High School Bullying: An Epidemic

Removing The Stigma of Mental Illness

Stigma: Mental Health

Why is mental health thought as a bad thing that people were cursed with? Or why is that when you think of mental health people, you think negatively, and that they are violent people? Or why do we think that mental health means that the person is not a human being? How do change the stigmas that downplay mental health? And how can we help society to think posiitively about mental health? How can we draw more funding for mental health? These are things I think about when I come across working in the Missouri Psychatric Center, or just coming across a patient in general that has a mental illness in the health care system. The factors of a patient that is mentally ill that is affected by stigma, can hinder them from seeking treatment because they either something is wrong with them, they downplay that they are ill, or they feel that medical treatment will treat them harsh once seeking care.

Enough!

I happened to be watching Enough, the movie that stars Jennifer Lopez as a victim of domestic violence in her marriage to a rich man. She had subdued herself to this for a long period until her child was of age to acknowledge what was going on. From watching this movie, I thought about my past relationship with my ex, and thought about the physical and emotional abuse that I was subdued to for a year and a half. I thought about the 30+lb. weight loss, the stress, partial hair loss, and depression that I went through in that time period, and the only person i could confide in was one of my best friends, who continued to offer help, but I felt too weak mentally to change. I was struck by love, and felt that he treated me this way because he cared too much for me, when in actuality, he was only insecure and controlling. I never reported the abuse until it got to the point that I was put in a position whether I sacrifice my health or my relationship. I think back to how shame I felt about being involved in an abusive relationship, because I never thought it could happen to me. However, I realized it can happen to anyone, and that Im fortunate to save myself from that situation.
As a result of this situation, I just ask and advocate prevention for this issue not only for women, but as well as for men. A few statistics suggest that:

• 1 in every 4 women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime
• 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year
• 85% of domestic violence victims are women
• Females who are 20-24 years of age are at the greatest risk of nonfatal intimate partner violence, most cases are never reported to the police.

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (www.ncadv.org/files/DomesticViolenceFactsheet(National).pdf

Bullying! Is it the School's Responsibility???

Is it the school's responsibility to crack down on bullying when it reaches a certain point where that child can unbear?
On January 14, 2010, a fifteen year old girl by the name of Phoebe Prince, student of South Hadley High School, committed suicide, by hanging herself in the staircase of her parents apartment, which was discovered by her younger sister. Nine teenagers were charged with connection of this suicide due to a 3-month period of bullying that included sexual harassment, taunting, physical and emotional abuse, and online bullying. Two males, by the ages of 17 and 18 were also charged with statutory rape.
On the day of her death, she was bullied in the school library, which was witnessed by a faculty member and other students but wasnt reported until after Phoebe's death. The Northwester District Attorney, Elizabeth Scheibel, said it was "common knowledge" that Phoebe was being bullied on a regular basis for the 3-month period.
Does it take a child's death to realize that bullying is a crime and should be taken seriously? Parents and other adults are an important factor in preventing this from happening in the future. Just by noticing signs of their child/student being bullied or being the bullier. Children that are being bullied can be stunted physically, emotionally and academically. According to safeyouth.org, "almost 30 % of youth in the US (or over 5.7 million) are estimated to be involved in bullying or either a bully, a target of bullying, or both. In a recent national survey pf students in grades 6-10, 13% reported bullying others, 11% reported being the target of bullies, and another 6% said that they bullied others and were bullied themselves".
Is it the schools fault for not taking action sooner? Is it the parents fault for not taking notice in their childs behavior patterns when being bullied or being the bullier?