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June 01, 2005
WINNER — 2005 ESSAY CONTEST: "When Not to Keep A Secret."
The Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry and the MedChi Foundation have announced the winner of their 2005 "When Not to Keep a Secret" essay contest. Prince John Wulu, III, a fourteen year-old in the 9th grade at Charles Herbert Flowers High School in Prince Georges County, penned the winning entry. He was recognized at the Maryland Psychiatric Society annual dinner on April 21, and will receive a $100 savings bond.
The contest, initiated and coordinated by the APA Alliance, targets the following areas:
- Stigma: demystifying mental illness, its treatment and prevention.
- Youth violence prevention: creating a primary prevention strategy.
- Mental health literacy: increasing the ability to read, understand and act on health care information.
"When Not to Keep a Secret" challenges an adolescent’s sense of immortality and gives permission to break a confidence, when the confidence is life threatening. In order to write on the topic, students have to confront harsh truths and explore a higher level of ethical behavior.
Wulu’s winning essay is presented below.
WHEN NOT TO KEEP A SECRET
by Prince John Wulu, III 9th Grade
Mrs. Bradford’s English 9 honors class
Charles Herbert Flowers High School
Prince Georges County, Maryland
Nearly 5,000 teenagers commit suicide each year. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among those aged 15-24. The ratio of male to female suicides is four to one; however, young women attempt suicide four more times frequently. White males have the highest increase in suicide. Reports of suicide clusters, in which one suicide triggers several others within a school or community, have increased. Many suicides could be avoided if people looked closer to try and help the depressed person. Signs that should be looked for in a person likely to commit suicide are, giving away prized possessions, feelings of hopelessness or rejection, low self-esteem, slipping in school performance, withdraws from regular activities with family or Friends Hospital, slipping in school performance, talk of suicide, death, or earlier attempts at suicide Abuse of alcohol or drugs. People that need help should get help from the following places, Mental Health Association, Family physician, Community Mental Health Centers, Family Service Agency, General Hospitals, Self-help Groups, Psychiatric Care Facilities, and Schools and Social Agencies.
I once was in a situation where many people’s lives were at steak because of them teasing or making fun of a person with a low self-esteem. It was where I used to live, in Detroit, Michigan. At the middle school I went to in sixth grade, there was a boy that everyone used to tease because he was obese. No one took him seriously. But one day while we were in math class, he made a threat to all of the students who had teased him; He said that next week they would all fell pain. He said that while he was sitting with a small group of his friends behind me. I over herd it and when I got home I told my mother. I didn’t think that it was that serious but my mother did, so she went to the school that following Monday, and told the principle. The principle called the police. When they got to the school, they had bomb sniffing dogs and about six police officers at the school. The police officers searched the boy’s locker, and found a list of fourteen students on it, and their addresses. The police also found a 9 millimeter Baretta with two full clips of ammo in his book bag. The last time I saw the boy, he was being taken away in a police care somewhere. Because I told my mother about the incident, I may have saved mine, and probably 15 or more lives.
Some people are in the same situation that I was in now. They want to keep their friends secret confidential, but they know that lives could be loss if they do. If you are ever in a situation like that, you should take it seriously, and try and get them help immediately.
Posted by admin at June 1, 2005 11:16 AM