented immigrant, she didn’t have them. Officer Bradley told her that he can take her to go get deported. She begged him to let her stay and that she had four kids at home waiting for her. In response, he took the woman over to another parking lot and asked if she had any drugs of any sort on her. She told him that she didn’t but he proceeded to touch her breasts and put his fingers through the zipper of her pants to “search” for drugs while the poor woman was shaking uncontrollably. Officer Bradley took her into his police van and forced her into the backseat where he put the woman’s arms in the position to get handcuffed and she for sure thought that she was going to be arrested and put in jail. Instead, he told her “You sexo for me, no problema.” He then raped the woman and once she escaped from him, he stood outside her car masturbating. Then, he told her that she will have to continue to have sex with him “forever” at the same place. She leaves the scene, traumatized and sick. She drives aimlessly to her house and her kids find her vomiting in a bush around 3 am. 

Officer Joseph Hunt. According to an article on twincities.com, this man sexually abused his adopted son (Chad Hunt) for eight years. Chad said that he would sexually abuse him five times a day. Chad could only escape this for three months every summer when he would go live with his grandmother. Chad said, “By my estimation, I was molested 1,480,” He also called Joseph a coward and a fraud for hiding behind the badge. Before the judge gave Joseph his sentence she said,” 1,480 times…that kind of takes your breath away,” and I could not agree more. Chad’s memories are haunting him. But at least Joseph got the jail time he deserved (3.4 years) but is it justice for Chad if Joseph was getting more than 2 million dollars while in jail? Because of the retirement benefits he gets, he’s getting around 30% more than the median family got in 2020. In 2020 the median family got $67,521 which was a 2.9 percent decrease to 2019. The median income for 2019 was $69,560, according to census.gov. If the same amount of income was earned in 2020 the years he was in prison, it wouldn’t come close to what his income was in prison. The amount of income that the median family would’ve earned in that time would be around $229,571. 

Deputy Richard Rodriguez. He was accused of using his badge to force a bunch of prostitutes into his patrol car and use them in inappropriate ways. Richard was charged with five felony counts of false imprisonment, three misdemeanor counts of sexual battery, and one misdemeanor count of engaging in acts of prostitution. Throughout 15 months, Richard was picking up and telling these women that he had to “run” them in the system to confirm their identity while he was in uniform. Instead of doing what he said he would, he took the women to a secluded industrial area where he groped them and told them to strip. He took photos of the women while they were naked and in suggestive positions. Richard also handcuffed three of the women. Richard was sentenced to 16 months (1 year and 4 months) and in that time pocketed more than three million dollars because of his retirement benefits. Richard got almost 50% more than the median family did in 2020.

Reflection

  These are just a few of the many cases of police using their badge for the purpose it should never be used for. Creating fear and committing crimes. The sad thing is that they can get away with it because of their badge. “Serve and protect” that’s their motto, that’s their job. But if they don’t serve and protect, why do they get their badges? If this is what a lot of the officers that are sworn to protect us are doing, I would not want them in my community. I have read and heard so many stories of police wronging people and not being held accountable for their actions. It’s really scary when you look at it all. 

Even when these officers are arrested for what they do, they get retirement benefits. They can get millions while sitting in jail. Criminals should not be allowed to earn money because they are the ones that should be paying for their crimes.

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