Mental Health
Why Mental Health Matters
Norrah Shobe
Many teenagers struggle with stress and mental health issues, this includes problems at home, self-image, social life, etc. And they may not know where to go for help…
“Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices” stated by MentalHealth.gov
Some people underestimate how mental health can affect a person, and how it affects the person. Dealing with depression and anxiety can be really stressful and you might feel useless or underestimated.
I talked with Ms.Haveman, the School Social Worker at Crossroads Middle School, so we can understand her point of view on Mental health and how to deal with it. Ms.Haveman works in the guidance office and helps students everyday.
”A big part of my job is to make sure kids feel comfortable. I need to make sure that they feel comfortable just being down here in general. Asking for help from an adult isn’t always an easy thing to do!” Ms.Haveman stated.
She works as a social worker and has a lot of students come down to talk about their problems so her being there for them and making them comfortable is an important part of being a social worker.
”Not every kid wants to come down and talk to me, that's why there are two of us who work in the office.” Ms.Haveman said.
There are two mental health professionals that work at Crossroads Middle School that are available to talk to down in the guidance office. Mr.Ekins is the School Counselor and Ms.Haveman is the School Social Worker.
”Anxiety is a huge issue that students are currently dealing with because in middle school there are just so many instances that increase stress levels in the classroom. Kids can get stressed by their different peer groups, they also get stressed by some of the social pressures that are out there.” Ms.Haveman exclaimed. “Social media proves to increase levels of stress and anxiety for students every single day”.
School can take a toll on a student's mental health and physical health.
”acknowledging the impact of mental health is just as important as the impact of physical health.” Ms.Haveman exclaimed.
Homework can put a lot of stress on your shoulders and that can lead to staying up late and building unhealthy habits and or relationships.
”I would encourage that if someone is feeling that they may harm themselves or others, they find an adult to talk to them about it. We all have days that feel a little lower than others and that is OK” Ms.Haveman said.
If you ever feel in a way to a certain extent you may want to talk to an adult about it before it gets out of hand.
There are a lot of ways to cope and deal with stress, anxiety, depression etc. For example, you could take a walk around the school to clear your mind, speaking up to an adult may be hard but they would understand your problems.
Not taking care of your mental health can take a bad toll on your mental and physical state, you may feel depressed or unmotivated to do anything, mental health is never anything to be ashamed of.
more than 16.1 million people in america deal with depression, there is 329.5 million people who live in america as of 2020, that may not seem like alot but most of the people who deal with depression live in a low income household and have to thrive on long hours of labor to feed their family.
Being in a well mental state is good for you and the people around you, though you may not think this, your mental health can affect the people around you as well, going from your family to friends, they may feel worry or sympathy for you.
Knowing and admitting what you're going through can be hard, but you're not alone. 51.5 million people deal with mental health issues in the U.S.A and alot of them dont have treatment.
Appreciating your mental health is important because not everyone is perfect or has great mental health, you're never not gonna be sad in your life and that's why your mental health fluctuates throughout each day through each interaction that may be good or bad.
I picked out 5 random people and asked them what mental health means to them and how they cope with it.
“Mental health is important to me because it is necessary to function everyday. I think it's extremely important to take time for yourself and focus on your mental health. How I cope with my mental health when I feel very stressed, I cut out any electronics and clean the space around me and focus on myself for a day or few.” Lauren Richardson, a 7th grade student exclaimed
“Mental health to me is how you take care of yourself mentaly, and go through depression. How I cope is listening to music. Mental health is so hard to keep under control in middle school especially with social media.” Anonymous, an 8th grade student said.
“Mental health is how well you feel about yourself, if you don't feel comfortable with yourself then you won't be able to function well. I cope in a couple different ways. I like to draw and make art, and sometimes I listen to music. The important part is to talk to your friends who may have dealt with similar situations.” Anonymous, an 8th grade student shared.
“Mental health is highly diverse, and manifests during the ages of 13-17. It works differently for everybody but for me I cope by socializing with friends, playing games, listening to music, and walking. I think that my coping skills are different from a lot of other people. I think that people need to focus on themselves and talk to someone when they are feeling down.” Anonymous, an 8th grade student reported.
