One Night Changed a Life in the Book, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

As the issue of bullying continues to be an overwhelming presence, some were pushed to their limits. In one girl’s case, the bullying was so harsh that she took her own life. Megan Taylor Meier, was described as a young girl who was very enthusiastic. However, Megan was also seeing psychiatrist regarding her problems about her own image. In the seventh grade, Megan Meier “had tried desperately to join the popular crowd at Fort Zumwalt West Middle School, only to be teased about her weight” . (Maag) As Megan moved to a Catholic school, she had lost 20 pounds and also gained a new group of friends. However, Megan’s life would soon take on a huge twist. Megan had a MySpace and it soon that through this website that her universe would change. It was through MySpace that she meet Josh Evans, a seemingly nice home schooled, phoneless boy of the age 16, and the two messaged one another continuously. The boy and Megan quickly became close and formed

Misery struck Margot as soon as she stepped one foot out of the closet. The door opened and the group of girls started to tear up after what they participated in doing to Margot. All the classmates that saw the sun felt so awful for Margot because she didn’t get to see the sun. Nobody could say anything, all you could hear in the cold and silent room was crying. They watched Margot run home in the rain and suffer through the crazy thunder. Quickly, she ran home crying so hard that she felt drowsy. She wished she had one friend that could make her feel a lot more better, but all of her friends shut the closet on her.

Teen Parents faced many challenges within their environment and society. Adolescent parents and their children face many psychological, social, and economic challenges (Bohr and BinNoon, 2014). Teen parents are more likely to experience depression, high dropout rate, and limited employment. This literature review will address teen parent challenges, as well as, interventions to address their need; including group sessions, home and phone interventions to promote not only the teen parent, but their child(ren) wellbeing.

Melinda Sordino is an introverted, forlorn freshman in Merryweather High School who just wants to get through the year. It’s as if everyone in the school hates her ever since she called the cops on an end of summer party. Now, she just wants to keep her head down, but two people won’t let her. One, her only friend Heather who believes her sole purpose on earth is to become desired by everyone at the school. Two, the monster that haunts her dreams that she personally name ‘IT’ for even its name makes Melinda wish she could evanesce. When ‘IT’ starts to antagonize her, grades drop, she skips whole days of school, and she secludes herself even further from people. Her parents and the school counselor finally take notice and interrogate her

She struggles in school, fights with her parents, and most importantly, doesn’t open up to anyone about her feelings. The protagonist doesn’t know how to express her feelings to others, so she expresses them differently. “I bite my lips… they bleed.” (Anderson 5) Also, Melinda believes expressing feelings makes it worse and that things are better left unsaid. The story stated, “It is easier not to say anything. Shut your trap, button your lip, can it. All that crap on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie. (Anderson 9) “I knew you were trouble the first time I saw you. I’ve taught here for twenty-four years and I can tell what’s going on in a kid’s head just by looking in their eyes… You just earned yourself a demerit.”

Melinda was a loner and an outsider most of her freshman year. Nobody had liked Melinda because she called the police at a party after being attacked by a boy named Andy. Nobody knew what had happened to her so instead of asking her, they made fun of her for it. Melinda did actually meet someone in the book who was quite popular but she soon told Melinda she was too depressed to be her friend and that meant Melinda was back to being a loner. Melinda’s old friends didn’t talk to Melinda at all and neither did other people because Melinda was really quiet and everyone thought she weird. Melinda’s old friends were either into art or were really

Beside her, was Melanie. Melanie was one of those girls who was happiest when she was depressed. She was the wildest of us all. Her weekends were spent in dark cars with strange boys and she drowned every evening in the bottle of vodka hidden under her bed. I was envious of her each night while I sat, dried out, in my room. She sat through each class with one headphone in her ear, listening to music that would feed her angst. That day at our table, she juggled our conversation with one she was having over text messaging with some boy unknown to any of us.

