WEBVTT - Not-So-Silent Crisis 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:14.920 Good morning, Peepsen. Welcome to WIKA F Daily with Meet 0:00:14.960 --> 0:00:20.000 your Girl Danielle Moody. Prerecording from the Home Bunker. Folks, 0:00:20.520 --> 0:00:25.119 you know, I often share with you my background as 0:00:25.400 --> 0:00:29.560 a former educator, and I say former meaning that obviously 0:00:29.600 --> 0:00:32.080 I'm no longer in a classroom, but I like to 0:00:32.080 --> 0:00:35.840 think that I educate and teach in a different way. However, 0:00:36.040 --> 0:00:41.840 my time working in education and working in education policy 0:00:42.360 --> 0:00:45.240 had a really deep impact on my life, as did 0:00:45.280 --> 0:00:51.320 my own education, which is what has me so concerned 0:00:51.479 --> 0:00:54.760 on a regular basis about the mental health and well 0:00:54.840 --> 0:01:01.480 being of America's youth. I think that we are not 0:01:02.240 --> 0:01:07.319 really paying attention to the not so silent crisis that 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:11.800 is happening with America's young people. I've written about this 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:17.920 at the Daily Beast and in other venues that there 0:01:18.000 --> 0:01:22.480 was a crisis before the pandemic took place. There was 0:01:22.520 --> 0:01:28.440 a rise in anxiety and depression among our youth. And 0:01:28.520 --> 0:01:30.679 why is that? Oh, I don't know. Could it be 0:01:30.680 --> 0:01:32.800 because we're sending them to school and they don't know 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:34.760 whether or not they're going to end up dead or 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:37.839 be able to make it home. This is not hyperbole. 0:01:38.880 --> 0:01:41.720 We know that schoolmass shootings are just the norm in 0:01:41.720 --> 0:01:46.800 the United States, right that we tell our kids that 0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:50.520 we can keep them safe, but we don't really. We 0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:54.520 send them to school instead with bulletproof backpacks. Instead, we 0:01:54.800 --> 0:02:01.800 teach them active shooter drills. In today's episode, I'm joined 0:02:01.800 --> 0:02:08.840 by Michael Klinkner, who is a clinical social worker in Arizona, 0:02:08.960 --> 0:02:12.320 and we're going to get into and you're going to 0:02:12.440 --> 0:02:21.040 hear our conversation about the state of mental health in 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:24.400 this country, particularly as it pertains to our youth, and 0:02:25.160 --> 0:02:30.639 our LGBTQ youth specifically, who are not statistics. They are 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:39.320 human beings whose experiences are being weaponized to put forward 0:02:39.400 --> 0:02:43.480 a political agenda on the far rapid right, where hate 0:02:43.480 --> 0:02:48.240 reigns supreme. And Michael and I will talk about the 0:02:48.280 --> 0:02:51.680 ways in which even if you are not a parent, 0:02:51.800 --> 0:02:55.399 but are a caregiver or a teacher, or a guidance 0:02:55.440 --> 0:03:01.440 counselor a youth advisor working you know, a religious facility, 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:04.360 that if you are present in a child's life, some 0:03:04.520 --> 0:03:07.560 of the ways that you can engage in conversation to 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:11.840 get to the there there, how they are feeling, what 0:03:11.880 --> 0:03:16.839 they are thinking, how are they moving through their day 0:03:16.840 --> 0:03:21.919 to day. It's mass shootings. One day, it's climate change, 0:03:22.000 --> 0:03:27.960 the next, after that, it's a global health pandemic. After 0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:31.880 that it's arise in political violence. It's literally one thing 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:35.480 after the other. And on top of that, we're saying, oh, 0:03:36.560 --> 0:03:40.080 and then go ahead and go and learn. And then 0:03:40.120 --> 0:03:43.480 in the middle of your school day will disrupt you 0:03:43.720 --> 0:03:46.040 for an active shooter drill that we won't tell you 0:03:46.160 --> 0:03:51.280 is real or it's not. And then your court zone 0:03:51.400 --> 0:03:55.680 levels shoot up, and we expect you to after the drill, 