• How to respond:
  • Think about similarities and differences between the adolescent behaviors/issues in your case studies and your initial post.
  • Provide opinions
  • Ask questions?

Classmate's Case study 6, featuring the suffocated student. This middle-schooler felt overwhelmed by her family's strictness, which led her to lie to participate in typical middle school activities. I can relate to her feelings of suffocation due to parental expectations; my father was a pastor while I was growing up, which meant that I faced similarly rigid demands. My peers even labeled me as a "Goody Two-Shoes." In response, I began to act out and deceive my family, seeking some semblance of control over my life. I believe this situation reflects both social-emotional challenges and cognitive issues. When children are prevented from engaging in everyday childhood experiences and pressured to perform at specific levels, without the freedom and support to navigate the consequences of their own decisions, it stifles their cognitive and social-emotional development. While children require a structured environment that ensures stability, it is also crucial to allow them the opportunity to engage in discussions regarding certain decisions and their potential consequences. This approach recognizes that children benefit from guidance and support in decision-making processes. Yet, it is equally important to instill a sense of structure and promote critical thinking by encouraging them to articulate their thoughts and understand the implications of their choices. Balancing guidance with the freedom to explore decision-making fosters both emotional security and cognitive development in children.

Case 9 Jake (pg. 23)

Identify the case study you chose.

In the case study I selected, the subject, an adolescent called "Jake," started acting out after his best buddy, Tim, killed himself. Kelli (2012), announced, "When people start acting out and doing very out-of-character things, it is a cry for help" (pg. 23). Jake, who had great potential as a student and leader, fell into a downward spiral of substance misuse, class absences, and academic failure as a result of his bereavement, as the story explains.

Why did you choose this case study?

Reasons for selecting my case study include its ability to illuminate essential issues related to trauma and the mental health of adolescents. After his friend's death, Jake turned to unhealthy coping mechanisms like alcohol misuse and experienced a significant decline in his academic performance.

According to Kelli (2012), "Middle adolescence is a period during which the brain systems implicated in how a person responds to rewards are at their height of arousability, while systems critical for self-regulation are still immature. It is as if the brain's accelerator is pressed to the floor before a good braking system is in place. Given this, it is no surprise that the commission of crime peaks around the age of 17, as does first experimentation with alcohol and marijuana, automobile crashes, accidental drownings, and attempted suicide" (pg. 37, 38). Additionally, it explores numerous topics related to teenage development and psychology, highlighting the importance of social support during times of crisis.

Analyze the central issue of adolescence.

After his friend took his own life, Jake's primary challenge had been developing a strategy to deal with his overwhelming grief. He had a dramatic shift in behavior marked by harmful tendencies, such as engaging in substance abuse and excessive drinking. This suggests that he was going through a difficult emotional time and may have been experiencing feelings of despair, bewilderment about who he is, and loneliness. You may say that his inner instability was showing in his disengagement from school and academic shortcomings.

Is this a cognitive, physical, social-emotional, or "other/combination" issue?

There are cognitive and social-emotional components to Jake's position. His anguish, sense of loss, and fight for self-identity in the wake of Tim's death highlight the social-emotional component. On the other hand, there is the cognitive aspect; his erratic thinking, which typically accompanies intense emotional anguish, showed in his incapacity to concentrate on schoolwork, make sound decisions, or understand the repercussions of his actions (such as drinking on school grounds).

Discuss what protective or supportive structures might have prevented the issue(s).

Several protective or supportive structures could have potentially prevented Jake's decline:

Open Communication: Jake could have benefited emotionally from having a place to discuss his feelings about Tim's death with his classmates. More constructive ways of dealing with stress could have been promoted through guided conversations, such as those held in support groups or with a school counselor.

Mental Health Resources: Instead of turning to substances, Jake may have gotten the help he needed from mental health specialists, such as school counselors or psychologists who focus on adolescent loss.

Peer Support Programs: Students can feel less alone in a supportive environment that has initiatives in place to encourage them to connect with and support one another. When dealing with loss and grief, having friends, mentors, or peer counselors as allies can be beneficial.

School Engagement: A feeling of community and resilience, both of which are important in warding off the dangers of sadness and loneliness, can be fostered by getting students involved in groups or extracurricular activities that they enjoy.

Family Involvement: If Jake's family takes part in supportive measures, it might lead to a more conducive home environment for him to obtain understanding and support for his emotions.

Supporting teenagers confronting such catastrophic situations requires an integrative approach that involves families, schools, and mental health providers.