Compelling words from young writers in crisis

Re: “Crisis point: Is Safe2Tell working?” Sept. 27 news story

The path to adulthood has always been difficult. Despite preeminent societal levels of wealth and physical safety, today’s biting social media culture, polarized citizenry locked in constant bitter conflict, and climate change dread make it so much harder emotionally on that path.

With tears in my eyes, I read the compelling words and saw the portraits of a rainbow of teenagers.

They were vulnerable in sharing raw feelings and examples of emptiness, racism, addiction, suicide, depression and anxiety. As the mother of teens, I’ve witnessed through our school community and their friend groups a level of angst that is foreign to the experience of my or my parents’ graduating classes.

Past generations of young people have gone through hunger and poverty, disease, and war. Yet they were all in it together and held hope that things would soon improve. They faced great pain in a physical sense. Most of our kids, thankfully, have never experienced that. But their mental health suffering is substantial and far- reaching, as the fabric of our society is being torn. We must not trivialize but instead seek to understand and support them.

Alexandra Hall expressed it beautifully when she wrote, “There is no one, simple recipe that will satiate the crisis. It cannot be cured by sticky notes or end goal philosophies. There’s no ‘ Chicken Noodle Soup for the Suicidal Soul.’ ”

The teenage writers who shared a piece of themselves with us give me hope for the future.

Kelly Headrick, Centennial