Throughout this wondrous novel, Melinda, the main character starts out as a broken, scared girl and develops into a stronger, more self-realized woman. Particularly, though, she begins as a completely and utterly careless student. Grades dropping, skipping class, and absolutely zero tolerance for some people. For instance, she thought that being quiet would help her. “It is easier not to say anything. Shut your trap, button your lip, can it. All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie. Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say.” (Page nine). She didn’t want to tell anyone about how Andy Evans raped her so she solemn spoke. Fell into depression as well and acted upon it by rebellion. But later on

Teen depression can affect a teen regardless of gender, social background, income level, race, or school or other achievements, though teenage girls report suffering from depression more often than teenage boys. Teenage boys are less likely to seek help or recognize that they suffer from depression, probably due to different social expectations for boys and girls – girls are encouraged to express their feelings while boys are not. Teenage girls’ somewhat stronger dependence on social ties, however, can increase the chances of teen depression being triggered by social factors, such as loss of friends.

While parents yearn desparately for acceptance by their teen, many make the mistake of trying to be a friend first and a parent second. Teens have plent of friends, so when parents try to make that a priority, it sets the teen up for failure. Many parents miss the warning signs and subtle clues leading up to major problems. Slipping grades are disregarded as a temporary struggle; moodiness is attributed to hormones and withdrawal overlooked as a normal teenage thing. These are potential warning signs that the teen is struggling or is heading for trouble. Being aware is one of the greatest assets to parenting

Studies show that “every 33 children may have depression” and many adults with depression report that their illness began before the age 20. Until the 1980s, doctors didn’t believe that children and teens were mature enough emotionally to have depression. The truth is, teen years can be very overwhelming, adapting to changing bodies, taking on new responsibilities, and forming new relationships. Today teens must cope with different stresses than teens in the past. Children can get depressed simply because they don’t get enough attention or loving from their parents. Young people who have depressed parents, grandparents, or siblings are highly at risk of developing depression, but some people can also be at risk even with no family history of the disorder. In fact, women are more likely to get depression then men. Every year, 17 million people in the U.S have some type of

As time slowly passed, the constant feeling of grief and guilt and rage that boiled in my stomach didn’t fade. I didn’t want it to. The awful feeling kept me grounded. It let me know that even though I no longer cared about school or the people who used to be my friends, I was still capable of feeling. It let me know that although I had stopped crying myself to sleep, I wasn’t mourning any

A 17 year old girl, Lorelei, experiences something no one wants to experience. She goes to high school in Grandview, New York. It’s not the best school. Lorelei has seen these two girls be really mean to her ex best friend, Violet. Lorelei never does anything about it. It got so extreme that Violet would start crying in school. One night, Lorelei got a terrible call. She went to bed to try and get her mind off it, but when she woke up, she was reliving the same day. She relives the day over and over until she gets it “right.”

The scent of cigarette smoke and alcohol was overpowering. A group of rowdy university students crowded around the entrance of the pub, and slugged down beer and liquor. I worked at the café across from the pub and had seen this group there often. One student stood out from the rest. Standing tall, with watery blue eyes and dark blonde hair, a beautiful girl stood to the side against the crimson brick exterior of the pub in silence. “Elizabeth come take another shot with us!” a boy among the group shouted at her. With an indifferent look and a false smile, she took the glass and took another shot of liquor. She then leaned against the brick wall of the pub and looked to the cold night sky. She pulled out her phone and I could see in the illumination of the phone screen that her expression had changed to sadness and pain. She followed the same crowd each weekend, leaned on the cracked brick wall, with the same pained expressions as before. I wondered how someone could be so alone and upset when they were so loved by everyone around them. Weeks pass, the students never came to the pub. Then, after three months, I saw the familiar faces. There was a weakness among them, some even sitting in silence. I looked to the brick wall where Elizabeth always stood, but the wall was empty. In fact, from that weekend on, I never saw Elizabeth again.

At present I sit with Kyllian at a bar in Los Angeles. I drink an iced tea while he drinks a soda. Kyllian flirts with this girl named Adelaide, he only has sex on his mind. Thanks to my Ravana, I can read minds so easily, everyone is like an open book when I look at them. While Kyllian flirts with this girl, I allow my mind to wonder into some of the people around me. The guy covered in tattoos head to toe, sitting diagonal to us, has thoughts of murder on his mind. I discreetly watch him and push further into his mind. He has killed three times in the past two months and tonight will be number four. He likes his victims to be young, helpless females who he can easily lure into his home and strangle them.