“Teenagers these days definitely struggle with mental health. With covid, online school. Boys, girls, break ups, home issues. But my advice would be to push past those obstacles and find someone to confine in to talk to about them. Also coping skills are helpful, use them!” Anonymous, an 8th grade student stated.
There are thousands of coping mechanisms, some including drawing, music, singing, sketching, taking a walk, taking time to yourself etc.
Dealing with mental health can really put you down in hard times and making sure to contact someone when you are feeling down is important.
If you feel suicidal and you have self-harmed, please call 800-273-8255, the suicide hotline number.
If you would like to talk to someone at our school contact either lhaveman@nvps.net or aekins@nvps.net
Suicide Prevention
Genevieve Sutherby
*disclaimer if you or someone you know is struggling from the thought of suicide, please use the National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 800-273-8255. Additional support will be given at the end of this article*
Worldwide there has been a increase of death by suicide. There have already been ten thousand deaths even though it’s only the third day of 2022! The second leading death cause for ages 10 to 24 is suicide (Suicide prevention hotline para 1 of youth).
Some signs of suicide are expressing incredible pain, mentioning wanting to un alive themselves, feeling like they don’t have a reason to live, having reckless/raging behavior, and so much more.
Mental disorders aren’t the only cause of these actions, some of the many other causes are: the loss of someone, having past experiences of abuse/trauma, not having enough emotional support, lack of healthcare, and the use of alcohol.
A way to support others that are thinking about harming themselves is being there for them, making sure they get the help they need, and letting them know they aren’t alone. They aren’t automatically gonna get better after this and remember some people need more help than others. It’s still a way to help and there are other ways to help too.
Finally, a support system through therapists and counselors can be very helpful if you want to talk to someone.There are other ways to talk to someone that isn’t in person and get the help you need too. Such as texting HOME to 741741 with enables you to vent to a counselor you’re assigned to over text. Another option would be to call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800-273-8255) if needed, which is very recommended.
Hopefully the information given helps you learn about suicide or helps you personally. Mental health is an important topic and everyone should learn to help themselves or others who need it.
Mrs. Haveman
Monroe Slusser
We all talk to counselors once in our life. Even though people pay to talk to them doesn't mean you know all about them. Today's topic is about Mrs. Haveman and her job as a social worker.
¨I always knew that I would do something with helping people. I went to college to be a nurse and not a social worker. That was on my mind when I was a Junior and Senior in college. I never knew that I would end up being a social worker. I would spend half her day at the hospital training to work there.¨
¨Does it look like I'm wearing a white coat and a stethoscope right now? No it doesn't, stuff changes.¨ Haveman said.
She never even knew what a social worker was when she was in college. The real thing that inspired her was her guidance counselor that she talked to. They looked at different occupations for her and she wanted to get a degree for that.
A lot of people think that her and Mr. Ekins are the same and do the same thing. Well Haveman says that on paper she has her degree for masters in social work and Ekins has his masters in counseling. On paper there are 2 different degrees but the job descriptions are very similar. The only big difference is that she handles all the special education in her office and Ekins handles all the 504 paperwork but other than that their jobs are very similar.
Even though Haveman has worked as a School Social Worker for almost 25 years, she has been working as a social worker in Northview for 13.5 years. She said that for her years as a social worker all together it's been for 24 years.
¨I sometimes feel like I'm 100 years old¨ Haveman says.
¨You know that it's busy down here. It's always full of wonderful children. Sometimes it's stressful but it makes the day go by quickly. If the kids need you then you have to be there, no matter what.¨ Haveman said
When she first got her social work degree, she thought she would work for CPS or maybe for Arbor Circle or Pine Rest. She had no clue that a school social worker was even a job. She claims that she is so lucky that she was placed in a school placement for her undergraduate degree. ¨The very first day that I got to my internship there were 2 girls who were both 8 months pregnant that got in a huge fight and I thought WOW and that I wanted to do this forever. That could be my job. I wanna do this forever.¨
Haveman said that a school social work job is actually hard to come by because there's usually only 1 or 2 per district.
¨I have been laid off in all of my years of work and I have been pushed across the state to find a job. But I have always been a little bit anxious but persistent about getting a school job.¨ Haveman claims she is very lucky and loves working within Northview - especially at Crossroads.
