The Goal (Intro)

Back ground of the study

With middle school coming with its own challenges and new changes, young teens will be faced with the struggle of mental health. Mental health becoming more common after the 2020 quarantine puts students at a higher risk of depression and anxiety. With most teens in middle school facing puberty and getting 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.

definition of terms

• Mental Health- a person's condition concerning their psychological and emotional well-being.

• Psychotics - a condition that affects the way your brain processes information. It causes you to lose touch with reality.

• Education- the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university.

• Psychological- related to the mental and emotional state of a person.

• Socioemotional- Relating to an individual's emotions and relationship to society.

statement of the problem

Alcohol, drugs, and bullying in middle school have been growing worldwide. These substances and actions can create many potential problems in a child's future; whether it is, increased suicide rates, crimes, education, or safety, these things will all impact the student's life and the community. Every kid or adult has been faced with peer pressure one way or another, and many people fall into it, creating lifetime addictions or putting your and others' lives at risk. Without more prevention and education on drinking, drugs, and bullying, this problem will rise. This paper argues that these problems can be minimized by creating more prevention in middle schools by creating a fun and safe club where students can feel more connected with their peers while being educated on the potential dangers they might face and how to respond to them.

Purpose of the study

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. After helping out with the middle school and seeing how social media and cliques affect students, I was well aware of some of these students' mental distress. To create that safer option for students, implementing a club to involve more students in preventing bullying, peer pressure, drugs, etc., will give the teens a better option in reaching out for help and learning how to cope with those emotions.

Research Questions

After seeing the number of students affected by emotional wellness in middle school and gathering research on the different aspects of mental health in middle schools, research questions and a hypothesis can be proposed.

1. What do you think is the leading cause of mental health disorders?

2. Do you think social media has an impact on emotional wellness? Why?

3. Why do middle schoolers abuse illegal substances at their age?

4. How does bullying / cyberbullying have an impact on kids?

5. What can young teens do to avoid potentially harmful situations?

I hypothesize that students who struggle with their mental health would prosper if resources like counseling or groups where they can learn about coping with mental health and everyday challenges were more accessible.

Summary

The study's overall goal is to help get more education and prevention to middle school students on how to become good leaders and spread kindness throughout their community. After shadowing at the local middle school, it was brought to my attention that there needs to be much more awareness and education about these issues. These tools can help them handle uncomfortable situations and unwanted outcomes that will affect their lives. With this, students will be able to thrive and achieve their goals as they grow up.