Budner, Ali, and Mountain West New Bureau.

“Colorado Takes Steps To Combat High Youth

Suicide Rate.” ​WBUR​, WBUR, 19 Nov. 2018,
www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2018/11/19/colorado-high-youth-suicide​.
● According to a quote taken directly from the NPR segment, the suicide rates among
young people has tripled since 1940, with Colorado having one of the highest rates in the
nation. As a result, the state as a whole has taken actions to lower that rate and properly
address the issue concerning the youth, particularly in schools.
● A handful of potential solutions were addressed, some of which have already been
implemented or are in the process of being implemented. One of these solutions is a grant
of nearly $3 million to fund pediatric mental health and better resources for schools. This
funding also addresses the need for improved childhood mental health resources in rural
areas, as well as mental health tool kits developed with the purpose of being provided to
schools. Another solution was described by a junior in high school, who—having been
stressed about classes, assignments, and bullies—dropped out and ended up attending a
school that made the mental well-being of their students a priority. This school created
peer-led support groups as a means of encouraging students to recognize peers they can
turn to, and reached out to their students more. A final solution was described in more
simple terms: simply talk about the issue, make efforts to improve resources, and reach
out to the students who may feel like they are invisible with no one to turn to.
Davies, Robert D., and Barbara Kessel. “Gender Minority Stress, Depression, and Anxiety in a
Transgender High School Student.” ​American Journal of Psychiatry​, vol. 174, no. 12,
Dec. 2017, pp. 1151–1152. ​EBSCOhost,​ doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2017.17040439.
● This article, titled “Gender Minority Stress, Depression, and Anxiety in a Transgender
High School Student,” opens with a description of a transgender teen in high school as he
experiences the stressors typical of gender minorities. Despite a (mostly) supportive
family and school system, “Jamie” still faced bullying, a lack of acceptance, and feeling
excluded from his peers. As a result, he was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder
and major depressive disorder. The article goes on to note that transgender individuals
experience higher rates of depression and suicidal ideation than the general population.
 On the other hand, according to the TransYouth Project, transgender children who were
given the chance to socially transition and whose identities were fully supported were
found to exhibit depression and anxiety at about the typical rates of what is stated as the
national average. It is important to not only acknowledge mental health issues of
adolescent students, but to also acknowledge this issue from multiple perspectives and in
accordance with various factors that all play a role in the levels of stress, depression, and
anxiety in high school students. The article notes “support,” in the most general terms, to
be among the most important solutions when looking to improve the mental health of
youths of gender minorities.
Degrassi Group Chat. “What Everyone Needs to Know About Teenagers and Mental Health.”
Everyday Feminism​, 24 Feb. 2017,
everydayfeminism.com/2017/02/teenagers-and-mental-health/.
● “What Everyone Needs to Know About Teenagers and Mental Health,” which includes a
video (and the transcript of said video, includes a discussion between young people about
​ he teens each
mental health and related struggles in an episode of ​Degrassi Group Chat. T
get a chance to speak up about the topic. For example, one teen noted the importance of
having knowledge about mental health, including how to take care of oneself and
analyzing one’s thoughts. The next teen talked about the struggle of going to school when
they felt they could not approach their teachers or trust their friends, finding school to be
a burden in the process. Another teen talked about the mindset people have in general
regarding mental health, and about anxiety in particular; the teen compares a student with
anxiety being forced to “get over it” and do a class presentation to a student with a
broken leg being excused from gym. The idea that mental health is invisible was also
brought up, and the struggle of feeling isolated as a result. Overall, a couple “solutions”
were mentioned, including spirituality, reaching out to the school counselor, making
attempts to understand mental health by putting oneself in someone else’s shoes, finding
a community of people for support, and looking to media for information and
representation. The biggest thing I took from this video was the overall issue of changing
 the mindset of the general public, of educating people on the issue, even those who
struggle with mental health issues themselves.
Dove-Viebahn, Aviva. “A Return to Separate and Unequal.” ​Ms. v​ ol. 28, no. 4, Fall 2018, pp.
28-30.
