Dear Weekly Readers, 

There’s been something on my mind since the last Weekly came out, and I wanted to share it with you all. 

Last year, when a security guard was fired, everyone talked about it. 

Last year, when Gender Week was launched, everyone talked about it. 

Last year, when the recycling bins were removed, most people talked about it (and still do). 

And yet this year, when Lindsay Carlin wrote a Weekly column about eating disorders and the guilt that can accompany them, no one seems to have talked about it (at least not publicly), and I want to know why. 

According to the National Alliance on Mental Health, one in six adolescents between ages six-17 have a mental illness of some degree. And yet the only times I hear people talking about these issues are when they say how much they want to kill themselves because of a difficult homework assignment or something. We talk a lot here at Parker, and yet our seemingly endless supply of things to say seems to run dry when issues like mental health, gender, race, etc. come up. 

Why is everyone so eager to talk about anything, from gossip to current events, except mental health? Why do we give so much attention and gravity to everything other than mental health? 

Please, talk with your friends, your classmates, your advisories, anyone you’re comfortable with. Let’s do what we can to start fighting the stigma that keeps so many silent, even if just here within our school. I’m not saying that we can just talk this out and everything will be fixed, but not acknowledging this issue only further isolates those who are suffering. 

A friend of mine was unceasingly taunted because of their mental illness, and remained silent. 

Lindsay, the columnist from the previous Weekly issue, blamed herself for her eating disorder and remained silent until now. 

I’ve spent a long time thinking it was selfish to talk about my eating disorder and remained silent until now. 

So let’s do what we here at Parker love most. Let’s talk. 

-Takato Muro