Call to Action

What and how can we make a change ?

Picture: Group of girls in TABDD (teens against bullying drinking and drugs) helping spread kindness by putting kindness quotes on every locker!

Why:

With mental health creating a challenging atmosphere for students to work and live in, depression and suicide rates increase. From personal experience, I know how hard it is to reach out for help from a parent or adult when you are afraid of the outcome. There are various reasons when looking at the different causes of mental health issues in adolescence. Things like parents, stress, anxiety, school, sports, or loss of support can cause students to struggle in school or face depression and anxiety. After conducting some research, I have found that cliques, peer pressure, and social media are some of the most common reasons for mental health issues and bullying. Mental health becoming more common after the 2020 quarantine puts students at a higher risk of depression and anxiety. With middle school coming with its own challenges and new changes, young teens will be faced with the struggle of mental health. While most middle school teens face puberty and get social media, the only thing that seems to matter is fitting in and becoming popular. Trying to fit in and blend with the “cool kids” can cause students to fall into peer pressure, bullying, and cliques. These subjective groups are creating a toll on those teens who aren’t included.

What Can We Do?

With my long history of being left out and judged for my looks, it has been a priority to me when moving along with my education to be a person anyone and everyone can talk to and reach out to. Mental health has always been a part of me, and I have always hated seeing others around me going through it. Bullying has always been a part of my life, whether it is not having perfectly clear skin or being left out of things. I know how hard it is to fit in with the beauty standard and have to face ridicule for not wanting to do certain things. I have found it extremely difficult to reach out for help and find a safe place to share how I feel. When I was in 6th grade, my brother and I created TAB (Teens against Bullying) for the first time. We created the club purely to create a safe environment and prevention for our middle school; I was able to continue the club until I moved to high school. After COVID, the club was no longer meeting. This year I started meeting with the middle school's new counselor to restart and revamp TAB with the help of my two younger brothers, who are currently attending the middle school. This time around, I hoped to help more students than before with the goal of getting the club into more schools. I want to show these students that it is okay to be different and being kind is cool too!

With more student leaders, I believe there can be a difference made in school with more education and prevention. With the help of adults, peers, and professionals, there can be a difference made by creating a safer, more open, and friendly environment. With more education on coping skills and prevention of possible mental health triggers, students will be more prepared and ready for the real world. Creating this Club will create an outlet for many students to go to and an uplifting group that bases everything on educating the members and school about bullying and all the potential hurdles they may have to jump as they grow up.