Thursday, April 4th 2019 - Page|1 - The College of Physicians of Philadelphia
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Thursday, April 4th 2019
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Thursday, April 4th 2019
Why Violence and Mental Health?
Cyber bullying, depression, school-shootings, anxiety, and suicide are all issues that are
impacting young people, their friends, and social networks today. These teens now have
access to advanced technology – iPhones, Androids, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Xbox –
communication tools that influence when, where, and how teens connect with each other
and also increases exposure to violent images, both real and virtual. Teens daily are
affected by violence and mental health issues, and the number of cases are increasing
annually. Violence is no longer only sparked by word of mouth, but by what is typed and
texted. School shootings have increased. The mental status of teenagers globally includes
depression, anxiety, and stress which can result in aggressive behavior or even suicide. Just
as the world population is on the rise, so are violence and mental health concerns.
Statistically, Violence and Mental Health concerns are an issue for teens:
Global
• Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15–29-year-olds.1
• 79% of global suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries.1
• Globally, some 470 000 homicides occur each year and millions of people suffer violence-
related injuries.2
U.S.
• Most adolescents experience positive mental health, but one in five has had a serious mental
health disorder at some point in their life.3
• The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) found that about 6% of adolescents have
serious emotional or behavioral difficulties. 3
• Problems with mental health often start early in life. In fact, half of all mental health
problems begin by age 14.4
• The frontal lobe is the anterior area of the brain and one of the last areas to mature. This
area is responsible for planning, organization, judgment, impulse control, and reasoning.
Studies show that teens know the possible outcomes of risky behaviors but will still
participate because they believe the benefits outweigh the cons. 4
• In the past year, approximately 8 percent of youth ages 12 to 17 reportedly have had a
major depressive disorder.4
• The frontal lobe is the anterior area of the brain and one of the last areas to mature. This
area is responsible for planning, organization, judgment, impulse control, and reasoning.
Studies show that teens know the possible outcomes of risky behaviors but will still
participate because they believe the benefits outweigh the cons. 4
• In 2017, the Pediatric Academic Societies meeting found adolescents who reported greatest
access to guns either in their own home or a friend’s were more at risk for violent behavior,
increased suicidal attempts, and mental health related problems. 4
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Thursday, April 4th 2019
• 68 percent of attackers in school shootings obtained their guns from their own home or that
of a relative, and 85 percent of youth who commit suicide used a gun from their own home.4
• When adolescents are exposed to high levels of violence without social support from friends
or family, they are more at risk for emotional disorders. They are more likely to experience
anxiety, PTSD symptoms, and increased risk of self-harm, and depressive symptoms. 4
• In 2016, 4,648 young people ages 10-24 were victims of homicide –an average of 13 each
day.5
Ideas and ways to celebrate in Healthcare Facilities,
Educational Institutions, and Community Settings:
• Encourage participants to Wear the Teen Health Week shirt or the color Mint which can be
ordered at: https://www.bonfire.com/global-teen-health-week/
• Create and display posters with the Teen Health Week logo for Violence and Mental Health.
Posters and flyers can include mental health statistics, hotlines for assistance with mental
health (i.e., National Suicide Prevention Hotline, 1-800-273-TALK), and school and
community resources that they can contact if they are being bullied, threatened, or do not
feel safe. The Teen Health Week Violence and Mental Health logo can be found here:
https://collegeofphysicians.org/uploads/attachments/cjrkrll8f3rmpdczhgcfgp2o8thw-19-
violencementalhealth-logo.full.jpg
Coordinate times for each homeroom/advisory period classroom to visit the Guidance
Counselor’s office to become familiar with the services they provide for students,
particularly those for issues related to violence and mental health.
• Partner with a local organization or school to raise awareness about teen violence and
mental health concerns.
• Contact local and state officials, local media outlets, and local newspapers to spread the
word about what you are doing to create awareness on teen violence and mental health
issues.
