Create your own web pages in minutes...
SpeakFree Series
Copyright 2009 SigProductions. All Rights Reserved.
The Depression Discussion Part 2
June 2005
Parents should guide and mentor
It sickens me to see that such a bright young man would be subjecting himself to living in a home where the people who should guide and mentor him aren’t even making an effort to support him with his life decisions.
-Flora. Vancouver, British Columbia
He’s a kid, not an animal
I think this is another one of those cases where the parents aren’t being responsible and don’t know the tough reality that is raising a child as an individual and not a duplicate of the hatred-filled monster that some adults have become. This is a child who is in the developmental stages of his life and needs to be nurtured as such. He’s not an animal that you train him to do what you want.
Whether or not my son will become a doctor like I ultimately want for him, I will accept him with no matter what decisions he makes (within reason, of course). But I haven’t seen anything in this story to suggest that Josh is being a bad kid. He just seems like he is wanting approval from the people who matter most, like he said in the story.
-Francis. Denver, Colorado
Get out of unhealthy home
It’s a tough situation that he is 17 and feels like he has no where to go. But legally his parents have to take care of him and that’s the tough aspect of this story. There is the possibility that Josh could divorce his parents but I’m not sure how his emotionally unstable mom would handle that. At the same time it makes me wonder if she actually does care or if she’s just bursting into tears for attention. It could just be that when her son is getting attention for his work that he does she is jealous because she isn’t in the spotlight. Maybe she was ignored and put down as a child. That would make sense to me.
-Claudette. Gander, Newfoundland
What about mom’s story?
This seems a bit unfair that we are only hearing all the bad things about Josh’s mom. Didn’t he have any nice things to say about his mom? Maybe the negativity is all on him and he’s overreacting to what’s going on. Maybe because of the way he thinks that he is blowing things out of proportion to make the situation seem worse than it is.
-Tim. Calgary, Alberta
Talk to parents of bullied kids
Hey JB. I think this is the perfect opportunity to give the kid a gun so he can blow himself away just like the other families in your bullying series in the spring. That may sound like a ridiculous suggestion but I’m sure Josh’s parents would be just as ‘unsuspecting’ as those in the other stories you had on the website. What’s my point? Talk to the kid and be supportive, especially when you know that the child has been to a doctor and is on medication for depression.
-Russell. Medicine Hat, Alberta
Do what you want, Josh
Josh seems like he is a very smart kid and doesn’t think like a kid. That’s the most important part of the story. He is not getting down on things anymore and he has changed the way he looks at life. That is the key to overcoming what is bothering you to begin with. I didn’t finish college and I still have become successful and if you have a dream of being a poet or whatever your chosen field is, go for it and make yourself happy. Don’t worry about what your parents think.
-Angie. Victoria, British Columbia
Prove mom wrong
Keep moving, Josh. Don’t stop doing what you do because one or two people may not approve. This is the perfect opportunity to prove your mom wrong that you will be successful at what you do. And you can take pride in knowing that you did it on your own and you are a very independent person. Maybe when you do something huge and big in your life she will know she’s the one who is immature and wrong.
-Suzanne. United States
SpeakFree-for-all
Responses to Josh's Story in Part One
PART TWO INCLUDES
Josh tells his story about being depressed at home, how it escalated, how he overcame the obstacles and what has happened since.
FEATURED STORY THIS WEEK:
“Recovery is possible. Know you are not alone”
This letter was sent to SpeakFree and we contacted the writer for her complete story.
I just want to say thanks because I think we need to get more teens and young adults involved with issues in the world. I have my own story of going from being an angry, depressed teen who had flunked out of her freshman year almost twice because she was to worried about smoking pot and a controlling boyfriend. (I never should have went through some of what I did.) to being a very happy young lady who ended up graduating with her high school class and is now going to be a sophomore in college studying Psychology and going with her local domestic violence shelter and talking to teens about teen dating violence. There are good kids out there, I was a good kid but once I started slipping down that dark path it was like no one even wanted to give me a chance at proving myself again. So yeah I just think it’s neat, this website that you have.
-Whitney
If it takes getting away from your parents to be happy. Maybe that’s the best step. Only then will (the parents) realize what they have lost.
-Yvonne. Brandon, Manitoba
Maybe mom was controlled
To me it sounds like this is learned behaviour that mom probably picked up when she was growing up with her parents. I can’t imagine that anyone would try to purposely set their kids up for failure but it seems like that’s how she looks at everything.
-Marg. Eureka, California