0:03:56.440 --> 0:04:03.560 sit down and take up as if nothing happened. It's wild, 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:08.560 the expectations that we have for youth today. And so 0:04:08.760 --> 0:04:13.640 I get into a conversation with Michael Klickner, the clinical 0:04:13.680 --> 0:04:19.360 social worker, and you know, hopefully this conversation, this episode 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:23.800 will provide you with some tools and tactics to be 0:04:23.880 --> 0:04:27.040 able to help the young people that are in your life. 0:04:27.560 --> 0:04:33.120 That conversation is coming up next. Hey there, I want 0:04:33.120 --> 0:04:35.440 to tell you about another podcast I think you'll love. 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:38.760 The Brown Girl's Guide to Politics, hosted by a Shanty Goehler, 0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:42.360 the president of Emerge. BGG is the one stop shop 0:04:42.360 --> 0:04:44.279 for women of color who want to hear and talk 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:47.159 about the world of politics. Join a Shanty this season 0:04:47.200 --> 0:04:49.520 as she talks to incredible women of color who are 0:04:49.600 --> 0:04:51.839 changing the face of politics and tackling some of the 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:55.680 most important issues facing the United States, from reproductive justice 0:04:55.720 --> 0:04:58.400 to voting rights, to climate change and more. Tune in 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:04.320 every Tuesday wherever you at your podcasts, folks. I am 0:05:04.440 --> 0:05:07.840 very happy to welcome to woka F Daily for the 0:05:07.920 --> 0:05:14.560 first time, licensed clinical social worker Michael Klinkner, who I'm 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:18.320 excited to be in conversation with you, Michael, because for 0:05:18.640 --> 0:05:22.240 the last couple of years on this show, I have 0:05:22.360 --> 0:05:26.280 made it a point to talk about the mental health 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:31.120 my concern about the mental health of young people in 0:05:31.160 --> 0:05:37.160 this country as we are learning to navigate a new normal, 0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:42.880 or in many cases, a new abnormal. We have been 0:05:43.000 --> 0:05:50.520 impacted by multiple crises, impacted by multiple traumas that began 0:05:50.760 --> 0:05:56.760 but did not end with COVID nineteen, going into quarantine, 0:05:56.839 --> 0:06:00.719 and learning to exist in a remote setting both in 0:06:00.800 --> 0:06:06.000 school and in work, from dealing with the fear and 0:06:06.080 --> 0:06:10.159 anxiety around climate change and young that being a very 0:06:10.160 --> 0:06:13.240 big issue for young people, So I wanted to get 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:16.240 your thoughts. I mean, and on top of that, mass 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:19.680 shootings and school shootings, you know, at the end of 0:06:19.800 --> 0:06:22.919 last school year, the headlines were about the loss of 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:29.600 nineteen children's lives right in Texas after following the You've 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:32.919 aldi shooting. So I want to get your thoughts on 0:06:35.279 --> 0:06:39.000 what you think about how young people are doing, what 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:45.400 you were hearing from young people themselves, and what we 0:06:45.440 --> 0:06:47.799 should be paying attention to or what we're not paying 0:06:47.800 --> 0:06:52.320 attention to. Danielle, thanks for having me on. I certainly 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:56.000 appreciate it. Let me start with sort of like overall 0:06:56.040 --> 0:07:01.200 general state of affairs with kids here is the anxiety 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:04.800 is high for a lot of different reasons, but the 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:08.600 amount of kids where like we'll have an intake and 0:07:08.960 --> 0:07:12.880 on the form, the parents will fill out that the 0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:16.760 kid has had trouble since lockdown or since COVID or 0:07:17.280 --> 0:07:21.400 since the pandemic and and they haven't ever gotten back 0:07:21.400 --> 0:07:23.400 on their feet since. I just I was doing an 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:26.840 intake with a young man yesterday who was like honor 0:07:26.880 --> 0:07:31.600 student all the way through US eighth grade. COVID hit 0:07:32.440 --> 0:07:36.680 school went crazy and he hasn't He hasn't been able 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:40.360 to get back into school since. And so there's confounding factors. 