Reference no: EM133262141

Adolescents today, are known for many things, being lazy, ungrateful, spoiled, fragile, whiny, addicted to social media, and much more. But one trait, in particular, stands out. Teenagers today are known for being the most mentally ill generation.

Rates of depression in teenagers have soared in the past 25 years, and along with anxiety rank consistently higher than that of any other age group, and such mental illnesses have often led to dire consequences. Every 100 minutes, a teen takes their own life. Self-harm often starts at ages 13-15 and can even occur as early as 7 years old. In fact, suicide is the second-leading cause of death for individuals aged 15-24. Yet not much has been done to reduce these problems.

So exactly why are teenagers so depressed and anxious? Researchers have come to the conclusion that high levels of stress and perfectionism, coupled with the constant exposure to media influences, have placed these teenagers at risk. As people who grew up with the rise of social media and technology, teenagers know better than anyone how easy it is to gain information. Our lives are filled with Instagram posts, snapchat stories, news articles and tweets. Each media post is designed to showcase only the best of someone else's life, while each news article reports on the most saddening news. It is a lifestyle built upon the juxtaposition of unrealistic expectations of perfect lives and the crushing reality of modern-day societal issues. Research carried out in Australia by Common Sense Media found that teenagers spend an average of 7 hours and 48 minutes on their phone each day, with almost two hours on social media alone, and this screen time doesn't even include any schoolwork or activities related to reading or listening to music. This might not sound much but for an average teen an average of 8-10 hours is required each night meaning that teenagers are up for around 15 hours each day, so half of each teens days are spent on solely their phones. As the adolescent brain is still developing, it's more vulnerable to time online. And since teens can sometimes struggle to self-regulate their screen time, their exposure, and the risk of harm increases. As a result, teen social media use often correlates with, depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, envy, and loneliness. Adolescence is a time when peer relationships are particularly important, so there may very well be pressure from the peer circle to be online, leading more and more teens to feel the need to be on par with every trend, news, and topics in the social world.

We, as a generation, have been raised to become high achievers. From a young age, we are taught to work hard in school, to look a certain way, to match up to our peers, while still standing out in order to become successful. Our generation was raised on the values of multidimensional perfectionism, in which we constantly pursue a multitude of conditions defining success. This emphasis on perceived individual success has caused a near obsession with one's self-worth and self-image and is only exacerbated by the prolific use of social media. The natural tendency to compare oneself to the most perfectly portrayed facet of others leads to an incredibly high amount of stress within today's teenagers. Take for example, the unrealistic beauty standard set by photoshopped models. The constant pursuit of this beauty standard has led to a decrease in self-worth, an increase in worry over body image, and the rise of eating disorders such as bulimia or anorexia, Furthermore, easy access to news articles reporting on modern societal problems have led to a culture in which it is nearly impossible to distance oneself from the daily horrific news. We live in an era where we are more aware of world issues than ever. A survey conducted in Australia has shown that at least one in five teenagers reported strong feelings of anxiety over current world affairs. The ever-changing dynamic of the international community, and the general economic and political instability constantly reported on has led to an inherent fear of the future. We grow up knowing that at any moment, someone could walk into our school and start shooting. That our government may undergo sudden and drastic changes. That by the time we graduate college, there won't be enough jobs in the market for all of us to live well. All of this knowledge is fed to us on a daily basis, and only adds onto our stress, leading to increased anxiety levels. In fact, in any given year about 17% of us will have an anxiety disorder and over our lives, about 28% of us will have an anxiety disorder. Furthermore, if you have one anxiety disorder, it's highly likely that you actually have two or three, along with depression. Studies have also shown that the average anxiety levels of modern-day teens are equivalent to that of a psychiatric patient in the 1950s, proving just how serious yet normalized the issues of mental health are.

As most know teenagers own mental health severely impacts a developing child's success in school and their day-to-day lives. Issues like depression and suicide need to be explored in our education because many are being affected. This topic is important because many teens continue to feel alone and suffer from these illnesses. By teaching about them, we can create- an awareness and hope. The lack of exposing young people to this information has caused teens to not seek help. "Suicide is the second main reason for 13-19-year-old deaths." This shocking statistic shows the effects of adolescents not searching for help because this number would not be as high if young people were aware of the high demand for mental-health professionals. Mental-Illness needs to be taught in schools, so students can be capable of finding support, as it is dangerous to neglect treatment for this sickness. "They're not doing as well in school. They're withdrawing from their friends. They're fighting more with their parents." This also explains the effects of the students not receiving the right help about mental illness as many are seen afraid to get treatment resulting in them outputting their anger and sadness in other parts of their life. If this subject is not discussed, then their school and social life is difficult for the victims making them want to give up because they feel alone in this disease. Not exposing the developing teens to information about mental disorders makes them want to remain unaided because they feel like they are the only ones going through this illness. Not getting help for these diseases affects every aspect of their lives harshly in the outcome.

Yet another problem lies in the fact that our society is not equipped to handle and help those who have mental illnesses. In a 2020 survey, 96 per cent of teachers reported seeing increased rates of mental illness among children and teenagers and 93 per cent thought the issues were getting more severe, with 72 per cent dealing with a pupil's mental-health problem at least once a month and an additional 30 per cent doing so on a weekly or even daily basis. However, researchers have also found that most academic staff lack the knowledge and training to address issues with student mental health.

Now is the time for change. In order to provide a better and safer lifestyle for future children, our future, we must take action in the present. These teenagers need support in order to recover from mental illnesses, and that support must be provided in an efficient and proper manner. As a society concerned for our future generations, we must put into place certain mental health safety nets, such as training for all academic staff, in order to protect these teenagers, as well as the students themselves should be taught about this topic, so there would not be such stigma around mental illness.

Question 1. For the text given above, discuss how the author has expressed an opinion to encourage a response from the reader. (your discussion should include what types of language techniques the author has used such as e.g. rhetorical questions, inclusive language etc. you should also explain the response readers get from using that specific techniques with evidence shown so quoting the text as example)

Question 2. if you could also help me mark the text using the marking key (below) and check if there is anything i can change to improve the text.