Teenage

Depression

Teenage Depression among Inner City Kids

A web quest for 10^th grade English

Created by Ms. K. Smith

Christopher Columbus High School

Introduction:

Literature often portrays “real life” situations and experiences. In J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye, he highlights teenage depression as one of the major themes in the novel. As the reader we see Holden Caulfield, a teenage boy going through a string of problems which ultimately lead to a serious case of depression. Depression among teenagers in the United States, and specifically here in the Bronx, is a serious social problem. You are a group of reporters covering a Reality Show called “I’m a teenager and I feel like the whole world is on my shoulders.” You will investigate the causes of depression among teenagers in the inner city (Bronx). What can our society do to help them? It will be your job to create policies that will correct this social problem. You will then present your findings to the class. Your job is extremely important. Your findings may save the life of a young person or even someone you know........Good Luck!

Task:

Your group will study the problems of depression, feeling of sadness and helplessness found in today’s teens. Using the 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.

Your group will:

· Complete the Public Policy Analyst Worksheets (to be explained in Process)

· Create a campaign to prevent teenage depression in the Bronx. You can create this campaign by creating a poster or designing a pamphlet. Your campaign must include:

ü A title

ü Your research (you must show evidence of your research)

ü A new policy that you group has created to help and prevent teenage depression in the Bronx

ü A 5 minute presentation of your group’s findings and poster or pamphlet based on your PPA Worksheets

Process:

Step 1: You will form groups of 3-4 to complete this Web quest together.

Step 2: Each group will research teenage depression in the inner-city (Bronx), particularly a community you are familiar with. This may include information about why teens may feel depressed, ages and sex of teens, type of depression he or she is experiencing, statistics, etc. Make sure you include your research about these topics. Research will be done on the internet, using the suggested sites and search engines listed.

Step 3: Each group will complete the following

Public Policy Analyst worksheets in order to help you with your projects:

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 teenage depression in the Bronx?

Worksheet #5

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

Worksheet #6

Your group will use these worksheets as resource for completing the task assignments.

Step 4: You will use your research to create a poster or pamphlet to address the problems of teenage depression among youths in the Bronx.

Step 5: Each group will prepare a five minute oral presentation describing the new public policies (step # 5 in the PPA) accompanied by a poster or pamphlet. In your presentation, which includes the poster or pamphlet, your group should outline the problem, present data to support the evidence of the problem, and detail your effective policy.

1) http://www.psychologyinfo.com/depression/teens.htm

2) http://www.focusas.com/Depression.html

3) http://www.peaceandhealing.com/depression/teen_causes.asp

4) http://www.helpguide.org/mental/depression_teen.htm

5) http://www.about-teen-depression.com/

6) http://www.about-teen-depression.com/depression-statistics.html

You should also use the following search engines to further research the topic of teenage depression in the inner city. (Bronx)

1) www.google.com

2) www.yahoo.com

3) www.askjeeves.com

4) www.altavista.com

Avoid Plagiarism Put research into own words or use quotations.

Please make sure to cite ALL websites if you use them for your research!

You will be evaluated on all worksheets, your poster, and your presentation according to the following rubrics…

Worksheets

Grade A: All questions answered thoughtfully and completely

Grade B: All questions are answered thoughtfully however some are not complete

Grade C: The questions are not thoughtfully answered or the information is copied word for word with no student input

Grade D: The answers are not done or incomplete

Oral Presentation Rubric

A B C D

- Everyone in group presents - Excellent eye contact - clear and loud speech - Creative use of visual aides

- Everyone in group presents - Most people maintain decent eye contact - volume and clarity of speech is sufficient - Visual aides used appropriately

- 1or 2 people in group present - Eye contact half of the time - Can understand most of time - some use of visual aid, may be inappropriate

- Only one person in group presents -Little eye contact - Difficult to understand and hear - No or minimal use of visual aid

Poster or Pamphlet Rubric

A B C-D

Collaboration	There is strong evidence that all group members participated equally for the assignment	There is some evidence that all group members participated equally for the assignment	There is little or no evidence that all group members participated equally for the assignment
Visual Piece	Poster/ Pamphlet is appealing; images and themes represent the social issue being discussed	Poster/Pamphlet captures the social issue and themes but is not as relevant as category 3	Poster/Pamphlet does not capture the social issue or the themes of the assignment

STANDARDS:

New York City Language Arts Performance Standards

E2a: Produce a report of information

E3b: Participate in group meetings

E4a: Independently and habitually demonstrate an understanding of the rules of the English language in written and oral work.

E6a: Critique public documents with an eye to strategies common in public discourse

SOCIAL STUDIES

Standard 5:   Civics, Citizenship, and Government

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the United States and other nations; the United States Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.

Standard 3:  

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the interdependent world in which we live—local and national.

Conclusion:

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 neighborhoods. You have learned to develop a research report using websites for evidence and information to complete your task. Hopefully, you all developed some creative solutions to prevent teenage depression. 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.