0:07:41.440 --> 0:07:45.400 But when someone is having some like anxiety or like 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:47.960 a moderately dysfunctional at home, or like things are kind 0:07:47.960 --> 0:07:50.120 of like they're okay, but they're not, or like things 0:07:50.120 --> 0:07:52.400 are just starting to like we're just starting to teeter. 0:07:53.080 --> 0:07:58.040 And then the pandemic where for us here in Arizona, 0:07:58.400 --> 0:08:00.920 it was especially tricky because there were some schools that 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:03.680 went back very quickly, some schools that never left, some 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:06.640 schools that immediately went virtual, some schools that went back 0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:10.960 and forth, and so there were all these experiences, and 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:13.680 the kids have described they feel behind because lots of 0:08:13.680 --> 0:08:16.640 them lost a full year between hybrid we're just going 0:08:16.680 --> 0:08:18.960 straight to online, and so they feel like they're behind everybody. 0:08:19.160 --> 0:08:22.640 They're not, of course, because everyone else also had the 0:08:22.680 --> 0:08:25.200 same exactperience in the country, like all the other kids 0:08:25.320 --> 0:08:28.280 their age had the same exact set of problems. But 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:30.200 it doesn't seem that way to them. It just seems 0:08:30.240 --> 0:08:33.800 like they're comparing to where other kids would have been 0:08:33.920 --> 0:08:36.760 or should have been at, you know, their sophomore year 0:08:36.800 --> 0:08:39.520 of high school three years ago, and what that was like. 0:08:40.040 --> 0:08:44.280 Also with state standards and teaching, with some stuff is systematized, 0:08:44.640 --> 0:08:46.959 so by the end of eighth grade, there are these 0:08:47.000 --> 0:08:48.680 things that you have to be able to know and 0:08:48.720 --> 0:08:52.120 get tested on, and by the end of freshman year, 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:54.320 there are these things that you'll get tested on and 0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:57.199 if you don't know them, you don't get to move 0:08:57.240 --> 0:09:00.480 forward or you have to repeat classes or repeat grades. 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:03.360 I'll see it a lot of really high achieving kids 0:09:03.440 --> 0:09:07.040 too that are AP classes or honors classes, especially with 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:10.080 the AP because there is that standardized test and they're 0:09:10.120 --> 0:09:12.240 taking it too in order to achieve college credit and 0:09:12.280 --> 0:09:15.319 get a higher GPA. They feel like they're behind in 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:18.960 those because those AP classes are standardized across the country, 0:09:19.280 --> 0:09:20.959 and they feel like there's stuff that they didn't pick 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:25.000 up that they're they're a cohort or their contemporaries in 0:09:25.040 --> 0:09:27.240 different states or different part of this they'd picked up. 