Project by: Aidhan Astrachan (11th Grade), Cole Dorsey (11th Grade)
Project Advisor: Alexis Kahan
Student(s)’s Advisor(s): Michelle Blackwell, Preethi Thomas-McKnight

Teen anxiety is not an isolated issue to a certain type of person or a certain group of people, it is something that affects everyone, especially teens. We set to learn about the various stereotypes and stigmas associated with this pressing issue, as well as different ways teens cope with and think of anxiety. For example, there have been stereotypes that if men have depression or anxiety, they are just supposed to “get over it, and deal with it.” We also wanted to learn about how social media intersects and affects teen anxiety in the 21st century, whether for better or for worse. We collected a preliminary set of data that we used throughout our research process. This took the form of a survey sent out to the school with a series of questions regarding, teen anxiety, mental health, depression, and if students believe the institution does a good job at educating the student body on various issues surrounding mental health. We also conducted a set of interviews to dig more deeply into the issues.

T1 Interviews:

On October 25th, Cole and I interviewed P.G., someone who suffers from anxiety and depression daily. We came in contact with him because my dad had gone to college with him at Columbia, and saw an article in the newspaper about him. The article was written by P, who explains how he has dealt with depression his entire life. My dad was extremely surprised because out of the four years they were in school together, my dad never knew about his depression. My dad ended up giving me his contact info and I emailed him to ask if we could interview for this Honors Project. He replied almost instantly saying he would love to. We ended up having a 35-minute talk with him, which we were able to record, (it is attached to the bottom) about his experience dealing with depression as a teenager and as an adult.

Part 1:

Part 2:

 

 

On November 15th, we interviewed a classmate who experiences anxiety. We asked them questions about how they copes with their anxiety, and when they first started noticing that they had anxiety. In this interview, we as three teenagers laughed a lot not knowing how to exactly handle the issue, but as the interview goes on we become much more serious on the issue and start having a deep conversation.

Audio Recording:

 

On November 14th, we interviewed, another classmate of ours. We asked them the same questions that we asked our other classmate, trying to see how the answers would differ, or stay the same depending on the question. In both interviews, we were surprised by how open our classmates were on the issue.

Audio Recording:

 

On Friday 13th, we interviewed another classmate and good friend of ours. We asked them the same questions as our other two student interviews, again trying to see how different kids react to the same questions. We were surprised by how little our friend experiences anxiety, and how that differs from our other interviewees.

Audio Recording:

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PROJECT PROPOSAL

Please write a description of the project you are proposing. Why do you want to take this on, and what do you hope to learn?

Teen anxiety is not an isolated issue to a certain type of person or a certain group of people, it is something that affects everyone, especially teens. We hope to learn about the various stereotypes and stigmas associated with this pressing issue, as well different ways teens cope with and think of anxiety. For example, there have been stereotypes that if men have depression or anxiety, they are just supposed to “get over it, and deal with it.” We also wish to learn about how social media intersects and affects teen anxiety in the 21st century, weather for better or for worse. We wish to collect a preliminary set of data that we will use throughout our research process. This will take place in the form of a survey sent out to the school with a series of questions regarding, teen anxiety, mental health, depression, and if students believe the institution does a good job at educating the student body on various issues surrounding mental health.

Critical thinking, creativity, citizenship and courage are essential LREI learning values. Explain how you’ll draw on at least one of these values to complete your proposed project?

Anxiety in general can be an uncomfortable topic for many to discuss, by not shying away from this tender subject, we will be exemplifying courage to continue to learn about this pressing issue. We as students are presenting courage because we can also talk about our own experiences in dealing with anxiety. We also draw on critical thinking, by expanding our knowledge of an issue that affects us, our peers, and our colleagues.

What is your proposed outcome? How will you be able to demonstrate successful completion of this Project? How do you plan to share your learnings with the larger LREI community (e.g., exhibit of work, poster of learnings, performance, etc.)?

We hope to combine all of the survey responses and the recorded interviews with select students to create an informative video about how teen stress, anxiety, and depression affects those in the LREI community, and what we are doing as a school to help cope and combat this.

Please provide a general outline that indicates your work plan for the trimester? What are some of the key project benchmarks (i.e., goals that will help to ensure that you finish the project)?

A goal of ours is to interview/ record at least one student per week. If we follow this routine, we will have around 10 students interviews to use in our informative video. An interview with the school psychiatrist for her thoughts on what the institution is doing to combat and cope with anxiety and depression. An interview with Phil to collect his thoughts as the school director for what the institution is doing to help protect and keep its student body mentally healthy. What is LREI doing to hlep educate and keep its student body both aware of mental health,

When do you plan on meeting?
Still deciding.