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At Menlo-Atherton, the door to mental health is open
Local experts listen to key adolescent issues
by Daryl Savage
The frenzied pace of Silicon Valley life is having a trickle-down effect on Palo Alto area adolescents and their parents. Mirroring their parents' often too-busy lives, teens are busier than ever--and feeling more and more alone. This week, many teens are speaking up about their problems. Palo Alto area teenagers, for the first time ever, are actively involved in researching, analyzing and identifying major issues affecting their lives. The teens worked with experts, such as pediatricians, teachers and social service agencies, and together pinpointed eight of the most important issues. Those issues will be discussed today in Palo Alto at a forum at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation.
Knowing what these issues are could ultimately change and redefine the type and direction of social services offered in this community. "It's already going to change my agency," said Adolescent Counseling Services' Executive Director Sue Barkhurst. She is going to recommend that Adolescent Counseling create its own youth advisory board or "actually incorporate young people as part of our board of directors."
What is the number one thing on local teens' minds?
Isolation. Parents are too busy, kids are too busy, life is too fast. As a result, high school students have little time with their families and feel alienated from the larger society. The isolation often forces them to create their own peer groups. Relationships are often superficial and needs aren't communicated. This, in turn, can lead to negative behavior.
The forum is unusual because it has assembled elected officials and government agencies from two counties, along with a youth panel composed completely of high school students. The young people were chosen from area schools based on geographic, ethnic and cultural diversity.
The forum is sponsored by the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, the Palo Alto Unified School District, the Sequoia Union High School District, the San Mateo County Department of Human Services and the Palo Alto Weekly.
"We wanted to do a better job of helping teens and parents deal with developmental issues," Barkhurst says. To determine what the issues were, ACS brought in 60 Midpeninsula experts last November to identify problems that adolescents will face over the next five years, Barkhurst said.
Today's followup conference will "give kids an opportunity to have a say what they've been thinking," ACS board member Sally Stewart said. "It's time the voices of kids are heard. We are ready to listen," said Stewart, a 17-year member of the Sequoia high school district board.
Not only will the top issues concerning local adolescents be announced today, but participants will discuss concrete ways to avoid letting the issues become problems. It will also be a time for networking among social service agencies from the two counties and discussions with San Mateo County Supervisor Rose Jacobs Gibson, who will speak at the conference.
The eight issues span the variety of life on the Midpeninsula. In addition to the issue of isolation and disconnectedness for teens, the other issues the conference will cover that will affect families in the near future are:
The ability to value ethnic and cultural diversity. According to the study, as the Midpeninsula becomes increasingly diverse, adults and teens need to appreciate and know other cultures. All services need to be culturally competent, recognizing the different languages and customs and acknowledging that different groups have their own set of issues to address for their young people. Immigrant youth and communities of color who must fight for everything can spark anger. This needs to be addressed.
Meeting the needs of underrepresented youth. It is often the low-income families whose children miss out on opportunities to participate in after-school activities or tutoring programs. Part of the problem may be work schedules or long distances from school, says human services consultant Nancy Goodban.
"Not all parents are able to stand in line for two hours to register their kids for ice skating lessons," she says. So a lot of kids miss out, says Goodban, also a board member of ACS. Those students who are not college-bound are often overlooked. The study says it is important to include those teens who do not plan to go to college and provide them with choices for different paths so that they can have a meaningful life. Teachers need to be able to respond to the needs of the entire student population--not just those going to college.
The need to listen and involve youth in decision-making and policy-making. Without the input of young people's ideas, adults may wrongfully assume that the issues facing today's youth are the same as in previous generations.
Palo Alto student Jessica Feinstein agrees. "It is definitely important to involve us and ask our opinions in these matters. We are a huge part of the community," she said.
Adults may be addressing the wrong issues and mistakes can be made. There is a risk of developing adult-oriented services instead of adolescent-oriented services. The message being sent to youth is, "Your opinion is not valued. You're not ready to participate in the process." The study says this lowers self-esteem and an opportunity is lost to develop leadership in young people.
Socioeconomic disparity. Our community will change as middle- and low-income families and young adults move away because they can't afford to live here, according to the report. As a result, the community will become more divided by social class and create a larger division between the "haves" and "have nots." The "have nots" will become disenfranchised and the "haves" will become more protective of what they own. Youth who are from low-income families are less likely to get identified and referred to services which can help their situation.
Stress and pressure (academic, social, and physical). In addition to concerns about body image and social pressures around drugs, alcohol and sex, high school students experience intense academic pressure and stress. The physical and emotional health impact of stress includes depression, anxiety and substance abuse. The majority of youth cannot keep up with the unreasonable expectations for high performance. The average student is often overlooked and those who are not college-bound see themselves as failures.
Goodban sees the academic pressure placed on young people. "Kids feel that if they don't live up to family and school expectations, they've let their parents down," she said.
Abuse and neglect (sexual, substance, physical, emotional). Children who are exposed to family violence-- including child abuse, neglect or domestic violence--are more likely to express their anger through physical behavior. That anger could take the form of withdrawal, depression or self-mutilation. Children are fearful and unable to focus. Child abuse and domestic violence are often repeated in the next generation.
Goodban says statistics show that child abuse occurs in more than half of families where there is domestic violence. "These kids wrongly learn that relationships happen through violence. They don't have a role model to show them what a normal relationship really is," she said.
Safe neighborhood and schools. It appears that the priorities in some communities do not include enough financial consideration and attention toward safety in neighborhoods and schools. "We have problems in some of the regions in this area," Goodban said. She calls the situation unfortunate because "most teens are really good kids, they do well in school, they help their parents. But when we hear of an isolated case of trouble in the schools, for example, we tend to stereotype all teens and conclude they're dangerous."
Violence creates division in the community. Others become fearful. This creates more fear and more violence. Young people are seen as a problem or a threat.
Goodban says it's important to keep perspective. "Kids have a much harder time now than when we were growing up. We owe it to them to help them become good productive, healthy individuals.
"It's not their fault" that times are tough, she said. Coming up with a list of the most important issues for adolescents is a start toward steering them and keeping them on the right path, she says.
Printed with permission by the Palo Alto Weekly
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