teaser

Opinion: Your teen is hurting

It’s time for change, and it’s happening right now.

  • Jenelle L. Nelson
  • Tuesday, December 28, 2021 7:29pm
  • Opinion

Editor’s note: This opinion piece includes references to suicide. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24/7. It can be reached at (800) 273-8255.

By Jenelle L. Nelson

We need to start teaching core values in high school, ninth through 12th grade. So many of us as teens dropped out of high school, started drugs and alcohol, ended up pregnant. Then, here we are 20 years later, trying to get clean and sober, while we’re dealing with all the pain and brokenness, we endured in the last 20 years. Only if then we could have done then what needs to be done right now.

We need to teach our children to love themselves. We need to teach them to truly find their true passion before graduating high school so they’re not floating around aimlessly. Our children need to learn the things us adults must learn and apply in our recovery. Teen suicide rates would drop. Bullying would no longer exist; our children will be built up with a strong heart and true sense of self to face the world.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

I have been putting together an ideal curriculum that would be efficient for our youth. It’s everything we as adults use in our recovery daily. It needs to be taught throughout the four years of high school. Starting with open arms, acceptance, and unconditional love. Our youths need to learn this. And of course, so many more life skills that are needed to face the world when it’s time for children to go off to college. As parents we can be less worried about our children using substances or taking their own life. which obviously is a major problem we are dealing with at hand, as stated in the Juneau Empire Friday Dec. 10, 2021.

We can teach and help lead them by example.

We have such a long history of pain and destruction for generations and generations. The generational curse of hurt people hurting people, we know no other way due to our DNA templates. Time has come for us to come together and break that cycle. By starting with the youth and this community

We need to start healing our youth now with compassion, so then when they head off into the world, they are no longer broken hurting and lost. It’s time for us to rise. It’s time for us to be aware our children are hurting. When all they want is to feel wanted, valued, loved and accepted. It’s time to learn to love, be open and connect with our children. They need us! And I am here ready to create this new beginning.

No longer would our children be bullied, no longer will they turn to drugs and alcohol, no longer would they be in a state of darkness with thoughts of suicide. Because WE will bring them to the light and really grow to know who God deigned them to be and learn their true soul’s passion.

These are the things that should be taught in High School:

Life balance consisting of: spirituality, family, trust, support, social, health, school/work, positive creativity, development, communication, what healthy relationships are, how to build each other up not tear down.

Unconditional love and what that is. Self-respect, moral values, connectivity, health boundaries, identifying causes of lack in self-confidence and self-esteem and the difference between the two. Stages of grief, the flow of emotions and learning it’s OK to feel our emotions and guide our youth how to cope in healthier ways than running to drugs and or alcohol. Positive affirmations and building our youths self- esteem and confidence. Education on the effects of drugs and alcohol. Learning self-care and positivity. Teach our children to not seek validation through nude pictures and those things that follow. Character building is also very important. It makes us into the person we truly are and that person our youth become.

It’s time for change, and it’s happening right now.

• Jenelle L. Nelson is a lifelong resident of Juneau. She will celebrate four years of sobriety in May 2022. She also has a son who is student at JDHS. Columns, My Turns and Letters to the Editor represent the view of the author, not the view of the Juneau Empire.

More in Opinion

Web
Have something to say?

Here’s how to add your voice to the conversation.

The Alaska State Capitol is seen in partial morning sun on May 10, 2024. (Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)
Opinion: Attacking Biden is not the answer for Alaska — leadership is

Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s transition report to the Trump administration accuses the Biden… Continue reading

Congress holds a joint session to certify the election results of 2024 on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 6, 2025. President-elect Donald J. Trump has waffled on his preferences for how his party tackles his agenda, adding to the uncertainty for Republicans. (Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times)
Opinion: The moral imperative of our time

Last week, the Washington Post, censored a political cartoon by Pulitzer Prize… Continue reading

A view from the mountainside at Eaglecrest Ski Area. (Eaglecrest Ski Area photo)
Opinion: New report demonstrates how Eaglecrest Ski Area can be self-supporting

A recently released report by the City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ)… Continue reading

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Appreciative of Win Gruening’s columns, even if not always in agreement

In his Dec. 28 column Win Gruening reflected on his ten years… Continue reading

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Letter: Social Security law restores payments Congress took from public workers

The news media has been wrongly depicting the social security fix to… Continue reading

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski addresses the Alaska State Legislature in February of 2023 at the Alaska State Capitol. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)
My Turn: Alaska delegation deserves kudos for new Social Security law

The Social Security legislation just now signed into law brings a significant… Continue reading

A Chinook salmon is seen in an undated photo. (Photo by Ryan Hagerty/USFWS)
My Turn: Efforts to protect salmon, environment are to benefit a wide spectrum of interests

Tom Conner’s recent My Turn criticizing SalmonState was a messy mashup of… Continue reading

Rep.-elect Nick Begich III of Alaska is scheduled to be sworn in Monday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: Lip service to the Constitution

On Monday, Nick Begich III will be sworn in as Alaska’s congressman… Continue reading

Most Read

You're browsing in private mode.
Please sign in or subscribe to continue reading articles in this mode.

Juneau Empire relies on subscription revenue to provide local content for our readers.

Subscribe

Already a subscriber? Please sign in