History Behind Depression
·The number of patients diagnosed with depression increases by 20% every year (TeenHelp).
·Depressive disorders have affected approximately 11.2 percent of 13 to 18 year olds in the United States at some point during their lives (TeenHelp).
·Nationally, youth suicide rates tripled in the second half of the 20th century (TeenHelp).
·Number of suicide attempts peak at ages 15-19 (TeenHelp).
·27% of all students felt sad or hopeless for 2 weeks or more; 20% will experience a major depressive episode before graduating from HS (Teen Help).
·Depressive disorders have affected approximately 11.2 percent of 13 to 18 year olds in the United States at some point during their lives (TeenHelp).
·Nationally, youth suicide rates tripled in the second half of the 20th century (TeenHelp).
·Number of suicide attempts peak at ages 15-19 (TeenHelp).
·27% of all students felt sad or hopeless for 2 weeks or more; 20% will experience a major depressive episode before graduating from HS (Teen Help).
Data for picture courtesy of TeenHelp and BBC news.
History Behind School Size
·The proportion of pupils being taught in classes of fewer than 18 has fallen to 13%. (School class sizes on increase in P1-30)
·The average class size in early-years primary is now 23.2, compared with 22.7 in 2012 (School class sizes on increase in P1-3)
·The average class size in early-years primary is now 23.2, compared with 22.7 in 2012 (School class sizes on increase in P1-3)
Causes
The larger student to staff ratio causes the teacher to be less likely to concentrate on one individual student. Also, counselors have a lot more kids to keep track of and are less likely to remember specific details about every student and give them a sense of belonging (Young).
Every student isn’t as noticed. Kids can sit by themselves at lunch at their lockers and get left out in class without anyone else noticing (Lehman).
With more students, bullying is harder to notice and harder to stop. It’s not just physical bullying in school, there also is a vast amount of cyber bullying (Cyber Bullying Statistics), but there are too many students for anyone to notice it every time.
Harder for students to get involved in sports and clubs when someone has to audition or tryout to a part of the activity. Many kids will have played a sport their whole lives, but when someone is competing for one of 12 spots on a sports team and there are at least 40 other people trying out, the amount of kids being denied a spot is larger than the amount being given one (De Lench). Same with academic programs like National Honor Society; it is far harder to become a member when competing against more students.
Alcohol and drugs are easily found and distributed (Health and Parenting). People who are drunk or high at a sporting event are less likely to be noticed by administration when there are more kids around. There is a large amount of students who sell drugs easily without any problems. Kids can come to school high without a single administrator noticing.
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Short Term Effects
When students don’t get this one on one relationship, they don’t necessarily feel a sense of belonging and they don’t feel “special” (Young).
Kids have fewer friends because no one is reaching out to them. No one makes an effort to include the kid being left out because they simply don’t notice them. Many people would do something, but large schools make it hard to see that one person sitting alone in a crowd of 300 (Lehman).
Bullying will increase once the bully realizes that he or she can get away with it (Hartnig).
A kid might feel a sense of failure after not making a team (De Lench). This feeling of not being good enough can cause depression.
Kids drink every weekend, and make dumb decisions. Some end up getting scholarships taken away while others get put in jail for a night (Foster). Also, kids who party every weekend and drink on weeknights are less likely to do their homework and pay attention in class.
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Long Term Effects
“In the early grades, students are just beginning to learn about the rules of the classroom, and they are figuring out if they can cope with the expectations of education. If they have more opportunity to interact with their teacher, they are more apt to feel like they can cope.” (GreatSchools Staff) When students don’t feel like they can go to an adult when in crisis, then they just simply won’t. Kids need to feel as if they have an adult in their lives whom they can trust.
These are the type of people that are likely to suffer from depression or have worse cases of it. They have no one to go to in times of crisis and sometimes they are too shy to reach out for help (McDonald).
Bullying often causes the victim to lose self-esteem, and can sometimes result in the victim committing suicide as they believe it is the only way to get away from the bully (Cyber Bullying Statistics).
They might now have to give up an activity that they have worked at their whole lives. This denial may upset the person so much that they no longer have the courage to try out for other things in life (De Lench). After being rejected from so many things, people sometimes lose faith in themselves.
Ultimately, alcohol and drug abuse cause depression(Substance Abuse and Mental Health). When someone who is an alcoholic becomes depressed, they then become more dependent on this drug or alcohol. Sometimes this may result in an overdose which can cause death.
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