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:31.280 And so there's all this additionally anxiety that they've been 0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:34.800 now carrying for years and there it's just kind of 0:09:34.840 --> 0:09:37.560 like the it's it's coming home the roost, if you will, 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:40.439 where there's a lot of kids that are just legitimately 0:09:40.440 --> 0:09:43.800 at their breaking point. We have a really good recent 0:09:43.880 --> 0:09:47.120 experience out here too with the gun stuff. Is that 0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:50.680 at so it's homecoming time for us out here and 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:54.800 we're in Arizona. There was a recent homecoming where there 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:57.319 wasn't a gun. But at the dance, somebody yelled gun 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:03.280 and those kids went just plane, went running and they 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:07.160 didn't come back. They unfortunately knew what to do. But 0:10:08.200 --> 0:10:11.199 what happened is somebody just said that word. Nobody bothered 0:10:11.200 --> 0:10:14.080 to check, nobody like, nobody did anything. They just know 0:10:14.200 --> 0:10:16.800 that word means get the heck out of where you are, 0:10:17.480 --> 0:10:20.920 go hide, call parents. And so that's just what happened, 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:23.400 and that that is so sad and so scary. It was. 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:28.240 So they didn't have homecoming in twenty twenty twenty. Maybe 0:10:28.280 --> 0:10:30.840 maybe not. They had homecoming in twenty twenty one. In 0:10:30.920 --> 0:10:33.200 twenty twenty two, they didn't because they thought somebody had 0:10:33.200 --> 0:10:35.800 a gun. What the heck. That is the state of 0:10:35.840 --> 0:10:41.480 affairs for kids and teens in my part of the 0:10:41.480 --> 0:10:43.839 country today, and I know another part of the country's too. 0:10:43.840 --> 0:10:47.360 I just have those you know, easily accessible those times 0:10:47.360 --> 0:10:50.680 for those kids. I will get Also, lots of lots 0:10:50.720 --> 0:10:54.160 of kids will talk about lockdown drills, what that's like 0:10:54.280 --> 0:10:56.160 for them, how that feels to them as they're just 0:10:56.200 --> 0:10:58.959 sitting there and they're not supposed to know whether it's 0:10:59.000 --> 0:11:01.320 a jewel or not. And for them, if they don't 0:11:01.360 --> 0:11:03.560 know what's a drill, and they're just sitting there what 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:06.480 that's like when they lose it, when they lose a 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:09.679 period of time for class work or those sort of things. 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:13.719 So scary, that is just plain scary in the context 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:18.120 of two scary years for right kids who are under 0:11:18.200 --> 0:11:21.080 resourced because they're supposed to be on how to deal 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:26.959 with anxiety. My goodness, you know, just the image that 0:11:27.000 --> 0:11:32.280 you that you provided of just the word gun being 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:40.359 yelled out sends kids running for cover, running for their lives. 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:46.240 And also, I haven't thought about the drills, the lockdown 0:11:46.360 --> 0:11:51.080 drills in schools of active the active shooter drills, and 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:53.199 the fact that they're not supposed to know that they 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:56.880 are drills. And so again the anxiety. So after this 0:11:57.000 --> 0:12:00.760 said drill, for however long it takes, then you're just 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:05.360 supposed to go back to collass as normal. Meanwhile, your 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:09.480 cortisone levels are at like are there through the roof? 0:12:09.679 --> 0:12:15.920 And so what do you think, Michael, that we in 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:23.840 society are getting wrong about our assumption around how resilient 0:12:23.960 --> 0:12:26.959 kids truly are, because that's a thing that is thrown 0:12:27.040 --> 0:12:31.280 out a lot. Right, kids are resilient, kids adapt but 0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:35.760 what we're asking them to adapt to is living under 0:12:35.880 --> 0:12:39.400 duress and in trauma. And so, what do you think 0:12:39.440 --> 0:12:44.000 that we are getting wrong? As we are identifying now 0:12:44.960 --> 0:12:49.680 potentially the long term effects of not only again living 0:12:49.679 --> 0:12:53.280 in a global health pandemic, but all the gun violence pandemic, 0:12:53.320 --> 0:12:57.360 all of these other