THESIS
In order to prevent teen suicide and depression, changes must be made to:
In order to prevent teen suicide and depression, changes must be made to:
- the negative social habits caused by the technological era
- our attitude toward academic competition and post secondary plans
- school start times
1. NEGATIVE SOCIAL HABITS
- too much screen time takes away from real life relationships
- kids become addicted to virtual worlds
- Adolescents who go online over 5 hrs a day are 1.5 times more likely to get depressed than those who log in less
- Accept that kids will continue to use technology, and adapt techniques to ease suicide and depression using it
- Similar to ads which are shown on screen based on what users click on, have help information such as 741741, the number for suicide/depression text line
- More games that bring people outside to interact, such as Pokemon Go
2. COLLEGE/ACADEMIC COMPETITION
- The more demand there is for college, the higher the price and the more pressure there is to go
- College, debt, unsure future=stress
- Kids are not told their full spectrum of options
- Better training for guidance councilors so more highschooler are informed of their post secondary options
- Employers should offer skill training instead of simply judging by who has had the most college experience
- Group counceling to help students manage their stress
3. SCHOOL START TIMES
- lack of sleep is linked to depression and other mood disorders
- lack of sleep is harmful to teen's mental/emotional development
- teenagers naturally stay up and wake up later
- Only 15% of teens get the proper amount of sleep for their age group
- reverse schedule: younger students earlier, older students later(opposite in many school districts)
- extracurriculars in morning instead of school starting in morning
- One hour longer in school to replace homework: would equalize amount of time kids spend studying and increase effectiveness of their time