With the growing prevalence of cellphones and social media, the pressures this generation of teens face are always at their fingertips.
A group of school leaders and community partners met earlier this month to discuss that along with related challenges facing youth today.
The Marion County Commission on Youth challenged adults at its annual symposium to think about how they can be more supportive of teens in tackling five areas:
- chronic absenteeism
- social and emotional health
- trauma and violence
- social media and internet
- mental health
But before breaking off into small groups, the commission turned its mic over to three experts on these topics: Indianapolis youth.
Three teens representing the Mayor’s Youth Leadership Council shared their honest answers on what youth need today and how adults can help. Mirror Indy is sharing their accounts in an effort to help elevate the voices who know the pressures facing teens today best.
Their responses have been edited for brevity and clarity.
Meet the teens:
Anthony Edwards is a junior at Lawrence North High School. He is involved in Civil Air Patrol and recently assisted with a humanitarian aid mission.
Asia Genawi is a senior at the Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics, and the Humanities, a small, public boarding school on the Ball State University campus. She does research for Yale University and leads the state chapter of Encode Justice, a nonprofit that advocates for the ethical use of Artificial Intelligence.
Ashwak Kalil is a senior at Eman Schools, a small, private school in Fishers. She was a neuroscience research intern this summer at Lilly and is executive director of Folded Hope, a youth-led initiative that raises awareness for substance abuse in underrepresented communities.
What challenges do you most want the community to work on and why?
Anthony Edwards
“Mental health, because a lot of students go to school and everything is not as it seems. They’re smiling and they’re happy, but that does not always mean that everything is going great for them. They should be allowed to go to any professional or any adult inside of the schools, or even their parents, but a lot of times, those adults do not have the training to help with those situations.”
Asia Genawi
“I agree. High school is a time where people are undergoing new experiences. There’s just so much on people’s plate, but they don’t know where to go with their mental health struggles.”
Ashwak Kalil
“I would like to touch on social emotional development. There are so many resources in our city. Something that we need to work on is getting these resources out to youth. Do they even know that they exist? And do they feel comfortable getting the help that they need?”
What do you think are some of the root causes of these problems?
Anthony Edwards
“Root causes are peer pressure and adults and family. Some adults don’t realize the decisions they’re making impact students. And, also, the decisions that students make are affecting other students. School shootings, doing drugs in the restroom — that’s affecting other students’ lives.”
Asia Genawi
“One of the biggest root causes of mental health is the cyclical nature of the issue, especially within a lot of Black communities. If I’m struggling with my mental health but my parents don’t talk about their mental health, my school doesn’t talk about mental health and my general community doesn’t talk about mental health, I don’t know that there are resources available to me.”
Ashwak Kalil
“Another root cause would be social media. A lot of us are on Instagram or on TikTok, and we are friends with people who are posting the best five seconds of their lives. We need to think about the fact that we can’t really compare their five seconds of their life to our 24 hours.”
Asia Genawi
“Another thing I’d also like to point out is the lack of role models. If in my community it’s common for people to drop out of high school and not finish their education, I’m going to think that it’s OK for me to do that as well, and I’m not going to see through any struggle that I’m having because I can just conform to what’s common in my community.”
What do you think should be done differently to address these challenges?
Anthony Edwards
“We need specialized training. I know that not every school is as well funded, but where there’s a will, there’s a way. We will find solutions to these problems, to get those individuals or those adults trained to help these students.”
Asia Genawi
“One of the main things I feel like has lacked since I left my elementary and middle school has been diversity. I’m interested in computer science, and I’m always the only girl in my computer science class. Having to navigate that without having anybody to connect to is kind of difficult.”
Ashwak Kalil
“Something that I’d like to see done differently in schools is cultural awareness. Every culture deals with mental health differently. One culture might think that it’s taboo, but in another culture, it might be done easily. I would like for different communities to be aware of that.”
Asia Genawi
“A lot of things can be done on a really small scale. Those teachers checking in on you, telling you ‘Good morning,’ making sure to say your name correctly every time, even though they don’t necessarily know how to say it the first time. Just making schools a place where students really want to be.”
Anthony Edwards
“Another thing is how with schools, when it comes to discipline, one of the options always on the table is either suspension or expulsion. They never ask, ‘Why did the student do this? What is altering this student’s brain chemistry for them to do that?’
Students that have behavioral problems, there’s clearly something that needs to be looked into to help that student fix those actions. Parents sometimes lack the necessities to help that child. They should be able to have resources on speed dial to get their students help.”
How you can help
All of the teens say, first and foremost, you can help by listening to what youth have to say and sharing their message with those around you.
Small steps like building supportive relationships can go a long way in the lives of teens. But you can help at a community-level, too.
The Marion County Commission on Youth has resources on its website for how to join a local coalition, how to become a policy advocate and how to support teen and youth worker mental health.
Mirror Indy reporter Carley Lanich covers early childhood and K-12 education. Contact her at carley.lanich@mirrorindy.org or follow her on X @carleylanich.
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