[OYAN] In the News: Oregon teens struggle with mental health more than ever, according to state survey

Violeta GARZA violetag at multco.us
Tue Jan 2 09:29:08 PST 2018


Thanks so much for sending this out, Katie! Your highlights are super
helpful.

Unless I missed it, neither the article nor the report touch on the
situation for youth of color, which is particularly dire. For many Latinx
youth, there is an added fear of deportation and family separations, even
if they themselves are citizens. Many African-American youth fear police
brutality, and for many Muslim youth, violence is very much a possibility.

This is why the work we do as teen librarians and advocates is so important!

Violeta

On Tue, Jan 2, 2018 at 8:12 AM, Katie Anderson <katiea at wccls.org> wrote:

> Click With Care -
> [image: Click With Care]
>
> I thought many of you would be interested in this article.
>
>
>
> Oregon teens struggle with mental health more than ever, according to
> state survey
> <http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2017/12/oregon_teens_struggle_with_men.html>
>
> *The Oregonian*
>
> Molly Harbarger, 12/30/2017
>
>
>
> Some statistics from the article:
>
> ·         About a third of students said they felt so sad and hopeless,
> they had stopped doing normal activities.
>
> ·         Up to 18 percent said they had contemplated suicide.
>
> ·         Nearly 9 percent of eighth graders reported they had in fact
> attempted suicide in the last year and 7 percent of 11th graders did.
>
> ·         More than 40 percent of students in both grades surveyed did
> not meet the state's benchmark for coping ability.
>
>
>
> While the survey didn't search out causes for why teenagers feel hopeless,
> sad or anxious, there is some research on it. Here is some research that
> the article points out might shed light on it:
>
> ·         They grew up in the aftermath of the Great Recession, which
> reshaped the economy into one of heavily low-wage and freelance jobs with a
> historically wide gap between the very rich and the poor*. *These children
> *'*s parents spent a large portion of their lives in the fear-filled
> years after 9/11. The fallout from those events have imprinted themselves
> on children.
>
> ·         When parents are focused on where and when their children will
> eat or sleep, they have less capacity for their kids' emotional needs
>
> ·         the biological traits that make adolescence tough in any era --
> lack of impulse control, heightened emotions, puberty -- are exacerbated by
> the speed of smartphone technology and the sense of isolation it can
> provide.
>
> ·         Social media opens the door for bullying, researchers say. It
> also closes adolescents off from crucial learning developments that can
> only be achieved through person-to-person interaction.
>
> ·         The tone of national politics has filtered down to make youth
> feel they must pick a side in everything -- politics, friendships, what
> they like and don't. "The polarization of information is so wide*,* and
> instead of being focused on the greater good, there's haves and have-nots
> and Republicans and Democrats -- and there's not a sense of what's best for
> all of us,"
>
>
>
> *Katie Anderson*
>
> Youth Services Librarian
>
> katiea at wccls.org |503-681-5098 <(503)%20681-5098>
>
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-- 
*Violeta Garza*
*Gresham Regional Librarian*
*Gresham, Fairview, Rockwood, and Troutdale Libraries*
she/her/hers
385 NW Miller Ave.
Gresham, OR 97030
voicemail: 503.988.9707
My schedule: Tues-Sat
multcolib.org
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