A report issued by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently underscored a problem noticeable among teenagers, particularly females, in the community in recent years. According to the report, incidences of sadness, hopelessness, violence, attempts at suicide, and suicide, have increased significantly among American female teenagers over the last decade.
According to the report, nearly 57 percent of US teen girls felt persistently sad or hopeless in 2021—double that of boys, representing a nearly 60 percent increase. The highest level reported over the past decade.
While all teens reported increasing mental health challenges, experiences of violence, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors, girls fared worse than boys across nearly all measures. The new report also confirms ongoing and extreme distress among teens who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or questioning (LGBQ+).
According to several behavior specialists, including in South Florida, there has been a noticeable increase in youth depression and moodiness since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. “Having young people accustomed to interacting with each other socially at school and other youth-related events and occasions, separated from each other, closeted in their homes for an extended period, led to concerning depression and hopelessness among teenagers,” explained one specialist. The specialist said incidences of depression were more serious among female teenagers because females tend to bond more readily out of necessity with their female peers, than male teens.
It was also explained that a serious attributing factor to the increase in depression, hopelessness, and suicidal tendencies among female teens is social media. “Social media, especially platforms like Instagram, are having a very negative impact on teenagers, especially girls. Rather than being a source of positive information, Instagram has become a competitive platform for young women to showcase their attire, bodies, dance moves, and general sexiness. It’s a great platform for attractive young women to display their physical persona. This creates a source of hopelessness, for other young women who consider themselves unattractive. They feel left out in the cold, unpopular, unseen, and unwanted. Some Instagram posts mess with the minds of some young women, and increase contemplation of suicide.”
According to the CDC, nearly one in three, or 30 percent of female American teenagers seriously contemplated suicide over the last decade, an increase of 30 percent.
Another factor professionals see as leading to an increase in mental instability, mainly depression, hopelessness, and sexual violence against female teenagers is the absence of a father figure in their household. It was explained that contrary to what some may think, young women, are very dependent on a strong father figure in the home. Several homes in communities across the US, including the Caribbean American community, have no father figure. The mother or grandmother in the home tries her best to enforce love and discipline, but a young woman needs her father. Not having the love of that father figure, there are incidents where young women seek father figures outside the family, rushing into romantic relationships where they risk sexual violation, abuse, and even rape. The aftermath of this is worsening depression, hopelessness, and contemplation of suicide.
The CDC reported an 18 percent increase in sexual violence against female teenagers in the past year, up 20 percent since 2017. Over 14 percent of female teens were forced into sexual intercourse, up 27 percent since 2019.
“Young people are experiencing a level of distress that calls on us to act with urgency and compassion,” said CDC Division of Adolescent and School Health Director Kathleen Ethier. “With the right programs and services in place, schools have the unique ability to help our youth flourish.”
The CDC report suggests school-based activities can make a profound difference in the lives of US teens with a relatively small infusion of support to schools since over 95 percent of teens spend much of their daily lives in school. But is school the answer? Other reports have shown some students react negatively to frequent bullying, abuse, and increase violence in American schools.
In the Caribbean culture, the family home is where children of all ages are cared for, and their behavior patterns monitored. This should not change in the Caribbean American community. While not dismissing the possibility of schools implementing programs that encourage hope, optimism, and enthusiasm among teenagers, it’s being urged that adults in families in the Caribbean American community pay special attention to how teenagers, especially girls, in the family behave. Particularly, adults need to look out for evidence of sadness and hopelessness among the youth.
The community cannot afford to lose its youth. If it’s seen teenagers need mental help, help must be sought, and provided.
