You’re appreciated. Two simple words that can totally turn someone’s day around.

Kids nowadays, even in Sartell, are not being told this enough, which is sad because a lack of love leads to self-hatred and awful habits. One of the most common causes of self-injury is low self-esteem, and over 40% of young people personally know someone who has done it.

Many students, although academically and physically gifted, are pushed to extreme levels of negative self-image. Keep in mind that these kids are most likely getting A’s in their classes and going to college on full ride sports scholarships.  Many think that this particular population of students shouldn’t feel bad about themselves because they are doing well.  Research from YoungMinds.org, a website charity dedicated to improving the well-being and mental health status of teenagers everywhere, states that 1 out of 10 high school students are likely to fall into depression and anxiety at any given time. In Sartell, that’s about 25 per grade. You do the math.

Other students, those not extremely gifted, are also falling into the depression and anxiety cycle because they feel they do not measure up to the previously mentioned academically awesome or popular kids. 75 percent of high school students are afraid of getting bad grades or performing poorly on academics. No wonder they fall into this cycle.  They are not told that they are good enough, often enough. Even if their grades aren’t as high as the previously mentioned students, they’re still wonderful people. These people are just as awesome and will do just as well as the aforementioned population, they just don’t feel like they are thanks to society. Not being reinforced for being awesome increases the number of teens with self-hatred tendencies.

According to DoSomething.Org, another website charity dedicated to mental health, low self-esteem is a thinking disorder in which an individual views him/herself as inadequate, unlovable, and/or incompetent. Once formed, this negative view permeates every thought, producing faulty assumptions and ongoing self-defeating behavior. See? It’s not just something that is easily overcome; it’s something that consumes one’s mind. Also taken from DoSomething.org, 7 in 10 girls believe that they are not good enough or don’t measure up in some way, including their looks, performance in school and relationships with friends and family members. Girls aren’t the only ones either.  Large scale surveys concluded that male body image concerns have dramatically increased over the past three decades from 15% to 43% of men being dissatisfied with their bodies. Here’s another fact: Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the U.S. (more common than homicide) and the third leading cause of death for ages 15 to 24 years.

No kid is a lost cause. No one should have to feel bad about themselves because they aren’t being loved by themselves and others.

Hey you reader:

You’re freaking wonderful, and you’re appreciated, and no one in the world can replace you.