• Create a Mint colored question box that students can anonymously submit questions about
violence, mental health, and other health-related issues that can later be answered in
discussions.
• Create a poll for your students allowing them to rate how safe they feel at their school or in
their neighborhood. Later, have a discussion with students about the results. Coordinate
another discussion that engages youth, community, and school officials on how to improve
the safety of the school and neighborhood.
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Host a Student Government Event where Student Government representatives facilitate
discussions with fellow students centered on school violence, bullying, getting sleep,
difficulties at school that can cause stress, and anxiety while being moderated by a Mental
Health Professional and a local police department official.
• Host a Community Event and reach out to local organizations who specialize in Violence and
Mental Health to speak about current issues, answer questions, and host a table with
resources.
Suggested Activities
1. Get your students involved and have them work in groups as directors, writers, and actors
for a 2 minute maximum Public Service Announcement (PSA) about Violence and Mental
Health; use some of the statistics to feature in the PSA.
2. Have your students search up celebrities who have been open about their issues with
Mental Health and Violence in their life and present their research to the class about that
celebrity and, if they are comfortable, share how they can relate.
3. Download the “Mental Health and High School Curriculum Guide (Version 3)” at
http://teenmentalhealth.org/product/mental-health-high-school-curriculum/. This Guide
is free and provides lesson plans on how to cover different topics about Mental Health and
has Pre/Post Quizzes to give your teens.
4. Visit https://bringchange2mind.org/talk/talk-tool/ and use Bring Change to Mind’s talk
tool to show your students videos of how people are talking to others about their mental
health issues.
5. Share apps that teens can use to help regulate Sleep and help with stress and anxiety such
as:
• Headspace: https://www.headspace.com/register
• SleepCycle: https://www.sleepcycle.com/
6. Organize an assembly during the week and invite a local domestic violence or sexual assault
organization or your local police department to speak about exactly what is defined as
adolescent relationship abuse, domestic violence, sexual assault, cyberbullying, and gun
violence, how to recognize those issues in your life and others’ and how to help.
7. Visit https://jenniferann.org/tdv.htm#games and have your students play the free
educational games about teen dating violence.
8. Use the Pacer Center Teen Talk on Cyberbullying: https://youtu.be/adV0rxAdJV8 to show
your students other teens discussing Cyberbullying and ways to avoid being a Cyberbully
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and have them discuss key topics that contribute to Cyberbullying such as social media
posting, liking, reposting, retweeting, indirect posts about one another, commenting on
posts, memes, and exposure pages.
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Social Media
Post about #TeenHealthWeek2019 and use these hashtags to
grab the attention of your followers and raise awareness
Instagram
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Twitter
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U.S. Resources
Adolescent Health: Think, Act, Grow® (TAG) is a national call to action to improve adolescent
health in the United States. TAG calls upon organizations and individuals to prioritize activities that
can support the health and healthy development of all of America's 42 million adolescents.
https://www.hhs.gov/ash/oah/tag/
StopBullying.gov is an anti-bullying website managed by the U.S. Department of Health & Human
Services. StopBullying.gov provides information and educational tools on what bullying is, what
cyberbullying is, who is at risk, and how you can prevent and respond to bullying. Language
assistance is available in 16 languages:
https://www.stopbullying.gov/
Striving to Reduce Youth Violence Everywhere (STRYVE) is a US initiative, led by the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which takes a public health approach to preventing
youth violence before it starts. This resource helps you customize your youth violence prevention
work and track your efforts. Videos of other communities working to prevent youth violence are
included to provide real-life context:
https://vetoviolence.cdc.gov/apps/stryve/
Sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services, Girlshealth.gov provides information
on ways girls can live a healthy life style and covers topics such as Bullying, Body, Fitness, Nutrition,
Relationships, Illness and Disability, Drugs, Alcohol, and Smoking:
It also includes language assistance for 15 different languages:
https://www.girlshealth.gov/
The Center for Young Women’s Health provides teen girls and young women with carefully
researched health information and educational programs.