● This article, titled “A Return to Separate and Unequal,” by Aviva Dove-Viebahn,
discusses the impact that decisions made by the Trump administration has had on the
Education Department, including a threat of massive budget cuts. Another issue brought
up deals with Title IX, “which prohibits sex discrimination and sexual harassment at all
levels of education and in any education programs;” as the law, made to protect students
receives federal funding and therefore is a target. The article also mentions how Secretary
DeVos has gone back on the policies set by the Obama administration that guide schools
in responding to sexual assault reports, therefore pulling back the protection and support
survivors should have in educational settings. As a result of these changes (and threats of
change) many teachers and allies, as the article notes, protested and marched to demand
funding and higher salaries. Again, this article does not necessarily mention mental health
directly, but is an important political perspective of what schools and educators are
facing. Better funding and support for improving the mental well-being of students is just
as much at risk due to the lack of funding for schools in general. The article does not go
into any detail about solutions to the issues mentioned, but alludes to the importance of
voting, taking to the streets, educating, and demanding the change necessary to improve
the educational system overall.
Glass, Gary D. Personal interview. 12 Mar. 2019,
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yCOKReBMtSz3sjsfde18ve8C_PsQue11eIT5M03
3UJ8/edit?usp=sharing​.
● This first interview was with Gary D. Glass, who, as he describes, is a “college mental
health professional,” a phrase he prefers over simply “therapist.” He talks with students
dealing with mental health issues on a daily basis. At the start of the interview, he talks
about his preference to focus on more human ideas of being scared and lonely rather than
“diagnostic” language of “anxiety” and “depression;” despite the latter two being the
 most common issues, he argues a better approach would be to explore students’ struggles
with uncertainty, need for control, status issues, feeling unloved, etc. When asked about
his opinion on how the country, and education system in particular, approaches the topic
of mental health, he finds the strongest trend to stem from the phrase “mental health,”
with a strong emphasis on “health,” creating an incentive to look at the issue from a
medical or health issue. He argues that while the medical approach can be beneficial in
many aspects, it also does not allow for a focus on the systemic causes that may be
behind mental health issues (and that it should be approached more as an education issue
as well). In regards to his opinion on steps high schools may be taking towards dealing
with this issue, he argues that a lack of funding from the government plays a big role in
the lack of effort that high schools put towards finding solutions for mental health issues
of their students. He also notes that there are disparities among those who deal with
mental health issues, not only due to resources (or a lack thereof), but also due to therapy
often being very oppressive to certain communities (such as people of color and the
LGBTQ community). He talks about numerous potential solutions and approaches to the
broad issue of mental health among students, including the necessary funding (which will
require the aid of the government, not just efforts of educators themselves), more efforts
to ensure that everyone regardless of gender, race, socioeconomic status, sexuality, etc.
are treated fairly and given equal access to resources and support, as well as restructuring
the pressure that the educational system places on students to get a diploma for a job or to
get into a top college rather than encouraging “natural discovery and exploration of
learning.” Glass argues that although the stigma around mental health has changed from
the mindset that people are “crazy,” the general way of thinking nowadays stigmatizes
mental health in relation to “being weak” and “showing vulnerability,” which leads to a
final, nearly impossible solution of restructuring everyone’s mindset when it comes to
talking about mental health.
Graham, Kerry. “Why I'm A Relentless Overachiever.” ​Role Reboot​, 3 Dec. 2018,
www.rolereboot.org/life/details/2018-12-why-im-a-relentless-overachiever/​.
 ● In the blog post “Why I’m A Relentless Overachiever,” Kerry Graham describes growing
up with the childhood nickname of “Einstein,” and the subsequent pressures the
expectations of those around her, as well as the expectations she learned to put on herself,
that she felt even into college. Graham describes how she often still finds the need for
external validation before she can feel good about herself. She talks about how she
relentlessly pursued straight A’s and a 4.0 GPA, seeing herself as lazy if she got so much
as a B — it did not matter the hard work she had put into getting those grades. This
pursuit of receiving “perfect” grades and having a “perfect” record, she notes, depleted
her quality of life; it even went so far as to affect how she saw her relationships with
friends and family, how she worried that if she did not meet the expectations she had set
for herself, they would abandon her. The pressures Graham placed on herself as a result
of the expectations she forced herself to meet growing up left her to often attack herself
verbally and emotionally. Only once she recognized how burnt out she felt, did she start
to question what she had been doing to herself; this realization led to her questioning the
possibility of balancing such high expectations with the potential for a break. As a direct
quote, Graham says, “I do not yet know how to be a high-achiever without also putting
my mental health at risk.” At the end of the post, Graham notes how she still is taking
steps towards managing this pressure; however, she mentions therapy, confiding in
friends, and attending a positive youth development training as things that have helped
her along the way. In connection with my own issue of mental health of students, I feel it
is important to also recognize the impact that a person’s own goals and expectations of
themselves have on their health; regardless of the amount of course work or the external
stressors on an individual, sometimes the solution to poor mental health has to start with
the thoughts that go through one’s head on a daily basis.
