By: Eunice Rios
Everybody that goes to school, work, or is at home has a tough day all the time. People think that teenagers have their lives simple and easy because they still depend on their parents and are barely starting on their life. What people don’t know is that many teens have gone through at least one traumatic period in their life and not everyone has their parent’s support.
According to Newport Academy, statistics show that girls have experienced more trauma than boys. It depends on the environment/area, but most teens go through PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).
Jason Magaña, a student at Yerba Buena High School, has had bad past experiences with friends and family. “When I was in 6th grade, I was the target and everyone bullied me. This kid and his friends would always pick on me. One time, he did something very brutal and left me scarred.”
He didn’t have anyone for support and he didn’t have anyone to rely on. Jason said, “The only way to get distracted from what happened is to play sports, writing in this journal I had, and music. I felt like I could take my anger out, I feel like I have company, and I always prefered to write my feelings in a journal than to say it to people. A lot of privacy and no one can see.”
Not a lot of people say what goes on in their lives because they are judged by others. If your family doesn't have your back, then how can you stand? There are people you think are going to help you out through struggles but in life, sometimes it’s hard to rely or trust someone.
“I could never tell my friends or family. There’s been times where I’ve told them things but they would make me feel guilty, blame me, make excuses to not help me, and they would make the problem worse,” Jason said.
As time passed and as he got older, he went to high school and met friends and new people. He had a feeling of relief because he knew it would be a new beginning where he can start over and start fresh.
Jason said that he has many friends but there’s only one person who trusts: “ You are the only person I trust because you actually listen to me and you always check up on me. I trust you so much because I can trust you with my life. I’m thankful to have met you.”
According to Gale News Source, teens are most likely to have 1 or more symptoms (behavioral changes, sleep problems, learning problems, flashbacks, self-blame, depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts). “I had all those symptoms! I felt trapped. I was alone and I was at my lowest in that moment,” he said.
Jason said when you’re going through symptoms like that, it takes time to heal but you also need to do your part: “I took care of myself. It took me a month to motivate myself and a year to feel better. I felt like I was never going to overcome those symptoms because I was at my weakest point.”
It’s normal for teens to go through something difficult in their lives, but it’s also hard to talk to someone about it. “I was afraid to talk because the times I’ve tried, I got brought down. I felt like people were going to judge me.”
It’s important to know that you shouldn’t blame yourself for something you didn’t do.
Trauma is a bad experience you had or you’re going through that has impacted your life.
Trauma is something serious, but it changes people for better or worse. He said, “When the time passed, I changed my attitude towards people, I had trust issues, I would fight a lot, and I’d be angry all the time.I would blame myself for what happened because it’s my fault. I was overweight and never took care of my body.”
Jason has changed a lot throughout the years, but what happened to him made him stronger. “To everyone who as experienced trauma or is going through trauma, don't bring yourself down. Find good people to help you out. You’re not alone.”
Around 30 years ago, a woman named Hilaria was being tormented by her mom and stepdad. “I was 3 years old when my mom remarried, a little more than two years after my dad was murdered. I don’t remember how it started. I was being tormented for 15 years,” she said.
“I don’t blame myself for what happened. I used to blame my dad because i felt as if he had left me and didn’t even love me. The only way to distract myself was to work. It didn’t give me time to think about anything else.”
Hilaria, a mom of 3, is a strong woman. Most people would go through depression and suicidal thoughts, but she didn’t. “I’ve never thought that way because that’s just how life is. I can’t change that, so I decided to continue on with my life.”
She explains that Mexico is different than the U.S. “I couldn’t tell anyone about it because everyone already knew. In Mexico, if someone sees something or hears something, the word spreads fast. You can’t hide anything. Since everyone knew what was going on, no one decided to help me. Not even my own family and friends.”
“One time I was climbing up a tree to get mangoes and then my mom and step dad threw rocks at me so I could fall. I fell and my step dad grabbed me by my throat and pushed me up against the tree. Right then, he broke my nose. Two men saw and helped me by holding back my step dad. My step sister helped me by taking me out of the city and shared her stuff with me. I was 18.”
“It affected me a lot because it made me become aggressive with everyone, I had an attitude, and I got into a lot of fights. No one could look at me in the eye because then I would’ve wanted to fight.”
“I don’t know how it started because I don’t remember, but what I do know is that my mom and my step dad hated me because I wasn’t his daughter. Now that 30 years have passed, I changed the bad side of me and converted myself a Jehovah witness. I went to church and knowing about God helped me forgive them for what they did.”
“To those people who are going through something similar like I did, my advice for you is to not keep it to yourself. You shouldn’t be afraid to speak up. Now there are more resources to seek help.”