Materials are in English, Portuguese, and Spanish:
https://youngwomenshealth.org
Loveisrespect engages, educates, and empowers young people to prevent and end abusive
relationships. Loveisrespect is a safe, inclusive space for young people to access information and
get help in an environment that is designed specifically for them. It also provides resources for
parents, educators, peers and survivors to proactively raise awareness. Loveisrespect provides
free and confidential phone, live chat and texting services are available 24/7/365.
https://www.loveisrespect.org/
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The Life After Trauma Organization (LATO) helps adolescents and adults prevent and recover
from the long-term effects of trauma from commercial sexual exploitation, and other complex
trauma:
http://www.thelifeaftertrauma.org/
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a United States-based suicide prevention network of
161 crisis centers that provides a 24/7, toll-free hotline available to anyone in suicidal crisis or
emotional distress:
https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health
organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental
illness. NAMI provides resources teens can utilize to educate and advocate:
https://www.nami.org/
Ok2talk.org is an online community for teens struggling with mental health problems where teens
can talk about their experiences by sharing poetry, inspirational quotes, photos, videos, song lyrics
and messages of support in a safe, moderated space:
http://ok2talk.org/
PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center leads social change to prevent childhood bullying,
so that all youth are safe and supported in their schools, communities and online. PACER provides
resources for students, educators, and others:
https://www.pacer.org
Sandy Hook Promise trains students and adults to know the signs of gun violence so that no other
parent experiences the senseless, horrific loss of their child.
https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/
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Global Resources
The World Health Organization (WHO) is an agency of the United Nations which focuses on
international public health. They currently have 194 Member States in which the WHO supports
their national health development process, promotes the achievement of the highest sustainable
level of health of all people, and cooperates with governments and other partners in pursuing
countries’ national health strategies and plans as well as collective commitments by the WHO
Governing Bodies. Materials and resources are published in multiple languages:
https://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/topics/rtis/en/
21 Strategies to reduce youth violence worldwide are reviewed here:
https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/youth/youth_violence/en/
The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund also known as UNICEF works in
190 countries and territories to defend the rights of adolescents to an education, protection, gender
equality, healthcare, and the right to survive and thrive. The have many global initiatives in
countries and territories to advocate for adolescents and reduce adolescent mortality rates due to
the lack of resources.
https://www.unicef.org/end-violence
The United States Agency for International Development also known as USAID is an
international world development agency that partners with other countries to assist with their
development. USAID provides disaster assistance via partnerships and investments that save lives,
reduce poverty, and help people regroup from humanitarian crises and continue to rebuild beyond
the initial assistance given.
https://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/working-crises-and-conflict
https://www.usaid.gov/countering-violent-extremism
PREVNet, Canada’s authority on bullying, provides educational videos for teens about bullying and
violence:
http://www.prevnet.ca/resources/videos
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Special Thanks and Acknowledgements
Sarah Lumbo, Global Teen Health Week Coordinator
The College of Physicians Center for Education
Fellows of the College of Physicians
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services- Region 5
Dr. Alessandra Da Matta
Megan Pape, MSN, RN
Temple University Nursing and MPH student volunteers
Drexel University MPH students
References
1. “Suicide.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization,
www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/suicide.
2. “Violence Prevention.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, 15 Oct.
2018, www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/en/.
3. “NCHS Data Brief.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 27 Aug. 2014, www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db163.htm.
4. “The Teen Brain.” Teen Mental Health, teenmentalhealth.org/learn/the-teen-brain-2/.
5. “Gun Violence: Facts and Statistics.” Center for Injury Research and Prevention, 11 Oct.
2018, injury.research.chop.edu/violence-prevention-initiative/types-violence-
involving-youth/gun-violence/gun-violence-facts-and#.XFtY1vZFyM8.
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