Mom was there when you fell off your tricycle and skinned your knee. With a Band-Aid and a kiss, the knee was as good as new. Today, mom does the same thing, but we’re no longer toddlers. Teenagers’ issues and problems are no longer skinned knees, but the health of their minds.
Whether parents notice it or not, they affect their adolescents’ mental health with every little thing they do.
“Their tone and their body language establish an environment their mood establishes an environment which any it would impact any person,” said FACS teacher Liz Scare.
Young adolescents are in one of the most vulnerable times of their lives. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 49.5% of teenagers have mental health issues, and out of those teenagers, only 5% of them are diagnosed because teenagers don’t feel comfortable talking with their parents.
“Home should be a safe place where you feel comfortable to talk about things going on… if you don’t have those it is really hard to achieve those higher levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy needs,” said Scare.
If students don’t feel comfortable talking about mental health, some of them turn to help at school such as a teacher, guidance counselor, or resource officer. At Carroll High School, Mrs. Krider is a therapist through Parkview.
“I think we have enough students that we should utilize fifteen of them in our building, maybe even thirty,” said Scare.
Some teenagers look for help, but others keep to themselves and rely on themselves to get through it.
“A lot of kids will try to fix it by themselves and unfortunately that will end up in a lot of suicides,” said sophomore Chloe Franklin.
According to the American Psychological Association, 20% of people from the ages 14 – 24 with mental health issues are seriously considering suicide, and their parents are oblivious to it because their child doesn’t feel safe or comfortable talking to parents about what’s going on.
“I feel like being able to sit down and actually talk to your parents really helps you figure things out… and it also lets your parents know how big the problem is,” said Franklin.
Mom was there when you told her all about your first soccer field wedding as a kindergartener. She said you were too young to have a husband. Now mom is telling you, you should get a new friend group and to stop being overdramatic.
Moms are supposed to know what’s best, right?
“They just have opinions they should keep to themselves sometimes,” said sophomore Alize Garris.
You tell Mom you are having mental health issues. She doesn’t believe you, because you are only 15 and you have nothing going on to cause it.
“There are new generations and cultures that don’t believe in mental health,” said Scare.
Parents raise you from birth until they are gone. You learn a lot from your parents, whether it’s how to do taxes or how you don’t want to parent when you have kids. You learn something.
The Child Mind Institute said 86% of parents don’t notice when their child has mental health issues. 40% of parents don’t even realize when their child is having a bad day.
“I feel like overall parents could notice is if something is off about the child,” said Garris. “Take notice of that ’cause sometimes it’s important.”
