Documentary: The Silent Epidemic

Mural.ly for Self-Harm Awareness

News Letter: self-harm

Horry County Schools

2050 Hwy. 501 E.

P.O. Box 261966

Conway, SC 29528-6066

September 19, 2013

The Sun News,

Letter to the Editor,

P.O. Box 406

Myrtle Beach, SC 29578

Dear Editor and Chief:

My name is Shona Swartz and I am a sophomore at Early College High School in Conway, South Carolina.

Self-harm is beginning to be widely known on social networks, but not much is being done within schools and students that are self-mutilating or with families. Several schools don’t have much concern for this silent epidemic. School employees must take action to spread awareness about self-harm. A variety of researchers have concluded that an estimate of two million people in the U.S. self-injure in some sort of way, and the amount keeps rising. That is why we need to start a plan to decrease these numbers and treat those who self-harm.

I hope that you’ll use this opportunity to aware the community that self-inflicted injuries are skyrocketing and people should make a move to save teenagers from the catastrophes that they may encounter if they self-mutilate.

Thank you so much for your time. I appreciate your help and hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,

Shona Swartz

Multi Genre Poem: self-harm

Can It Really Be?

I always told myself it wouldn't get this bad,

but I was too scared to even tell my dad.

I tried to shove it off my shoulders,

but it kept pushing me colder.

Has it already been five years?

Why can't I stop? WHY?

I hurt myself, but not as much as my own insecurities.

I was lying to my family, friends, and strangers.

I couldn't possibly recognize the dangers.

Even those who knew of my secret I lied to.

They would ask if I have cut lately,

but my answers were all lies.

No, I would reply,

but only I would know that I have, only I.

All I need to do is place a smile on this face.

They will never suspect and they never have.

I make up excuses to hide the truth.

Hide what's underneath those sleeves and jeans,

and hide the emotions that show in between.

I've read online that it gets addicting,

but I never realized it would soon contradict me.

I try to stop for the sake of others,

but that never seems to work.

The thoughts soon start to lurk.

It was too tough of a hassle,

so I let the blade handle it for me.

The cuts were small at first,

but slowly began to burst.

The wounds wouldn't seem to heal,

and the pain was just too real.

The scars commenced to new areas of my body.

They were ferocious memories that would stay on my skin forever.

I asked myself, why even bother?

I am worthless, stupid, and a pester.

How will I ever love this? HOW?

It is a constant reminder, these scars.

They truly are.

That doesn't seem to stop me,

but it's never too late for me to flee.

By: Shona Marie

A Silent Epidemic: Schools and Self Harming Students

Shona Swartz

English II – B4

Ms. McKoy

11 September 2013

A Silent Epidemic: Schools and Self Harming Students

Mary Hillery claims, “You can't just tell someone who self-injures to stop – it is not that easy.” How could ending self harm be so difficult? Many people that have never encountered self mutilation do not understand the struggles that may happen during or after harming their bodies. I believe that students should be more aware of self harm, but others may think differently. Some have an idea that if students learn more about self mutilation, then they will want to try it out or think it will solve their problems. However, if you are to make people aware of the dangers self harm causes, then they will try to stay away from it, and adults could be able to read the signs from a child who does self harm. I want students to be aware of this silent epidemic because I know many people that have gone through self harm, and even the happiest looking people have their secrets.

Schools should create awareness about self harm. The article, “Deliberate self harm in adolescents: self report survey in schools in England”, states, “Deliberate self harm was more common in females than it was in males. In females the factors included in a multivariate logistic regression for deliberate self harm were recent self harm by friends, self harm by family members, drug misuse, depression, anxiety, impulsivity, and low self esteem” (DSHA1). Self harm impacts students in school because in many PE classes they are forced to wear short sleeves, therefore, it would reveal their personal secret to other students. That may cause bullying, resulting in more self harm. Self harming students could have difficulty keeping up their grades because of stress or pressure. The quote shows that many experiences can cause somebody to harm their own body, meaning schools should not ignore the possibilities of a child self harming. Many students have no clue of self injury policies that are in place for schools, or in fact if there are any at all. This information is important because it lets readers know why some people might start self mutilating. It also says that female self injuries are more common, but it should not be forgotten that males self harm as well.

I want to research more on self harm awareness in schools because there are several teenagers who are dealing with self injuries that want help, but are not sure how the schools can or will handle it. Should schools have assemblies to create awareness about self harm? One perspective is that schools should hold assemblies to create awareness about self harm to decrease the amount of self harming students. Others would disagree because they believe that telling young adolescents about self harm will cause them to want to test it out. This may be true in some cases, but I think if the school's employees are well trained and taught about self mutilation and the protocols on self harm, then there could be a less amount of teenagers who harm themselves.

Work Cited

“Deliberate self harm in adolescents: self report survey in schools in England.” bmj.com. 23 Nov. 2013. BMJ. Web. 29 Aug. 2013. <http://www.bmj.com/content/325/7374/1207>.

Hillery, Mary. “Self-Injury - a short guide for Schools and Teachers Including how to write a self-injury policy.” Scar-tissue. 2007. LifeSIGNS. Web. 29 Aug. 2013. <http://www.scar- tissue.net/schoolsipolicy.pdf>.