Maeve Taylor
Podcast Editor
Webster will offer an open community screening of “Angst, Raising Awareness around Anxiety,” on Feb. 4, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Knight Auditorium, presented by IndieFlix.
There will also be a panel composed of counselors and specialists as well as discussion following the screening.
This is a free event and those interested can register online.
Counselor Karen Verstraete, who is involved with this event, said, “According to the National Institutes of Health, nearly one in three of all adolescents ages 13 to 18 will experience an anxiety disorder. These numbers have been rising steadily; between 2007 and 2012, anxiety disorders in children and teens went up 20 percent. The students of WGHS are certainly not immune to this.”
The 56-minute-long film, according to its website, is a “documentary designed to raise awareness around anxiety.”
The film is comprised of interviews with children, teenagers, educators, experts, parents and Olympic athlete Michael Phelps.
According to Verstraete, at least 150 have already acquired tickets for the showing outside of school.
There will also be a school wide screening, Feb. 5, divided by class: first hour for freshmen, second hour for sophomores, fourth hour for seniors and sixth hour for juniors.
After student screenings, students will be asked to complete an exit survey indicating if they need to talk to someone, with counselor and social workers being available.
Assistant principal Dwight Kirksey, who is involved with this event, regarding the reason for showing this film, said, “We want to make sure we are educating our students on how to take care of their overall wellness while they’re here, and that they can take these tools when they leave. ”
As far as for the reasoning behind a community showing, Kirksey said, “Parents and staff have to work as a team. Any time we get information that we think can be valuable to our parents, our students, our staff- because we are all one community-we want to share that and make sure we are all equipped to address certain issues as they arise.”
“If each student can take away one tip, I think its successful…we are looking forward to putting some information in our students minds, so we can help each other. Our safety here, our culture, is [defined by] looking out both for ourselves and for each other,” Kirksey said.
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Maeve Taylor – Podcast EditorThis is Maeve Taylor’s second year on the Echo as the podcast editor, after making several contributions to the Echo while taking journalism her freshman year. |
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