Honour student who works two jobs to support her siblings after her parents split up and left town is put in JAIL for missing school due to exhaustion
- Diane Tran, 17, thrown in jail for one night because of repeated absences from school
- Honours student has been working two jobs to keep family afloat since parents' divorce
- Has been taking advanced placement and college courses in addition to jobs and missed school due to exhaustion
- Spent the night in jail for truancy
By Hannah Rand
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Online Connections: Middle School Mental Health and the Effects of Social Media
It can be surprisingly easy for some to
dismiss middle school-aged students as too young to experience problems
with their mental health. In past generations, struggling students
were often dismissed as going through a temporary “phase” or being
“moody”. In 2011, middle school students are growing up faster than
ever and more attention is being paid to the mental-health risks faced
by some youth who use Facebook and other social media websites.
Compared to previous decades, tweens are now exposed to more of the
world and at a faster rate, through the internet, social media, and
smart phones. In the last five years, the number of tweens and
adolescents using such sites has increased dramatically. According to a
recent poll, 22 percent of teenagers log on to their favorite social
media site more than 10 times a day, and more than half of adolescents
log on to a social media site more than once a day. Twenty-five
percent of teenagers own cell phones--25 percent use them for social
media, 54 percent use them for texting, and 24 percent use them for
instant messaging. Social media has radically changed the childhood
experience for many tweens, and the effects can be both positive and
negative.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, social media sites can help develop a child’s communication, social interaction, sense of community and technical skills. Facebook allows users to see their friends' successes, as well as the number of friendships those friends have. Events or feelings that were once private experiences are now public. In some children, these types of encounters and online popularity contests can lead to low self esteem, peer pressure and can cause or worsen anxiety or depression.
The American Academy of Pediatrics also notes that online harassment or cyberbullying “can cause profound psychosocial outcomes including depression, anxiety, severe isolation, and, tragically, suicide.”
About 2.5 percent of children in the U.S. suffer from depression and according to the National Comorbidity Survey-Adolescent Supplement, about 11 percent of adolescents have a depressive disorder by age 18.
Six percent of all deaths in the pre-teen age range are the result of suicide. Children with a family history of violence, alcohol abuse, or physical or sexual abuse are at greater risk for suicide, as are those with depressive symptoms.
Fortunately, with early diagnosis,
medication, psychotherapy, or combined treatment, most youth with
depression can be effectively treated. Parents, teachers, and school
counselors can also help middle school students navigate appropriate
social media use and generate awareness of the potential mental health
effects.
Students spend at least one-quarter of their
waking hours in schools, most of it in classrooms. Teachers and school
counselors are in a unique position to recognize the signs of
depression and behavioral changes in their students. Screening for
Mental Health’s youth prevention programs provide practical risk
management tools and information to assess, prevent and respond to
signs of suicide and non-suicidal self-injury. Learn more about the SOS Signs of Suicide Middle School Program.
Sources:
The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families [Pediatrics]
Common Sense Media. Is Technology Networking Changing
Childhood? A National Poll. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense Media;
2009. Available at: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/teen-social-media.
Hinduja S, Patchin J. Offline consequences of online victimization: school violence and delinquency. J Sch Violence. 2007;6(3): 89 –112