One of my fellow interns living in South L.A. sent out this article about depression rates among South L.A. high school students. One of the reasons I found this article really interesting was hearing the voices of students saying that they felt discouraged and set up to fail by low expections within the school system. I also was struck by how many students, when asked why they skipped school, cited answers that hinted at clinical depression. Perhaps before those of us who are outside the situation criticize inner city youth for not caring or their families for failing to infuse them with "proper" work ethic, we should consider our own part in contributing to or fighting the status quo of a society in which students in certain areas are struggling to push through every day dealing with abnormally high rates of (likely) clinical depression.
**Ooops. Click on this link and it should download a Word document with the LA Times article to your computer.***
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1 comment:
The link takes me to gmail??
Having suffered depression, one does not care, even if cognitively one can say I should do something. It is not enough. Quitting is much easier.
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