Haveman doesn't just get students who are super stressed out and sobbing. She gets teachers as well.
¨We all have emotions - including adults - just like everybody else¨ Haveman said
Haveman says it is hard when an adult’s personal life flows into their school life - but it happens every day. Haveman admits that she feels it as a huge compliment when staff want to talk to her and to help with privacy she can talk to them and can put paper over the door to help maintain privacy.
She never locks up the room when she is too stressed. She only locks it up if something happens or if it's testing time and there is paper that the students can't see.
When it comes to the topic of LGBTQ+ she would like to think that she is good with helping kids with that. She has 3 upcoming trainings about that topic next week.
¨I am always ready to learn.¨ Haveman said.
She talked about how current 7th and 8th graders are dealing with so much stress.
¨A lot of kids come down that struggle with anxiety¨ Haveman claims.
She says that there's a lot of self harm coming from the stress. Also suicide attempts. ¨Another thing is that the LGBTQ community feels very undervalued and bullied and unaccepted. Those are our 3 main topics and struggles right now.¨ Haveman said.
How Does Social Media Affect You?
Kara Lynch
The impacts of social media are widely discussed across the country, but how many students actually agree with some of the impacts? We took a poll in three eighth grade seminars, and on average, 84% of students say they use social media, yet only 29% say that it has affected them. Apps like TikTok or Snapchat are two of the most common. We interviewed three randomly selected eighth-graders with social media.
The first person we interviewed was Makenzie Fox, an eighth-grade student athlete. We asked her three questions, the first being a quote that she would give to someone who is just starting on social media. “I think something I would say to someone who’s just starting out on social media is that not everything is real,” she said. Her response to the next question came quickly after, without a second guess. “Without social media, I feel like I probably could’ve been happier.” The last question we asked her was if she felt that social media has affected her. “In certain times, yes.” She answered.
The second student that we interviewed wanted to remain anonymous. Their first question was also a quote. “I would probably say to be careful, social media can be dangerous,” they had told us. Then, we asked them if they thought they would be different without social media. “Honestly, I feel like I would’ve felt the same.” They replied. We asked them one last question, and their response had no hesitation. “Social media has most definitely affected me.” They replied, fully confident.
We interviewed one last student, with the same questions. “I would probably tell them just to not use it.” They stated. “It affected my confidence a lot, I feel like I probably wouldn’t be too different without social media.”
In total, we took polls on three eighth-grade seminars, and three students. 29% of students out of those seminars said that they felt that social media had an effect on mental health, and 71%
had the opposite response. Every individual student we asked had their own opinion on social media. Many people are not aware of how social media can affect them in both good and bad ways, some being less confident, some, more creative. The responses we got individually proved that apps like TikTok, Snapchat, or even Instagram do make impacts. All three students admitted that social media has had many different effects on them and their mental health, with some effects being more focused on cell phones, or being less happy. The Seventh and eighth grade years are important times in a teens development, and social media apps like TikTok or Snapchat tend to have a strong hold on teens in that exact age range. Limited screen time, or even being advised not to use social media is oftentimes blown off by students, because they aren’t aware that it actually does make an impact. Social media is a big part of life right now, so you can’t be expected not to use it completely, but it is always important to be aware of how it is affecting you in life. Although people across the world discuss this topic, this article shows that social media has impacts on not only you, but also your peers. Be safe when posting online, and remember, the screen is only the phone, not the world around you.
Does School Start Too Early?
Katarina Seitz
Does school start to early to early for kids to function? At Crossroads Middle School, are first bell is at 7:15 and then the late bell is at 7:20.
According to www.cdc.gov Students need between the ages of 11-14 need at least 10-12 hours of sleep. Although many people say to just go to sleep earlier many students partake in afterschool sports and not to mention homework. After all teenagers still want some time to themselves by watching tv or just doing their own thing.
The average time for 11-14 year olds to go to sleep is from 9-10:30pm. And if you do the math the average time that teens are waking up to get ready for school is between 5:30-6:10 which is only around 7 hours of sleep a night. Not to mention the time that most of the school buses come at is between 6:35-6:55.
So the answer is yes, school starts way too early and it absolutely exhausts not just kids but also many teachers/adults. Most information found in this article is from, https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/features/schools-start-too-early.html