I grew up in a house full of bustling siblings and pets with my dad usually at work or coming home from work. My mom was a stay at home mom and spent her time trying to keep some type of organization amidst the chaos of our daily life. My dad suffers from memories he has yet to explain to anyone and that none of my family even understands. As it was he would constantly take his emotion out on us and his mysterious childhood of suffering made us to suffer as well. However this had gone on for so long that by the time I came around, me being kid number five, it was just the norm and I thought it was acceptable behavior, little did I know how much it affected me. I always thought coming to home to constant yelling and fighting was a normal thing and all my friend's parents fought like this too. While all of my siblings and I would strive for his approval we would never get any due to his want for perfection. As I remember growing up I recall several days in kindergarten I would sit alone by myself under a picnic table or in a corner due to this unsettling feeling I could not explain, this feeling, was depression. As the fighting of doing schoolwork and chores got more intense, so did the fighting between my parents. Finally in seventh grade, my mom stopped being victimized and stood up to my dad, to which he did not take kindly to. He left that spring and moved into an apartment, and we decided to move as well. My dad never could express or talk about the things that haunt him so closely, he is an island in a stormy sea that'll never have cause to stop raging.

So because of dad's lack of expression and grief he took it out on his family and caused us the same problems he faces daily. I feel as if that's the same thing people today do too. If people would talk more and forget their pride they could move on and become stronger. As stated in the article "A Generation on Edge: A Look at Millennials and Mental Health" written by Laura Heck, it's quoted that, "Many college students’ self worth is based on their achievements, whether that fulfills them or not." , we are all very driven by success today and take lots of pride in doing them by ourselves. We like to think we are so great and that we do not require help, that we have it all figured out. I propose that we switch things up and enforce the thought that working together and helping one another, while at the same time asking for help we could become stronger. Our world seems so cold-hearted and we are also selfish and think mostly of ourselves. We need more programs and advertisements telling people it is okay to be broken and feel helpless, but that it's only okay if they are willing to do something about it. However I feel we have gotten so much better about reaching out and providing people with the help that they need. That being said, I recently had an epiphany that, "It's when we feel good and are at the top of our game that we fall, and I propose we never stop bettering ourselves". We need to keep powering forwards so we can reverse the way we were raised. Also stated in, "A Generation on Edge: A Look at Millennials and Mental Health", Millennials strive to succeed, but they haven’t always been taught to deal with the times when they inevitably fail. As Jones puts it, they haven’t been allowed to struggle before. Because of the way this generation was raised, Jones says, “people don’t get used to the idea that they’re not always number one or not always the best.” This leads to college students feeling self-doubt at substantial levels. This generation oftentimes deals with “helicopter parents.” These parents choose college classes for their children, call universities to ask about a bad test score and even tag along to job interviews. A more recent term for a similar parenting style is “lawn mower parenting,” in which parents mow down the obstacles in their children’s way. A 2011 study by Terri LeMoyne and Tom Buchanan at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga found that students with helicopter parents are more likely to be medicated for anxiety and/or depression. Indiana University psychologist Chris Meno says in an article by the Indiana University News Room that college students are psychologically affected by this style of over-parenting because they have not yet figured out the balance between independent decision making and asking for help." So, we need to help and make a difference by raising the next and upcoming generations with a different mentality. I was disciplined as a child and I feel I now suffer from a rather rare disease called respect for others. Today kids will yell out, "CHILD ABUSE", for the tiniest things, they need to stopped being coddled and be raised to respect elders and themselves, by being raised to be strong and independent while at the same time not being afraid to ask for help when it is needed.

What I would really like to see happen in the future, Mr. or Mrs. President, even more funding for programs to help those who suffer today of mental illnesses and for some laws to be terminated or changed allowing less coddling of the kids of the upcoming generation. I know this will be a touchy thing to do because it is a topic treading on some mighty fine ice. In one way we need to allow kids punishment so that they treat each other with more respect but at the same time we can not allow it to go so far that there is actual child abuse. There needs to be a clear picture painted of discipline but at the same time a picture of what child abuse is and the punishment for it. This two things will allows us to help the people of today while also setting up the next generations to be stronger and more respectful, with a drive knowing they are owed nothing but can always ask for help.

Heck, Laura. "A Generation on Edge: A Look at Millennials and Mental Health"

Vox Magazine, 320 Lee Hills Hall Columbia, MO, November 19, 2015