pandemics that haven't had necessarily the 0:12:57.480 --> 0:13:06.280 same this same attention in that way. So it's hard 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:09.800 for me to say that it's getting done wrong because 0:13:09.840 --> 0:13:12.120 we don't know what right is, and so we are 0:13:12.280 --> 0:13:15.520 literally making this up as we go along. There's no 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:19.840 one has a frame of reference at any time between them. 0:13:20.920 --> 0:13:23.920 There is stuff in the air that could kill you 0:13:24.200 --> 0:13:25.960 or kill the ones that are close to you. That 0:13:26.040 --> 0:13:28.720 it's just literally just in the air. Who knows, let alone. 0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:30.240 You add in the gun violence, you add in the 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:33.400 extra pressures, you add in the political climate which is 0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:37.480 inherently interwoven with the with the COVID stuff and with 0:13:37.559 --> 0:13:39.880 the gun things. And depending on where your parents are, 0:13:40.200 --> 0:13:44.679 they'll have a very strong opinion about those lockdown drills 0:13:44.679 --> 0:13:46.920 and what they're for and what they should be like. 0:13:47.320 --> 0:13:50.240 And they have very strong opinions about how the COVID 0:13:50.280 --> 0:13:53.800 stuff was and is currently handled. And so you add 0:13:53.840 --> 0:13:58.080 in for a year and a half, two years, we 0:13:58.160 --> 0:14:01.400 taught them to be afraid of the air. The whole 0:14:01.440 --> 0:14:05.840 time they've continued to be exposed to. You never know 0:14:05.880 --> 0:14:07.360 what's going to happen at school, so we need to 0:14:07.480 --> 0:14:09.679 we need to prep for it because hey, you might 0:14:09.720 --> 0:14:12.520 die today, and then they go home to a politically 0:14:12.559 --> 0:14:16.240 charged climate. About what that means, no frame or reference 0:14:16.240 --> 0:14:17.960 for it, There isn't any way, We don't know what 0:14:18.000 --> 0:14:21.360 to do. And then Danielle, you add in social media 0:14:21.480 --> 0:14:23.480 and what that means and what they're seeing on TikTok, 0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:25.960 what they're getting their friends are snapping them, and like 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:28.160 what they're picking up through through Instagram or any of 0:14:28.160 --> 0:14:31.160 those things that we don't know. Nobody knows, And so 0:14:31.240 --> 0:14:35.000 what this means in five years, who on earth knows? 0:14:35.160 --> 0:14:36.920 You know, we didn't know what we knew back in 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:39.840 twenty seventeen about what twenty twenty one and twenty two 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:41.720 we're going to be like. So that part's really hard, 0:14:41.720 --> 0:14:44.880 and we're just starting the research to try to figure 0:14:44.920 --> 0:14:50.040 out even like the micro effects in the MESO effects, 0:14:50.120 --> 0:14:53.440 let alone the big long term macro effects. We don't know. 0:14:54.200 --> 0:14:57.360 But what I do know is because we don't know 0:14:57.400 --> 0:15:01.200 what we're doing and we're not sure parents just aren't 0:15:01.240 --> 0:15:04.680 doing anything in that part is always not the right answer, 0:15:05.160 --> 0:15:08.880 and so it is very easy as a parent to 0:15:09.000 --> 0:15:10.720 say like, hey, how's your day at school and the 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:13.720 kid says, oh, yeah, we had a lockdown drill and 0:15:13.800 --> 0:15:17.520 to just blow it off instead of the oh, especially 0:15:17.520 --> 0:15:21.160 for like younger kids and like early to middle elementary school, Oh, 0:15:21.200 --> 0:15:22.760 what was that like for you? Or how is that? 0:15:22.840 --> 0:15:24.320 Or what do you guys do? Or like what does 0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:27.200 your teacher say? Or how they handle bathroom like any 0:15:27.200 --> 0:15:30.600 of that kind of stuff, and then just drill into it. 0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:34.600 What's the emotional impact for them? Or because like not 0:15:34.640 --> 0:15:36.400 ever ready kid wants to talk or not every kid 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:39.240 is great at that, Hey, how does this impact the 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:41.600 other kids in the classroom? Does anybody have a hard time? 