TRUE ME
hi
my name is adiksha mullik i’m a junior
at south brunswick high school
and i have created a social togetherness
platform called true
me i heard a story from 1970
a young boy would bring a peanut butter
sandwich to school every day for lunch
and would get made fun of one day he
brought us up for lunch but he still got
bullied
no one knew that he couldn’t afford
anything else now
flash forward to 2018 is a little indian
girl sitting by herself
as she opens her lunchbox the smell of
different spices entered the air
everyone avoids her she’s seen as
different as though she’s an alien
for someone at such a young age to be
treated as if they’re not human
can be traumatizing these are the roots
of emotional instability
things that we may not be aware of but
are deep rooted inside of us
so why why haven’t we evolved why is it
that our language culture
ethnicity race and religion are seen as
things that divide us instead of what
brings us together
the world around us is constantly
changing new technological discoveries
are being made every day
but what about us as the world around us
is becoming more and more dependent on
technology
we continue to dodge from the real world
a world full of deep meaningful
connections
teenage social isolation is creating an
upset of mental health problems
the pandemic has caused depression rates
to triple as people live in uncertainty
and disconnection
definitely strengthened teenagers is
leading psychological disconnection
narrowing their world this is causing a
decrease in memory
attention span and a loss of
self-confidence reducing one’s ability
to communicate and process information
it is resulting in inability to form
strong relationships with
empathy and understanding and eventually
leading to
conflicts losses of identity and an
inability
to be self-sufficient economically this
stress
prevents teenagers from forming their
own ideas and being unable to choose a
life for themselves with good
relationships
there are 7.2 billion people in the
world and out of that there are 1.2
billion kids from
ages 10 to 19 and too many of these
adolescents are at risk
there are 3 000 adolescents that are
dying each day for mostly from causes
that could have been prevented
the third leading cause of death between
15 to 19 year olds is self-harm
suicide is linked with terrible loss and
is extremely heartbreaking
so why is there such a big taboo in
mental health and suicide
well people with mental health issues
are often described as making a big deal
out of nothing
but their issues are real as all our
emotions and thoughts are
imagine if we treat a physical illness
like how we treat mental illness
people with broken legs would be told
that they were making a big deal out of
nothing
because people with worse conditions
existed well
everyone’s problems are their own and
they’re the ones experiencing it
so who are we to minimize what they’re
feeling going through
so how do we remove the stigma well we
must first change our perspective on how
we look at mental illness and
acknowledge it like we would acknowledge
any other physical
evidence then we must look for signs
because oftentimes
people with mental illnesses are crying
for help we just don’t notice
some signs include visible cutting
isolating oneself from others
giving away personal belongings and
avoiding doing things that were once
loved
however sometimes people who seem the
happiest are the ones who are suffering
the most
so it is important to check in on others
and never minimize their emotions
take this as a reminder to contact your
friends and family
and ask them how they are because even
the smallest act of kindness can make
someone else’s day
so be the light at the end of the tunnel
for someone
mental health problems have become a
major neuroscience focus
research is being done to understand the
impact that nature animals and
everything around us has in our mental
well-being
our mood is a result of our thoughts how
we think determines how we act
stress can help motivate people but too
much stress decrease our ability to form
short-term memory
this makes it harder for us to learn
actually recall past events
if we are unable to recall past certain
if we are unable to call a certain
memory
the neurons that the brain do not form
further strong connections
this impacts our gene expressions the
neural system that controls how we react
proving that our thoughts do in fact
have a major effect on us
i am now connecting with professor
bernick of the university of connecticut
to help her with her most important
research i admire what she does
her most recent research is on
relationship between
kids inside a classroom and bullying
experience like immigrant children
she’s trying to learn about bullying and
discrimination and figure out how
culture impacts relationships and the
impact that can have on one’s
self-identity
it may seem obvious but social
interaction is very important
humans learn from and process emotions
through connections with others
studies show that meeting up with your
friends and family can increase
one’s mental well-being and even reduce
depression the current situation caused
by the pandemic has made it hard for
people to meet up with their loved ones
but even the smallest act of calling
your friend can help us
this shows why having deep meaningful
connections with others
is essential tv and social media
plays a significant role in our lives
but they’re also the reason why there’s
such an
increase in loneliness it may seem like
social media
has helped increase connectivity among
people
that has only led to us creating fake
lives online
we are so invested in trying to show our
perfect lives online but we have lost
who we truly
are although interaction with others is
crucial for humans even the smallest
interaction with birds is supposed to be
very helpful a study shows that people
who are the happiest live in the area
with multiple bird species
birds are beautiful creatures and their
chirping can help anyone feel more
connected to nature
have you ever felt stressed when you
take a look at a dog or take a walk
outside and you feel a lot more calm and
clear
often times animals are just cute balls
of fur
but they also have a major effect on
them
oftentimes people find that the best way
for them to reduce their stress is to
talk to someone
but many times people do not find
themselves being comfortable talking to
others
people feel as though they might get
judged or feel actually opening up to
others
while animals provide us with the ears
that have no judgment
with the ongoing pandemic as mortal
world becomes technology-based
we need to provide ourselves with
real-world connections
it may not be safe right now to meet
with friends and family but having a
furry friend at home
can decrease the lilians that many of us
are feeling right now we face another
daunting problem artificial friends are
not
many companies are now creating
companion robots that are emotionally
intelligent
they’re going to make shows based on
these human and rover interactions
and as kids start watching these shows
they’re going to be more interested in
these robots
so as we enter this new area era of
companion robots
what does it mean for us well these
robots will provide support and
companionship for kids who do not have
others to talk to
they will be able to sense how a kid is
feeling and provide comfort to the kid
if they’re feeling upset or sad the
robots will essentially be an emotional
support for kids and will help them be
will help them open up about their
emotions on the other hand
these robots may decrease social
interaction for kids with others
many kids are now heavily reliant on
technology
these robots may take place of human
interaction and decrease social skills
in kids
as technology evolves day to day we must
evolve with it
we must evolve our social understanding
and connections because
in the end of the day no amount of
technology can change us at our core as
a social
being so how do we bring this change
well we must look back and understand
when we let go of our connections
we have to recognize the fake lies we
have created we have to go back to our
past to change our future
we must reconnect and allow ourselves to
open up with others
it is our duty to make sure that we do
not neglect the issue that we have at
our hands
and we must begin to bring change to
society around us so no
kid feels as though he or she is alone
thank you