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Post by Admin on Nov 18, 2015 13:09:03 GMT -4
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Post by afilatov on Nov 18, 2015 17:47:47 GMT -4
“They had internalized their parents’ priorities, and though they felt conflicted about them, they didn’t quite know how to break free.” Internal struggle pertains to almost all mental dismay and debilitation, from suicidal ideation to schizoaffective disorder. Being trapped inside your own mind must be one of the most difficult obstacles patients must overcome. The coping capacity of most psych patients is limited or non-existent. As the article mentions there are patterns among suicide attempts. These patients battle depression, anxiety, PTSD etc. they can be undergoing treatment both pharmacotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy and never addressing the underlying causality of their most personal, deep and intimate inner exertion and sadness. It is essential, to notice and raise awareness regarding pattern in suicide and signals sent by individuals. Especially in adolescents, it may not be as apparent, delicate approach to changes in behavior, academic failure, and adjustment tribulations is necessary.
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Post by mohiman saffar on Nov 19, 2015 1:20:24 GMT -4
After reading this article I was alarmed on how adolescent suicide has changed these days. It seems like teenagers are under a lot of pressure from their parents to succeed in order to assure they get the best career possible. The degree of competitiveness of getting into highly respected colleges is higher than ever and it’s making it harder for students to keep up with this change. Some students are able to handle this pressure but some feel like it’s too much to handle and they try to find an exit through suicide. “I also felt like I was already saying that I was too stressed, and nobody—neither my parents nor my teachers—seemed to care or take me seriously.”- I believe it’s the parent’s duty to talk to their kids and build strong relationship with them in order to figure out what they’re going through.
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Post by Matthew Yee on Nov 19, 2015 10:13:03 GMT -4
A “culture of affluence” can impact adolescents at a time when they are most vulnerable. As the article showed, this can lead to tragedy. There is no doubt in my mind that many of the students who were part of the cluster of suicides in Palo Alto, felt extreme pressure to succeed in school. It is saddening that they were so overwhelmed they thought that the only way to get out was suicide. I believe that parents should be more aware of the expectations that they set for their children. Pressuring their children to do well in school can be extremely stressful to students and very disheartening if these expectations are not met.. Hopefully more guidance can be provided to students on how to deal with stress and academic expectations to prevent more tragedies in the future.
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Post by Sameera Faiz on Nov 19, 2015 14:52:25 GMT -4
On numerous occasions the article mentions changes in sleep patterns among suicidal teens. For example “The only anomaly anyone could identify was that Cameron never seemed to sleep”. There are multiple factors that can contribute to suicide and it’s difficult to identify one single factor. I think disturbances or changes in sleep can be an early indication of a deeper psychological problem that precedes suicidal behavior. However, whether changes in sleep pattern has an increased risk to suicidal behavior in clusters is still yet to be explored. It would also be interesting to examine sunlight exposure and suicidal behavior.
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Post by Shane Lukose on Nov 19, 2015 17:12:56 GMT -4
This article highlights one of the biggest causes of deteriorating physical and mental health among people; stress. We live in a world where we are taught “average” is not enough. Young adults growing up with this mentality are finding it more and more difficult to cope with the expectations of their parents along with society. After reading this article it has highlighted the enormity of such pressures on these teenagers, to the point that it has driven them to commit suicide to make a statement. It also shows how as parents we are failing to teach our children that there is no need to take on such a massive burden in order to please parents or society. Happiness and success do not necessarily come out from “straight A grades”, but from well-rounded and content individuals who possesses the ability to overcome any hurdles they face. Pushing children to the point where they feel that they have no way out but to meet their parents’ goals will only drive them into depression and sadly some into taking their own lives. It is vital that both parents and students are educated about how to handle pressures from school and emotional pressures from home through counselling or other school services so that they can build balanced lifestyles and prevent further disheartening tragedies.
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Post by Peter Ezika on Nov 19, 2015 17:12:53 GMT -4
After reading this article one could easily conclude that the major causes of suicidal thoughts among teens at Palo Alto High School includes: "pressure to excel" that schools and parents exert and that teens often internalize their parents' priorities. Some studies done has proved that academic pressure can cause anxiety and depression, which in turn can cause suicidality. Hence, I think parents play a very big role towards this issue and they are in the best position to curb the rate at which teens commit suicide.
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Post by msingson on Nov 19, 2015 17:23:03 GMT -4
The article briefly mentions the idea of "meritocracy," If you work hard and study hard it will lead to a life paved with success and happiness. Which is not bad at all. There's nothing wrong with pushing yourself to be your best, not just about grades and school but whatever it is that we decide to put our minds to. But the extreme, or the other end of the spectrum such as that seen in Gunn is startling. I believe that parents should push their children to be their best selves but at the same time be realistic with their expectations. They should also be more present in their children's lives, and not just using their performance in academics as a gauge of how they're doing in general. For the student and for the parent it's a matter of establishing healthy communication and relationships with each other as well as identifying and admitting when there's a problem and doing something about it; and realizing that there is courage, not shame, in asking for help.
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Post by dhavalray on Nov 19, 2015 17:29:11 GMT -4
After reading this article, I can’t stop but wonder the amount of stress the parents must go through to keep their children in that school district. No doubt the students have their own stressors like getting into Stanford or University of California, but the parents also must be under even more stress about whether their children will be the next student in front of the Caltrain. Ofcourse there always will be the pressure to perform better than the best student but the parents should also take time to reach out to their kids and should praise their kids on doing their best and not punish them. I strongly believe that communicating with the people can help prevent or resolve a lot of problems that can lead to anxiety, depression and even suicide.