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:44.600 Or does anybody kind of like does anybody cry? Does 0:15:44.640 --> 0:15:47.640 anybody freak out? Does anybody like try to be a clown? 0:15:48.080 --> 0:15:50.240 Things like that, because then you get to talk to 0:15:50.280 --> 0:15:52.280 your kid about the Oh, why do you think they're 0:15:52.280 --> 0:15:53.840 having such a hard time? Or why do you think 0:15:53.840 --> 0:15:57.320 they got so scared? Or what do you think? What 0:15:57.400 --> 0:15:58.840 do you think it's like for everybody else in the 0:15:58.880 --> 0:16:01.640 classroom then two. So then you can talk about the 0:16:01.680 --> 0:16:05.200 impact of those drills, you can talk about the impact 0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:07.360 of the pandemic, or you can talk about that, but 0:16:07.400 --> 0:16:10.480 the kid doesn't have to talk about themselves. And then 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:14.400 whatever emotions are coming up. I'm always encouraging adults, parents, 0:16:14.920 --> 0:16:17.360 to just validate whatever is going on for that kid. 0:16:17.640 --> 0:16:19.400 You don't have to agree with it. It doesn't have 0:16:19.440 --> 0:16:22.440 to make sense. You can actually think the exact opposite. 0:16:22.480 --> 0:16:25.000 And so if you know, if I'm a gen xer 0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:27.480 and so, but it was the generation before mine where 0:16:27.560 --> 0:16:30.760 they were still doing like nuclear drills where had to 0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:32.880 call unto your desk because you know, rush on my bone, 0:16:33.360 --> 0:16:36.000 and so that wasn't my generation was one before, but 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:39.120 so like but for that generation, and like at at 0:16:39.120 --> 0:16:41.200 the older end of mine, we have a little bit 0:16:41.200 --> 0:16:42.720 of a frame of reference to what that's like. And 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:46.120 when ours was cut like for them, it wasn't. The 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:49.680 red scare felt imminent, but not like this, And so 0:16:50.120 --> 0:16:53.120 it's easy for people to dismiss the well, it's not 0:16:53.160 --> 0:16:55.040 so hard, it's not that big a deal, or like 0:16:55.640 --> 0:16:56.920 I feel like I would be okay with it. It It 0:16:56.960 --> 0:16:58.360 wouldn't be that hard. I would just sit on my 0:16:58.400 --> 0:17:01.440 phone and probably play a game. And so it's easy 0:17:01.520 --> 0:17:05.320 to dismiss what your kid is going through. Always validate 0:17:05.800 --> 0:17:07.760 even if you don't have to agree. It doesn't have 0:17:07.800 --> 0:17:11.520 to make sense. They might be overreacting, that might be true, 0:17:11.720 --> 0:17:14.479 that's okay. They are still honestly feeling what they're feeling 0:17:15.000 --> 0:17:17.520 and they need to communicate that to the people they 0:17:17.560 --> 0:17:20.600 love and love them, and so in those situations, it 0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:23.119 is always the right answer to validate what they have 0:17:23.200 --> 0:17:26.399 going on and to ask some open ended questions about 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:29.119 why they're feeling the way they're feeling, or why do 0:17:29.160 --> 0:17:31.119 they think their peers or friends are feeling the way 0:17:31.160 --> 0:17:33.639 they're feeling, as a sort of like side doorway, and 0:17:34.000 --> 0:17:43.119 to talk about emotions for tough things. Indisputable with Doctor 0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:45.800 Rashi Ricci is one of the latest shows on the 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:49.960 TYT network and also the fastest growing news show in America. 