Created by Ms. McCandlish

English Department

Christopher Columbus High School

Bronx, New York

Fall 2003

“I’ll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me around last Christmas just before I got pretty run-down and had to come out here and take it easy.” In the introduction of J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield begins to narrate his story to a psychoanalyst at a medical treatment center. The Catcher in the Rye is a bildungsroman, or coming of age novel, about the emotional challenges and feelings of depression that Holden experiences as he grows up in New York.

Do you have any friends or family members who are depressed? Depression among teenagers in the United States, and specifically here in the Bronx, is a serious social problem. What are the causes and effects of teenage depression? What can our society do to help them? You have been asked to serve on an advisory panel of psychologists who will be reporting to the Mayor on the problem of depression in today’s teens.

Your panel group will study the problems of depression, feeling of sadness and helplessness found in today’s teens. Using the TIPS Public Policy Analyst you will develop specific suggestions for policies that might better deal with this problem. Your report may well bring about changes that can really improve life for teens in the Bronx

In groups of three students, you will all assume the roles of distinguished school psychologists. Your group has been selected to analyze the causes and effects of depression among teenagers, while proposing new solutions for preventing depression in Bronx High Schools. Please help save our students from feelings of sadness and helplessness!

1. Each group member will be responsible for completing the public policy analyst (PPA) worksheets, hyperlinked below. Write your answers to each worksheet on your own separate sheets of paper, to be turned in to me!

2. Using quotes and statistics gathered from the websites below, each member of your team will write a five-paragraph research report that determines the causes of teen depression, analyzes current policies to treat depression, and proposes the best solutions to solve the problem of depression in Bronx High Schools. (See Rubric #1 below)

3. Your report should include a bibliography page of at least 3 of the websites you research, using proper citation format.

(Write the answers to the worksheets on your own separate paper, to be turned in for a grade with the research paper!)

1. Begin by defining the problem the social problem presented to you in the introduction.

Worksheet #1

2. Gather the evidence from the websites below about teenagers suffering from depression.

Worksheet #2

3. Identify the causes of teenage depression.

Worksheet #3

4. Evaluate the policy. What are the current solutions to deal with teenage depression?

Worksheet #4

5. Develop solutions. What new solutions can your team propose to confront the problem of depression in Bronx High Schools?

Worksheet #5

6. Select the best policy. What is the best specific policy to deal with depression in Bronx High Schools? This is a new policy that your group creates themselves!

Worksheet #6

7. Using the worksheets and your website research, write your five-paragraph research paper on teenage depression. See outline below.

I. Introduction

II. Body #1: Explain the causes of teenage depression.

III. Body #2: Analyze the current policies to treat teenage depression.

IV. Body #3: Propose the best solutions to solve the problem of teenage depression in Bronx High Schools.

I. Conclusion

(Use quotes and statistics from at least three websites to write your five-paragraph essay. Be sure to include those sources in your bibliography page!)

AVOID PLAGIARISM! Put research into own words or use quotations.

Consult the TIPS website for further information about the Public Policy Analyst steps: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/intro.html

Websites to Research:

“Adolescent Depression: Helping Depressed Teens” http://www.nmha.org/infoctr/factsheets/24.cfm

“Alternative Solutions to Depression” http://www.webheights.net/depression/home.htm

“Campus Solutions to Depression” http://orion.csuchico.edu/Pages/Vol45issue2/dimensions/d.3.depression.html

“Causes of Depression” http://www.pfizerforwomen.com/hc_mhealth_b03.asp?mhealth

“Depression and Children” http://www.nmha.org/children/children_mh_matters/depression.cfm

“Depression: Learn about the Condition” http://www.pfizerforwomen.com/hc_mhealth_b03.asp?mhealth

“Depression Reality: Information and Support” http://www.bestsitez.com/depression/

“Depression Solutions: The Uplift Program” http://www.upliftprogram.com/

“Facts about Teenage Depression” http://www.depressedteens.com/facts.html

“Focus Adolescent Services” http://www.focusas.com/NewYork.html

“High School SOS” http://www.mentalhealthscreening.org/sos_highschool/index.htm

“Montefiore School Health Centers” http://montekids.org/programs/school/

“More Teens Struggling with Depression” http://www.hon.ch/News/HSN/510926.html

“Promoting Children’s Mental Health” http://www.nmha.org/children/children_mh_matters/promoting.cfm

