Social Change Project: Q1

Dear Ms. Koroshetz,

     The teenage population is in a re-occurring silent crisis in which adults are not aware of; I am here to inform you on their behalf. Teenagers in high school are not only confused about school, but they're confused about all the other social and personal aspects. We, as the "future", have to endure the burden today's society puts on us. An article that appeared in Psychology Today that stated "the average high school kid today has the same level of anxiety as the average psychiatric patient in the ealy 1950's." We are expected to behave a certain way around our friends and a certain way around our parents and it becomes difficult to put on these "masks" and transition between them. We even try to masks our problems since it's hard to talk about them because we feel like no one can relate to us. Going to the school psychologists may help some of us, but not everyone is comfortable with opening up to an adult who we believe can't relate or will only make the situation worse.

     Seeing how involved you are with our school and how the students benefit from the assemblies we have, like the awareness of bullying, I believe that I can offer some ideas that may relive some stress from you. 

     Since teens go through this much stress and change during high school, I think creating a self help group for teens in high school will be a great start to helping us become more open about our problems and anxiety. This group will talk about anything that may come to mind that we may be needing help with in our new, profound, scary life. The group will consists of all teenagers seeing that we relate best with our peers who are likely to be going through the same thing. The ultimate goal would be to create a comfortable environment where people would not be forced to talk, but to make them comfortable with talking about what they're going through. I belive these meetings can be a success even if one person talks the entire time or a few people don't say a word at all because they'll all be getting something out of the conversation.

    I would love for you, as an involved principle, to help me not only create this group for this highschool but help start a change in the stress and anxiety that we endure on a daily basis. Thank You for your time and I hope to hear back from you soon as the crisis increases every day.

                                         Sincerely, 

             an advocate of the silent teenage crisis: Amahd Young

Logos (Teens Anonymous)

It is easier to solve most of the problems and complications that you are having in life if you would just talk about them with others.However, with teenagers it is more difficult to just open up to someone, specifically an adult, that may make them feel uncomfortable because they feel like they can't relate with them. 

To make things easier on teenagers, a group can be created that'll consists of teenagers facing similar problems to make these problems subside. A group that'll consists of teens who may be experiencing the same struggles as one another can help them solve their problems. The point of these meetings would not be to force the people to talk, but to make them comfortable with talking about what they're going through. I think these meetings can be a success even if one person talks the entire time or a few people don't say a word at all. 

If you find this hard to believe just think of other group meetings that were created to help people relate to one another to solve a common problem or reach a common goal. If you were to go to an AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) meeting, a nonprofessional and self-supporting group, today you would find that everyone in the room is essentially there because they want to solve the same problem or all have the same problem. Each individual may help each other grow and work at their goals by talking to people who they feel may understand them; there would be a wide range of people who attend these meetings. For some people, simply speaking out loud will help their cause while others have to have feedback and engage in  conversations more while others can simply sit there the entire time without saying a word. The fact that there is no set goal or pressure for and individual at each meeting makes it a lot easier on the participants to open up to talk about their problem or experience with alcohol.

Why not try to "recreate" a widely known organization with a different goal, name, and age group? 

Egyptian Crisis

Egypt is a primarily large country with the highest population in the Middle East, housing mostly Arab and Muslims. In 2011 Egypt has been ranked 138 out of 167 countries on The Economist's Democracy index which is a measure of political freedom. At the start of 2011, Egypt has begun a war with its own government fighting against the high levels of corruption and an overwhelming load of poverty. The sudden spark of change in Egypt’s government was inspired by a recent protest in one of their neighboring countries, Tunisia, which led to the fall of their government. Egypt was ruled by Hosni Mubarak, Mohamed Morsi, and the Military (all of which have been seen as corrupt to the Egyptian people as they lacked leadership skills) before they've reached their current president, Sisi.

With Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as President, he inherits Egypt’s many problems with their country that were leftover from previous rulers. Most of these problems are economic related; involving issues with money. The economy of Egypt has a high unemployment rate as their budget decreases almost double to 14 percent as spending on petroleum subsidies cuts into state finances. Help from Gulf allies are helping Egypt’s economy just get by without collapsing, but they’re still in need of more help if they want to try to rebuild their economy. There is also a current energy crisis that is affecting domestic energy demand due to the high amount of subsidies on petroleum products. This is now permitting residential and industrial consumers to purchase gas and power facilities at a lower cost. These issues have caused Egypt to loose partners because of the draining of state funds they needed to invest in public works. With all these economic challenges Egypt is currently facing there should be something higher power countries should be doing to help, like the U.S.

The United States getting involved to help Egypt take on the challenges that they face on a daily basis wouldn't be such a bad idea. However, the United States of America can only help by so much. The U.S can provide a strong army by sending troops to help with any reinforcement needed, but as far as aiding Egypt with money may be a difficult thing. The U.S may not be in the right place to hand out large amounts of money because the economy there isn't so great either. However, offering advice and planning for spending isn't a bad thing to do seeing that they may need our help with having a plan for future goals and solutions.

The Western media rarely usually make assumptions about Egypt and Egyptian people because they don’t want people to know how bad the community really is. Most of the harsh information is written in blogs or articles by people who have been there themselves, otherwise there is rarely any information about Egypt and its people. However, when there is information in the media they usually depict angry, motivated, and persuaded people who would do anything to fight for what their countries needs or wants. Showing these depictions of the Egyptian people can either scare or persuade the Western world, but either way the media should show the truth of what is going on in the world around us and how it can affect us.

Questions

How did the transition in government power personally affect you?

Do you think help from the United States would upset or excite the people living in Egypt?

Where Am I From?

A city with such a high population

but it seems like such a small world

if you live here you'll call it a safe zone
with someone to watch over you

from the outside looking in, it seems

like a wasteland with bad people,

criminals, and constant community problems

"You grow through what you go

through in life" that is why I think

growing up in Bridgeport is a good experience

As a child growing up, I moved a lot. I moved seven 

times, and though I do not remember most, 

I've made many memories in each house.
The most memorable house 

was on Summerfield Ave on the East 
side of Bridgeport. I had a best friend who
lived two houses down from me and went to my 
middle school and we always hung out 

and baked together... even on school nights!

Even though we often fought, she was still my friend because she 

was there for me through a lot of situations.

Five years later, I moved and we never spoke again, but 
that's how life is

people come and go along with relationships.

Where I'm from most people don't value education 
as much as they value other things in life.

The teachers don't show as much interest so the 
students start to care even less.

Students set goals that involve less education and more sports.

People support the goals to be a basketball player but laugh
at the future doctors and teachers. 

I've lived on every side of town-

seeing and meeting new people,

hearing new experiences, and

learning new lessons.

Most people feel that moving a lot ruins people

it helped me.

All those places helped me learn things that I would've
never learned otherwise

Some people call where I'm from a wasteland full of criminals

But where I'm from has helped be the person I've become.