Jennifer Pastran, a social worker at Yerba Buena High School, has experience with helping people and teens that have suffered trauma. “ Around 50%-75% of students here in Yerba Buena have suffered trauma. In other school’s I’ve worked in, it would be around almost 100%. It depends on the area or the environment the student lives in.”
Some students have a hard time speaking up and talking about their problems to someone. Sometimes it’s hard to give them advice if they don’t seek help. “You can’t force them to speak up if they’re not comfortable. The person has to be ready to talk about it. Everyone has their own process. Sometimes they’ll never be ready”
“I don’t think you could ever know if a student is going through something. I think you may have suspicions. If you want to help someone out, be on the lookout for signs or red flags. They can act differently, give up easily, have substance abuse, or they say they don’t want to go home.”
“If a parent and their child have a good connection, they should let the kid talk feelings and not judge them. The parents should say things like, “I’m here for you” and not make the kid feel guilty. The school should offer services in and outside of school. Therapy and family counseling are good as well.”
“Depending on how bad the situation is, it’s my job to call CPS (child protective services). Therapists call and do a report to keep them safe. As a child you can’t keep yourself safe. CPS comes to educate the parents. They scare the parents to wake them up because the parents don’t want to go to jail. Sometimes someone outside has to help break the cycle.”
“To get distracted from it, students should stay connected with safe family members, staying social, being around positive people, listening to music, reading, and doing outside activities.”
“If they can’t leave the house, they should just try to avoid the family and focus on their future because all this is temporary. It’s going to go away.”
“Preventing them from hurting themselves is hard because you could only know if they talk about what goes on. You shouldn’t be afraid to ask “ Are you thinking about hurting yourself?” Ask it right away because if you don’t ask, how would you know? If you’re afraid or concerned about a friend, talk to a staff member.”
“For students who are going through behavioral changes, as a school we have 5 or 4 plans (also known as ISTs) ways to get accommodations or give extension. If you have flashbacks because of trauma and it occurs often, it will be in the plan “student will need to take frequent 5 minute breaks when feeling escalated.” It helps the school support and acknowledged by knowing.”
As a person who has gone through trauma, my advice for others is to tell someone about it (someone you trust or a social worker). Never keep things in because then you’re most likely going to hurt yourself. Before hurting yourself, always remember that there are people who care about you. If you leave this earth, you’re going to negatively impact the people around you, although you might not realize it you are very important to the people you are surrounded by.
Everybody that goes to school, work, or is at home has a tough day all the time. People think that teenagers have their lives simple and easy because they still depend on their parents and are barely starting on their life. What people don’t know is that many teens have gone through at least one traumatic period in their life and not everyone has their parent’s support.
According to Newport Academy, statistics show that girls have experienced more trauma than boys. It depends on the environment/area, but most teens go through PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).
Jason Magaña, a student at Yerba Buena High School, has had bad past experiences with friends and family. “When I was in 6th grade, I was the target and everyone bullied me. This kid and his friends would always pick on me. One time, he did something very brutal and left me scarred.”
He didn’t have anyone for support and he didn’t have anyone to rely on. Jason said, “The only way to get distracted from what happened is to play sports, writing in this journal I had, and music. I felt like I could take my anger out, I feel like I have company, and I always prefered to write my feelings in a journal than to say it to people. A lot of privacy and no one can see.”
Not a lot of people say what goes on in their lives because they are judged by others. If your family doesn't have your back, then how can you stand? There are people you think are going to help you out through struggles but in life, sometimes it’s hard to rely or trust someone.
“I could never tell my friends or family. There’s been times where I’ve told them things but they would make me feel guilty, blame me, make excuses to not help me, and they would make the problem worse,” Jason said.
As time passed and as he got older, he went to high school and met friends and new people. He had a feeling of relief because he knew it would be a new beginning where he can start over and start fresh.
Jason said that he has many friends but there’s only one person who trusts: “ You are the only person I trust because you actually listen to me and you always check up on me. I trust you so much because I can trust you with my life. I’m thankful to have met you.”
According to Gale News Source, teens are most likely to have 1 or more symptoms (behavioral changes, sleep problems, learning problems, flashbacks, self-blame, depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts). “I had all those symptoms! I felt trapped. I was alone and I was at my lowest in that moment,” he said.
Jason said when you’re going through symptoms like that, it takes time to heal but you also need to do your part: “I took care of myself. It took me a month to motivate myself and a year to feel better. I felt like I was never going to overcome those symptoms because I was at my weakest point.”
It’s normal for teens to go through something difficult in their lives, but it’s also hard to talk to someone about it. “I was afraid to talk because the times I’ve tried, I got brought down. I felt like people were going to judge me.”
It’s important to know that you shouldn’t blame yourself for something you didn’t do.
