No Progress

I am still waiting for my mentor and I to meet up and discuss what the plan is to start a Rachel's Challenge. We also need to discuss what it would take to post flyers around the school about suicide awareness and bullying awareness. 

I have been researching about suicide and bullying so I have a good idea about what will be on the flyers. Just need the time from soccer, school, and life to sit down and think about the plan of attack for this project.

Been a While

I have been inactive for a while now for multiple reasons... I am in the ELHS Varsity soccer team, which takes up most of my time. The time I am not playing soccer for my school I am either eating or sleeping, literally. I have made little progress towards my project but I have E-mailed my mentor about starting a Rachel's Challenge. I will have to collaborate with her about starting it. 

Recently there have been little notes of encouragement around the school, quotes from Albert Einstein all the way to Dr. Who. It gave me this idea to post little pamphlets around the school, raising awareness about suicide and bullying. They would read something like, "Pass a hug to someone" "A smile can save a life" encouraging students to do these things to try to make the school a much better place than it is now.

Update for February

For this weeks blog I will be giving an update about what I have done in the past week.

For my time in class I am allowed to do 20Time I (as mentioned by my mentor) to go to rachelschallenge.org to see what startimg a Rachel's Challenge would include. If your not fimilar with what Rachel's Challenge is, as quoted directly from their website,  "Rachel's Challenge is a national non-profit organization dedicated to creating safe, connected school environments where learning and teaching are maximized. Based on the life and writing of Rachel Scott, the first victim of the Columbine tragedy in 1999, Rachel's Challenge provides a continual improvement process for schools designed to awaken the learner in every child. We motivate and equip students to start and sustain a chain reaction of kindness and compassion that transforms schools and communities."

To start a Rachel's Challenge I will need to get a group of students who can be relied on, and will help start and change the school for the better. I will have to make democratic decisions on what activities to do. Whether it is donate money, have a day where everybody has to do a random act of kindness. Just something that will help change the school for the better. I will have to talk to Mrs. Teknipp to help me start my goal of starting a Rachel's Challenge. Maybe I could start a chain reaction,

 I have yet to talk to my coucelors about flyers or pamphlets to pass out around the school, I plan to do that, I just have to have the guts to ask them about it. Over all this 20Time is going very well.

New Ideas

This will be a short post, it will just give an update of my progress with my 20Time project.

As I gave my pitch today for my project, it was brought to my attention by my mentor, Mrs. Jennifer Teknipp that five or so other students wanted to do the same 20Time project as I am doing. So as my mentor, as she is supposed to do asked if I was interested in starting a Rachel's Challenge. If you don't know what it is, it is a anti-bullying, anti-suicide program.

My English teacher, Mrs. Vessell gave me the idea to talk to my counselors about making pamphlets about anti-suicide. Raising attention to the student body of Eagles Landing High.

These are both wonderful ideas and I will be attempting to do both of these things.

Wish me luck!

Listen to this...

Hello to whomever takes their time out of their day to read this valueable information. In this weeks blog I will be discussing how to help someone who you think is depressed, or you know is depressed, or suicidial. The catostrophic disease of depression attackes millions of peoples thoughts. It is probable the most widley treatable disease. 

• Depression is a very serious disease, dont ever underestimate the power of depression. 
• NOBODY can just "snap out of it"
• Depression has no personal meaning
• If your loved one had a hard time loving the oned they love the most, its the depression talking
• People who experice this sometimes lash out and say harmful and hateful things towards people, dont take this personal
• If you are depressed, hiding it does not help at all.
• There are tons of people who want to help
• Making excuses to not seek assistance will only make the feelings worse. 

There are somethigs to say that can help your loved one work through this. Start a conversation with such things like, "I just wanted to check on you..." "You have been acting different lately..."

Dont ever hide your feelings, honest communication will help improve the relationship with this issue. Even though you want to care for your loved one, you also need to keep track of your own life. There will be some things in your daily routine that are out of your control. Make sure to make plans with friend and keep your social life open. 