“Teenage Depression” http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/classic/A270109

“Teenage Depression: What Parents Can Do”

http://xpedio02.childrenshc.org/stellent/groups/public/@xcp/@web/@mentalhealth/documents/policyreferenceprocedure/web010841.asp

“What is Depression?” http://www.kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/mental_health/depression.html

“What is Major Depression?” http://montekids.org/healthlibrary/peds/mentalhealth/major.htm

1. Five-Paragraph Research Paper

Quality	A (5)	B (4)	C (3)	D (2)	F (1)
Meaning & Development	-Excellent use of facts, quotes, and statistics from websites. -Fully developed, 5-paragraph research paper that follows task.	-Very good demonstration of quotes and statistics from the web. -Well-developed 5-paragraph paper that follows task.	-Average use of quotes and statistics from websites. -Average development of 5-paragraph paper.	-Poor or incorrect use of quotes and statistics from websites. -Poor development of paper; has less than 5 paragraphs.	-No use of quotes and statistics or plagiarized from websites. -No development -Paper has only 3 paragraphs or less.
Organization	-Excellent focus. -Paragraph organization perfectly follows task.	-Very strong focus. -Paragraph organization appropriately follows task.	-Average focus. -Average organization of paragraphs -Some awareness of task.	-Lacks focus. -Paragraphs lack organization and awareness of task.	-No focus. -No organization. -No awareness of task.
Language & Conventions	-Excellent vocabulary. -Varies sentence structure and length. -Perfect grammar, spelling, and paragraphs.	-Strong vocabulary. -Good variety of sentences. -Very good grammar, spelling, and paragraphs.	-Average vocabulary. -Average variety of sentences. -Average grammar, spelling, and paragraphs.	-Poor vocabulary. -Poor variety of sentences. -Poor use of grammar, spelling, and paragraphs.	-No attention to vocabulary usage. -No variety in sentence structure. -Incorrect grammar, spelling, and paragraphs.
Format	6-step Public Policy Analyst (PPA) format followed perfectly.	PPA format mostly followed.	PPA format followed Inconsistently.	Little or confused understanding of PPA format.	No use of PPA format.

GRADE KEY:

A= 18-20 B =15-17 C=12-14 D=8-11 F=4-7

Reading

a	Read twenty-five books of the quality and complexity illustrated in the sample reading list.
c	Read and comprehend informational materials.

Writing

a	Produce a report of information.
e	Produce a persuasive essay.

Speaking, Listening, and Viewing

a	Participate in one-to-one conferences with the teacher.
b	Participate in group meetings.
c	Prepare and deliver an individual presentation.

Conventions, Grammar, and Usage of the English Language

a	Independently and habitually demonstrate an understanding of the rules of the English language in written and oral work.
b	Analyze and subsequently revise work to improve its clarity and effectiveness.

Public Documents

a	Critique public documents with an eye to strategies common in public discourse.
b	Produce public documents.

Functional Documents

a	Critique functional documents with an eye to strategies common to effective functional documents.
b	Produce functional documents appropriate to audience and purpose.

Information Tools and Techniques

a	Gather information to assist in completing project work.
b	Use on-line sources to exchange information for specific purposes.
c	Use word-processing software to produce a multi-page document.
d	Write, add content to, and analyze a relational data base.

Tools and Techniques for Working With Others

a	Participate in the establishment and operation of self-directed work teams.

Putting Mathematics to Work

a	Data study.

Congratulations! Upon your successful completion of this web quest, you have researched and analyzed the social problem of teenage depression using the TIPS Public Policy Analyst guidelines. Through this web quest, you analyzed the causes and effects of depression on teenagers. Your group reviewed current public policy solutions to teenage depression, while creating your own new solutions for preventing depression in our own Bronx High Schools. You have learned to develop a five-paragraph research report using websites for evidence and information to complete your task.

Hopefully, you all developed some creative solutions to prevent depression in Bronx High Schools. Perhaps your solutions would also help save Holden Caulfield from depression, just like he wants to save all the children as the catcher in the rye.