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Post by Tyler Putnam on Nov 19, 2015 17:30:27 GMT -4
The demand and pressure our society has placed on these young individuals to succeed in life is getting out of hand. They're expected to mature at an accelerated pace and learn their independence quicker, which is asking too much of them at that age. High schools like Gunn are described as "An extreme distillation of what parents in the meritocratic elite expect from a school." Every emotion at that age is heightened, including stress. So when these students are expected to operate at a much higher level than they're capable of, they seek other options which is where social media comes in. What's strange to me was the fact that most of these students didn't appear to have mental illnesses and were fairly popular, which tells me stress and school were the two main issues here. So maybe what these high schools need is a more efficient preventative program on how to deal with stress and anxiety. Maybe having mandatory meetings and one-on-ones among students and therapists to assess and deal with stress would be beneficial, especially before they start seeking other options on their own.
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Post by Jessica M Thomas on Nov 19, 2015 17:43:04 GMT -4
While the pressure to succeed may seem heavy for many adolescents, the "culture of affluence" described by Luthar in this article describes a different type of pressure perceived by vulnerable adolescents placing them a newly defined group of at risk youth. Luthar's study is interesting as she compares the proportion of students who admitted to smoking, drinking, and using hard drugs between the two types of school districts and found that those students from the more affluent communities admitted to these activities more than those from the inner city. This illustrates differences between the groups on many levels including their differing perceptions of stressful situations, what is expected of them in life, and their response to stressful situations. It seems that the school administration was beginning to understand how differently the students perceive suicide and through discouraging any form of "romanticizing" the recent deaths they were making a reasonable effort to protect the children. I feel that it is important to define suicide as a negative action particularly for adolescents in this stage of development by pointing out that the person is not a victim, martyr, or hero. Some sort of dialogue between the faculty and the students regarding this topic and dealing with pressure and stress might have been helpful in keeping students from identifying with and following the actions of these students with whom they identified.
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Post by Caroline Estiverne on Nov 19, 2015 17:48:15 GMT -4
Teen suicide is very prominent but preventable health concern. Parents need to take time to evaluate the work load of their children in school. Also, they have to be more sensitive to their kids' emotional status. I understand the facts that parents want the best for their children. They would like to see them successful and have a good life. Parents often forgot to talk to the kids to find out what they want out of life. What they would like to be when they grow up. Many parents think pushing their teens to excel is the right thing to do. A discussion is usually not an option in the family. The teens had internalized the parents' priorities and did not know how to break free from the conflict that they felt about them. The teens would like to be closer, be able to express themselves, be a part of the decisions pertinent to their future. But, the inner stress, confusion, self-doubt, pressure to succeed, financial uncertainty, and other fears while growing up is so strong that they don't know how to handle it all. In the end, suicide may appear to be a solution to their problems and stress. The school system and the parents have a role to play in helping the teens understand that their is more to life. |
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Post by xaisantigo on Nov 19, 2015 18:59:04 GMT -4
As we learned from the article, too much pressure from parents to excel in school plus not having that “closeness” that was mentioned, can be devastating, to a point where it can lead a person who is barely starting to live his/her as an adult to commit suicide. There’s nothing wrong with teaching your child that excelling in school is potentially very important for their future but to do this to a young mind that hasn’t fully developed their own self identity, that the only thing they know is to follow what their parents expect of them and along that, lacking the emotional support (as Luther mentioned, isolation from parents) as if they are robots, will push anyone to at least feel alienated, not knowing how to express themselves or they simply chose not to rebel, as Levine commented on.
Teaching a child that its ok to make a mistake or even fail at something is healthy, there are so much more complicated situations that life entails than merely making all A’s and getting accepted into an elite college, and its extremely sad that that imposed vision of life pushed them to the border.
The teachers, parents and counselors all play a role in the development of these teenagers future and trying to get to them and helping them understand that life isn’t all about being that poster child, if not, just being happy with oneself and following his/her passion in life.
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Post by Sulekha Abukar on Nov 19, 2015 19:06:16 GMT -4
When we hear about teen suicide we often think of the lonely kid in the corner of the classroom that didn't have any friends but this article showed that most of the kids that took their life were fairly popular students. This shows us that it is often times the burden that is put on the child that pushes them in that direction. For the lonely kid it's the burden of not having anyone to talk to or listen to and for these students it's the unattainable expectation that is placed on them by their parents and society. Success is something every parent desires for their children but there are repercussions at times if the set expectations are too high. Often times parents only see what the children didn't attain and miss how hard the child has worked for this achievement even if it's mediocre. Lack of communication is the biggest obstacle here and I believe with better communication between the children and the parents many children wouldn't see suicide as a solution. Parents have to understand that not every child can be number one in their class so they need to lessen the expectations that they put on their children and push them to do their very best while still being happy.
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Post by Rachel Riley on Nov 19, 2015 20:17:45 GMT -4
Suicide is a tough word for anyone to hear, yet alone experience the constant battle that goes on in some populations heads every single day. The question left behind that is always the most difficult for those affected is, why do people have suicidal thoughts? And why has the younger population found this to be the "easiest" route to end their young lives? Is it the pressure that they are under because of their piers or the pressure the parents put on the children? Every child is destined to make a change in this world, whether it be a doctor or whether it be a fashion designer. A strength is a strength, but some people in society don't see life that way. They think everyone should adapt to the social normal and I think this has put pressure on todays younger youth more than it should. Children felling that they cant live up to peoples expectations would make anyone not want to be here. Not only do they feel as if they don't belong, but also as if they are not good enough. Society puts this pressure on children, whether it's from school piers, teachers, or parents. We need to learn to let our youth grow into the brilliant people they were meant to be. Everyone has a purpose and a place, so let them find it without shoving them into a box and expecting them to live up to what everyone else's values are.
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