If your loved one is hesitant on seeking help with a mentle health therapyst, they might find it more comfortable with a family doctor, one whom they feel closer too. Make sure you give as much guidance to your loved one to seek medical and professional advice. Dont try to force someone to go to a doctor, this will only make the situation worse. Give them as much guidance as you can (that they will accept). Lead by example. Have a greater outlook on life, be more optimistic, encourage them to do the same, eat healither, avoid durgs, get more sleep.

 If you believe your loved one is at an immediate risk for suicide, do NOT leave the person alone.

In the U.S., dial 911 or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK.

In other countries, call your country’s emergency services number or visit IASP to find a suicide prevention helpline.

It may hard to believe that your loved one would ever consider such things as suicide but if they are depressed they may find that the only way out. That is NEVER EVER true. Depression clouds the mind of a person distorting their rational desision making, and prior judgment. 

ALWAYS know somebody cares and loves you. Don't be afraid to speak up. You might save somebody's precious life.

Happy Holidays

The holiday spirit is here! Even though this is being done on a Saturday, and not Friday, it serves the same purpose. Hopefully the holiday season is making the fire places warm, making everybody smile, but most importantly keeping the gifts from being destroyed on the first day. There is a more important issue that surrounds this holiday season.

Studies have shown that the holiday season is the time where most suicide cases are filed. The stress put on people to give gifts, or the fact that people are surrounded by this festive activities but they are suffering, suffering from the worlds most dangerous disease, depression.

The thing with the holidays is that, its a time to do whatever in the world you want to. Ask for anything you want. Dress in the most ugliest clothes and not get judged. Mean you have the chance to kiss whoever you want at the sake of a berry. This is a time to hang with friends and to surround yourself with your loving family and friends.

This time of year is stressful, no doubt about it. Even I, a fourteen year old boy gets stressed about the holiday season. If you or anybody is stressed about giving the perfect gift, you in better terms, are wasting your time. There is and never will be a perfect gift. There is one thing, whatever you get somebody, they will love it. This may be a cliche, but it actual true. "It's the though that counts" that literally saved my life a few years ago. The fact that you thought enough about someone to get them something, is the biggest gift they will ever receive.

This holiday season is supposed to be a merry and joyful time of the year, so give a random act of kindness, hug a random person, high five everybody you see, these little acts can go a really long way. Happy Holidays, from me to, go eat some fruit cake.

Lets Talk...

Lets Talk... lets talk about what suicide is. You may ask "That's stupid, I already know that." While that may be true, you may not know why it happens and the signs someone may be thinking suicide. Suicide is not a very gentle topic for me, it's a very sensitive topic for me. I want to whomever reads this to know how to spot someone who is or may be thinking about suicide. I want to help as many people as I can by reaching out to as many people as I can. Telling people what the signs are for someone who is suicidal so that they can save a friend or a loved one.

One sign of some one who is suicidal is when they withdraw or isolate themselves more than usual. The occasional "I want to work alone" does not mean they are depressed, everybody occasionally does this, even I do this. If you notice someone who does this a little too often, that's when you need to be cautious. If you notice a friend or a loved not wanting to hang out as often, or they just stay closed to themselves, and you know this is not their normal personality, assume that something is up. It is much better to be safe, than to be sorry.

Another sign of someone who is thinking about suicide is when they act like nobody likes them, they feel as if they are a burden to people. If someone you know is constantly talking about how they are a burden to everybody, be cautious. They will show an increase in not accepting peoples actions. If somebody asks this person to say, sharpen their pencil, or buy them something, they will be quick to say "No" or "It's okay". They will start to feel like an outsider, feel as if they are not good enough. If you ever notice somebody acting like this, tell somebody, talk to them about it, try to help them, show them that they are loved.

Even though this is only two signs (due to length) there are many more, as you will see in a video below. If you have been thinking about suicide, tell somebody. Please tell somebody, tell your mom, tell your best friend you can trust, tell your teacher, they will only want to help you. Somebody will notice if you start acting like what I said above. Just know that people will notice and people will want to help you.   

 

Thank you for reading, Happy Holidays.