Trauma is a bad experience you had or you’re going through that has impacted your life.
Trauma is something serious, but it changes people for better or worse. He said, “When the time passed, I changed my attitude towards people, I had trust issues, I would fight a lot, and I’d be angry all the time.I would blame myself for what happened because it’s my fault. I was overweight and never took care of my body.”
Jason has changed a lot throughout the years, but what happened to him made him stronger. “To everyone who as experienced trauma or is going through trauma, don't bring yourself down. Find good people to help you out. You’re not alone.”
Around 30 years ago, a woman named Hilaria was being tormented by her mom and stepdad. “I was 3 years old when my mom remarried, a little more than two years after my dad was murdered. I don’t remember how it started. I was being tormented for 15 years,” she said.
“I don’t blame myself for what happened. I used to blame my dad because i felt as if he had left me and didn’t even love me. The only way to distract myself was to work. It didn’t give me time to think about anything else.”
Hilaria, a mom of 3, is a strong woman. Most people would go through depression and suicidal thoughts, but she didn’t. “I’ve never thought that way because that’s just how life is. I can’t change that, so I decided to continue on with my life.”
She explains that Mexico is different than the U.S. “I couldn’t tell anyone about it because everyone already knew. In Mexico, if someone sees something or hears something, the word spreads fast. You can’t hide anything. Since everyone knew what was going on, no one decided to help me. Not even my own family and friends.”
“One time I was climbing up a tree to get mangoes and then my mom and step dad threw rocks at me so I could fall. I fell and my step dad grabbed me by my throat and pushed me up against the tree. Right then, he broke my nose. Two men saw and helped me by holding back my step dad. My step sister helped me by taking me out of the city and shared her stuff with me. I was 18.”
“It affected me a lot because it made me become aggressive with everyone, I had an attitude, and I got into a lot of fights. No one could look at me in the eye because then I would’ve wanted to fight.”
“I don’t know how it started because I don’t remember, but what I do know is that my mom and my step dad hated me because I wasn’t his daughter. Now that 30 years have passed, I changed the bad side of me and converted myself a Jehovah witness. I went to church and knowing about God helped me forgive them for what they did.”
“To those people who are going through something similar like I did, my advice for you is to not keep it to yourself. You shouldn’t be afraid to speak up. Now there are more resources to seek help.”
Jennifer Pastran, a social worker at Yerba Buena High School, has experience with helping people and teens that have suffered trauma. “ Around 50%-75% of students here in Yerba Buena have suffered trauma. In other school’s I’ve worked in, it would be around almost 100%. It depends on the area or the environment the student lives in.”
Some students have a hard time speaking up and talking about their problems to someone. Sometimes it’s hard to give them advice if they don’t seek help. “You can’t force them to speak up if they’re not comfortable. The person has to be ready to talk about it. Everyone has their own process. Sometimes they’ll never be ready”
“I don’t think you could ever know if a student is going through something. I think you may have suspicions. If you want to help someone out, be on the lookout for signs or red flags. They can act differently, give up easily, have substance abuse, or they say they don’t want to go home.”
“If a parent and their child have a good connection, they should let the kid talk feelings and not judge them. The parents should say things like, “I’m here for you” and not make the kid feel guilty. The school should offer services in and outside of school. Therapy and family counseling are good as well.”
“Depending on how bad the situation is, it’s my job to call CPS (child protective services). Therapists call and do a report to keep them safe. As a child you can’t keep yourself safe. CPS comes to educate the parents. They scare the parents to wake them up because the parents don’t want to go to jail. Sometimes someone outside has to help break the cycle.”
“To get distracted from it, students should stay connected with safe family members, staying social, being around positive people, listening to music, reading, and doing outside activities.”
“If they can’t leave the house, they should just try to avoid the family and focus on their future because all this is temporary. It’s going to go away.”
“Preventing them from hurting themselves is hard because you could only know if they talk about what goes on. You shouldn’t be afraid to ask “ Are you thinking about hurting yourself?” Ask it right away because if you don’t ask, how would you know? If you’re afraid or concerned about a friend, talk to a staff member.”
“For students who are going through behavioral changes, as a school we have 5 or 4 plans (also known as ISTs) ways to get accommodations or give extension. If you have flashbacks because of trauma and it occurs often, it will be in the plan “student will need to take frequent 5 minute breaks when feeling escalated.” It helps the school support and acknowledged by knowing.”
As a person who has gone through trauma, my advice for others is to tell someone about it (someone you trust or a social worker). Never keep things in because then you’re most likely going to hurt yourself. Before hurting yourself, always remember that there are people who care about you. If you leave this earth, you’re going to negatively impact the people around you, although you might not realize it you are very important to the people you are surrounded by.