I am writing in response to the article titled “Wellbeing: Inflicting Pain to Gain Relief” (Connection, March 4-10, 2020.) As mentioned in the article, there has been a rise in teen self-harm over the years. I think it is important to take a step back and recognize the causes of the increases in self-harm. This isn’t something that is randomly affecting people but rather something that is largely affecting teens, starting as early as middle school. This is a pattern that cannot be ignored.

Why is it that so many teenagers are experiencing self-harm? Could it be our school environments? Could it be that screen time is replacing in-person contact? Perhaps teenagers find that their only outlet left is to turn to self-harm. It’s vital that we help the individuals going through self-harm, but it is just as important that we take a step back and try to understand the outside forces that have caused this disproportionate pattern in teenagers. I believe that there is something more significant going on than individual events but rather a group of people situated in a society that could be an outside force causing this problem. It is up to us to address this.

Lianna Williams

Vienna