0:17:50.359 --> 0:17:54.120 On his show, Doctor Ricci plays no games regarding policy, 0:17:54.280 --> 0:17:57.359 delivering a heavy dose of fact based truth and penetrating 0:17:57.400 --> 0:18:00.920 analysis on all the top news stories focused on racism, 0:18:01.000 --> 0:18:05.880 criminal and social justice, politics, police brutality, Karens and much more. 0:18:06.160 --> 0:18:11.280 Listeners can also expect interviews with fascinating guests, political leaders, commentators, 0:18:11.320 --> 0:18:14.880 and even fiery debates with conservatives on a wide range 0:18:14.920 --> 0:18:19.040 of policy topics. In the Bullpen. It is an indisputable 0:18:19.080 --> 0:18:22.440 fact that you will love this show. Listen to Indisputable 0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:26.400 with Doctor rashad Ricci on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever 0:18:26.480 --> 0:18:29.040 you get your podcasts. If you like what you hear, 0:18:29.160 --> 0:18:35.840 be sure to subscribe so you never miss a new episode. 0:18:39.280 --> 0:18:42.560 You know, one of the things that I did recently 0:18:43.000 --> 0:18:50.040 is I wrote a piece for The Daily Beasts about kids, 0:18:50.119 --> 0:18:58.680 but in particular LGBTQ youth and the fact that suicide 0:18:59.160 --> 0:19:03.880 has once again and begun to skyrocket, not just for um, 0:19:04.680 --> 0:19:08.320 for straight uh CIS kids, but for queer kids, which 0:19:08.359 --> 0:19:11.639 has always been on the higher end of the of 0:19:11.680 --> 0:19:16.280 the mainstream. And you know, you bring up the political climate, 0:19:16.280 --> 0:19:18.520 which obviously I talk about on a daily basis on 0:19:18.560 --> 0:19:22.840 this show. But when we often you hear about these 0:19:23.000 --> 0:19:26.359 don't say gay bills or these anti trans bills, we 0:19:26.440 --> 0:19:30.679 don't think about the children that are behind those bills, 0:19:31.080 --> 0:19:34.720 the ones who are now going into a school climate 0:19:34.840 --> 0:19:42.199 that is not only riddled with anxiety about training for 0:19:43.040 --> 0:19:46.280 you know, a lockdown and a mass shooter. But is 0:19:46.320 --> 0:19:49.400 my teacher going to out me? Is my you know, 0:19:49.520 --> 0:19:54.480 administration going to discriminate me? And then if I if 0:19:54.520 --> 0:19:57.199 they do, I have no recourse. So I wanted to 0:19:57.240 --> 0:20:03.240 get your thoughts on, in particular, how this current climate 0:20:03.520 --> 0:20:09.840 is impacting LGBTQ kids in particular, you know, either anecdotally 0:20:10.119 --> 0:20:13.119 or just you know, based on you know, based on 0:20:13.240 --> 0:20:17.320 your own work, because I also think that that's a 0:20:17.320 --> 0:20:21.359 carve out that we're not again providing enough attention to 0:20:23.080 --> 0:20:27.480 my experience is it's so different school by school and 0:20:27.600 --> 0:20:31.000 family by family, And so there are some amazing schools 0:20:31.000 --> 0:20:34.879 out here that do systematically do a great job where 0:20:35.320 --> 0:20:39.520 teachers will email the kids and and will ask questions 0:20:39.560 --> 0:20:42.119 like what do you want me to call you? What 0:20:42.200 --> 0:20:44.480 do you want your pronounce to be? What name do 0:20:44.480 --> 0:20:46.560 you want to make sure that I'm saying in class? 0:20:46.600 --> 0:20:49.080 And then if I have a meeting with your teachers, 0:20:50.000 --> 0:20:52.480 I'm sorry, with your parents, what name do I call 0:20:52.520 --> 0:20:56.720 you there? Super aware thinking through all the possible angles 0:20:56.920 --> 0:20:58.840 like what if I have to email your mom? What 0:20:58.920 --> 0:21:00.679 name do I call you in that? Versus what do 0:21:00.720 --> 0:21:02.920 I call you in class? Versus any of those sort 0:21:02.920 --> 0:21:06.240 of things, and so though they're trying really hard, and 0:21:06.280 --> 0:21:09.040 of course we all screw that up wildly. We always 0:21:09.119 --> 0:21:11.320 like we're gonna when there's a lot of kids, we're 0:21:11.359 --> 0:21:13.879 gonna forget it pronoun we just asked for grace and 0:21:13.920 --> 0:21:16.000 try to not mess it up next time. And so 0:21:16.160 --> 0:21:19.159 and then families who will sometimes be great about it 0:21:19.200 --> 0:21:22.399 and amazing about it, and so it's them out here. 0:21:22.400 --> 0:21:26.000 There's very there's a couple of like conservative religious bases 0:21:26.560 --> 0:21:30.080 that have some strong opinions about about those things. And 0:21:30.119 --> 0:21:33.159 so for lots of kids, that's confusing because that's around 0:21:33.160 --> 0:21:35.600 them too, and they'll hear those things. And so there's 0:21:35.640 --> 0:21:39.920 some parents though that will be religiously conservative, but we'll 0:21:39.920 --> 0:21:41.680 have questions like, all right, so this is my kid, 