I know teenagers pretty well. I've raised three. I know theirfriends. And I've taught thousands of young people in English classes. I've had my students keep journals and often they've shared their mostprivate thoughts.
Students write about abject loneliness.
Some share thoughts about suicide. There is a reason, Ibelieve, that they write about their pain. And that reason is they wanthelp. Often I have added the telephone number of the student counselingcenter on the bottom of the page. But I never know what works and who actually getsthe help that is needed.