“The C word in the Hallways” by Anna Quindlen, focuses on the issue of mental health in teenagers and young adults. Misinformation and ignorance are found all around the subject. The author tries to argue that society should focus more on learning about these problems. She begins with specific examples of when mental health problems were not treated properly. Kip Kinkel was her first subject. He killed his parents and then proceeded to go to his high school and shoot many of his classmates. Soon after he was sentenced to life in prison, and given a mental evaluation. It turns out that from a young age he heard voices in his head, however this problem was not correctly treated. Next Anna writes about Sam Manzie a seventeen year old who is currently serving a …show more content…
She then moves on to some staggering statistics. These statistics go over just how common this problem is. She then makes her final plea to parents, insurance companies, hospitals, and schools. I think that everyone needs to read this essay because it is a very important subject. No one really focuses on mental health problems. In fact, I used to be a part of the group of people who did not pay attention. It took a big reality check for me to realize how big of an issue it really is. In the eighth grade I was moving to a new school for the millionth time. I befriended another new student named Kyle. We became close friends and soon I considered him to be one of my best friends. Freshman year came around and we started drifting apart. We still talked, but we did not talk as much as we used to. Soon after, I moved again and again I found myself in another school. About a year passed by and I heard news that Kyle had brought a gun to my old high school and then drove away and committed suicide. That was probably one of the worst weeks of my life. Kyle had problems with depression but he was not treated. I would like to