Neighmond, Patti. “Sleepless No More In Seattle - Later School Start Time Pays Off For Teens.”
NPR,​ NPR, 12 Dec. 2018,
www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/12/12/676118782/sleepless-no-more-in-seattle-l
ater-school-start-time-pays-off-for-teens​.
 ● This segment addresses the issue of teenage students not getting nearly enough sleep,
pushing schools in Seattle, Washington to take action and researchers at the University of
Washington to study potential solutions to the problem and the benefits of said solutions.
● The main solution to be discussed during this segment was for Seattle high schools and
middle schools to push back the start time about an hour: from 7:50 A.M. to 8:45 A.M.
This resulted in about 34 extra minutes of sleep, and — as researchers found — resulted
in fewer students absent or showing up late, and a 4.5% increase in grades. A biology
teacher attested to the differences by noting that her students were more focused, yawned
less, and were more capable of engaging and analyzing the material she taught them.
Another potential solution that may be brought up as a counterpoint to the previously
mentioned solution is for kids to simply go to bed earlier; however, according to research,
after puberty a kid’s biological clock changes, resulting in them unable to biologically
sleep until at least midnight. This leads the discussion on solutions back to the other end,
which strongly recommends that schools start at 8:30 (a sentiment backed by the
American Academy of Pediatrics).
“Safer Sports, Safer Girls.” ​Ms. v​ ol. 28, no. 4, Spring 2018, pp. 12.
● This article, titled “Safer Sports, Safer Girls,” discusses the impact of the #MeToo
movement and Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse trial on the actions Congress has taken
towards protecting young athletes. The Safe Sport Act, the result, ensures that more
support is given and more people are urged to report child sexual abuse. The article
describes what went into the act, the reasons behind it, and what occurred because of it.
While this article is not directly related to my chosen topic of mental health in schools, I
feel that it at least ties into the importance of recognizing multiple factors that go into the
physical and mental well-being of students.
Suldo, Shannon M., et al. “Predictors of Success Among High School Students in Advanced
Placement and International Baccalaureate Programs.” ​Gifted Child Quarterly​, vol. 62,
no. 4, Oct. 2018, pp. 350–373. ​EBSCOhost,​ doi:10.1177/0016986218758443.
● This article, entitled “Predictors of Success Among High School Students in Advanced
Placement and International Baccalaureate Programs,” recognizes and discusses the
higher level of stress that research has found students in American AP and IB classes to
experience in comparison to their peers in general education classes. In their approach to
study the issue further, researchers examined how other factors may play a role (such as
coping styles, family factors, and demographic features). It was found that higher levels
of achievement motivation and cognitive engagement and lower levels of conflict with
parents, major life stresses, and use of avoidance coping strategies led to better outcomes.
Over time, the choice of taking college-level courses in high school has expanded to
reach across socioeconomic and ethnic groups, as well as freshmen and sophomores in
addition to the traditional targets of juniors and seniors. Despite the pressure placed on
students to take these college-level courses early on to better prepare for actual college
courses, it is important to also recognize the other stressors that adolescent students
experience outside of their studies. The stress that comes as as a price alongside academic
demands of an overwhelming workload and a pressure to succeed can lead to academic
struggles of poor grades and challenges with course content as well as social and
transitional issues. Some of the solutions within this article were discussed as
realizations; for example, the study found (and reaffirmed) that some coping styles over
others were said to be more beneficial for students and their success in the long run, such
as the use of the approach style (characterized by the use of time and task management
strategies, seeking support, seeking comfort from family, and self encouragement).
Another solution deals with an approach outside of the classroom: parenting styles; while
an authoritative parenting style may not directly correlate with academic outcomes, it was
found to be a predictor of positive mental health outcomes. The article also notes that
support in general is lacking for students who succeed academically but are not aided in
terms of emotional health, and calls for educational support specifically geared towards
AP/IB students.