0:21:41.760 --> 0:21:43.560 and so like, I know what my church is saying, 0:21:44.040 --> 0:21:46.280 but I I'm gonna love my kid like And they're 0:21:46.320 --> 0:21:48.520 clearly not making some choice because if they could, they wouldn't. 0:21:48.560 --> 0:21:50.159 They wouldn't be choosing to get called the names or 0:21:50.200 --> 0:21:53.080 getting called right now, right, And so the parents will 0:21:53.160 --> 0:21:56.600 have work really hard under the idea of I have 0:21:56.760 --> 0:21:59.639 no idea what I'm doing. I've never thought I've had 0:21:59.680 --> 0:22:01.879 to deal this that they'll try to work through the 0:22:01.880 --> 0:22:04.520 associated grief and then just try to do it right, 0:22:04.960 --> 0:22:07.040 knowing that they don't know anything, and that's okay. That's 0:22:07.200 --> 0:22:09.880 that's as good as they're going to do, and they 0:22:09.920 --> 0:22:11.760 just get better at it, and they can can feel 0:22:11.840 --> 0:22:14.480 that they're loved. When those things are in place, when 0:22:14.480 --> 0:22:17.000 people are trying, even if they're even if they're getting 0:22:17.000 --> 0:22:19.639 all kinds are wrong, the kid will feel heard and 0:22:19.760 --> 0:22:23.320 understood and respected in love, and that's okay. And so 0:22:23.400 --> 0:22:26.400 things can can go badly, and so if if they're 0:22:26.440 --> 0:22:29.520 respected and love and understood at home, school can get 0:22:29.560 --> 0:22:32.480 a little wonky. But then they can go home and 0:22:32.560 --> 0:22:35.560 they'll have supports there and they can be resilient. The 0:22:35.600 --> 0:22:38.240 opposite can also be true. If the parents aren't doing 0:22:38.280 --> 0:22:40.240 a great job and the kid can go to a 0:22:40.280 --> 0:22:42.679 school where they feel heard and understood in love, they 0:22:42.720 --> 0:22:45.600 kid won't be resilient. We won't see big increases in 0:22:45.640 --> 0:22:47.840 that in the depression or in the anxiety, or in 0:22:47.880 --> 0:22:51.160 the suicidaley. Those are generally speaking, those are the protective 0:22:51.160 --> 0:22:55.879 factors that will help kids move through that. All that said, 0:22:57.960 --> 0:23:02.600 it's tough and sometimes impossible in depending on Arizona's quirky 0:23:02.640 --> 0:23:05.199 because we have some major, major urban areas and then 0:23:05.240 --> 0:23:07.840 we've got all kinds of rural And so what rural 0:23:07.880 --> 0:23:10.720 means as far as access to clubs like one intent 0:23:10.920 --> 0:23:13.439 or just a mentor or somebody who you can talk about, Like, 0:23:13.800 --> 0:23:16.600 I'm thirteen, I'm just getting it figured out. Is there 0:23:16.600 --> 0:23:18.480 anybody that's on the other side of this to let 0:23:18.480 --> 0:23:20.119 me know what it looks like, or just somebody that 0:23:20.200 --> 0:23:23.120 I can talk to. If you're in rural, No, that's 0:23:23.160 --> 0:23:26.120 not a thing. They're not necessarily available. You're just kind 0:23:26.119 --> 0:23:27.679 of on your own and good luck what you what 0:23:27.800 --> 0:23:31.320 your parents in school things. Also, there's a lot of 0:23:31.320 --> 0:23:33.879 the information that's going to come from social media about 0:23:33.920 --> 0:23:37.159 those things, and so in the absence of us teaching 0:23:37.160 --> 0:23:40.679 our kids what or how to think about certain things, 0:23:40.960 --> 0:23:42.640 they're going to make it up on their own. Now 0:23:42.680 --> 0:23:45.760 teenagers different that you're going to help them sort of 0:23:45.800 --> 0:23:49.560 like where you getting information from or like what are 0:23:49.560 --> 0:23:51.119 those sources? What do you think about all of that 0:23:51.440 --> 0:23:55.560 and help them, like open ended, navigate them to their 0:23:55.560 --> 0:23:58.359 own set of understandings, even if it's different than yours. 0:23:59.400 --> 0:24:02.600 Early junior high, elementary school, you're teaching them how to 0:24:02.640 --> 0:24:04.480 think about those things and kind of as a family 0:24:04.800 --> 0:24:08.440 what those values can and what they think they should be. 0:24:10.040 --> 0:24:12.199 You know, when I think about the way that you 0:24:12.280 --> 0:24:15.280 just broke that down in terms of you know, access 0:24:15.440 --> 0:24:18.960 versus no access, and and families being open versus a 0:24:19.040 --> 0:24:21.280 school being open and all of these things, I think 0:24:21.280 --> 0:24:27.480