# data[].attributes.body
Does the absence of a father affect one's way of living?

I noticed and wanted to ask this question because I wondered if both of the Wes Moore's lives would have been different if they both had present fathers during their time growing up. There are indeed many psychological, behavioral, and many other effects of growing up without a father. Some psychological problems may be an increased risk in depression, anxiety, and many other mental health issues. Some behavioral problems may be delinquency, alcohol and drug abuse, and involvement in crime. Some other problems may be early sexual activity such as teen pregnancy. The absence of a father can also persist into the years of adulthood.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Psychological Effects of Growing Up Without a Father

# data[].attributes.body
Question: How does the witnessing of domestic violence impact the lives of children?

Reason: In the novel, both Nikki and Wes have witnessed the domestic violence of their parents. Also, Nikki took her father’s “death worse than any of us,” so I wanted to find out if her exposure to abuse resulted in her grief (Moore 15).

#1: Impact of Domestic Abuse on Children - KS Courts

https://kscourts.gov/About-the-Courts/Programs/Parenting-Planning/Impact-of-Domestic-Abuse-on-Children

-Children who are present at the moment of domestic violence have a higher risk of being murdered and injured

-Children who are exposed express emotions of terror, isolation, guilt, helplessness, and grief

-Children can experience problems with anxiety, depression, and embarrassment

-As children act out what they see, they can have violent actions from their exposure

#2: Effects of Domestic Violence on Children - OASH | Office of Women’s Health

https://womenshealth.gov/relationships-and-safety/domestic-violence/effects-domestic-violence-children

-Children who witness domestic violence between parents are at a greater risk of being violent in their future relationships

-As a child, domestic violence can make them feel guilty about the abuse and blame themselves. This impacts a child’s self-esteem and causes them to get lower grades and not participate in school activities or make friends.

-Teens may act out by fighting a family member or skipping school. They can also get involved in using drugs and alcohol to relieve their physical or mental health problems.

-From research, boys are typically more likely to act out physically and become violent, while girls are withdrawn and may experience mental health issues like depression.

Connection: Both Nikki Moore and Wes Moore witnessed domestic violence in their household. Both their mothers were abused by their loved one. However, after the author Moore’s father dies, Nikki struggles to handle her emotions and is more deeply affected than the rest of her family. She doesn’t demonstrate violent behavior thus far, but she seems to have developed some mental problems from his death. On the other hand, after witnessing domestic violence, the incarcerated Moore became violent and broke the law by killing a police officer. He displayed a more violent behavior and attitude that could be rooted from his childhood.

# data[].attributes.body
How does parent's education level affect their children?

In chapter 1 of The Other Wes Moore, it explores how your parents and family life affect you, Although it is blurry I noticed that Wes Moore's (Author) parents attended college compared to the other Wes's parents did not, so I questioned if parents education level affected a child's education. There is a strong correlation between students graduating college and their parents education level, around 7% of first generation students attended a private college compared to 23% of those whose parents had a degree.

https://studyinternational.com/news/parents-education-levels-affect-childrens-likelihood-attend-college-study/

# data[].attributes.body
What is the barrier that prevents solidarity in low-income communities?

In chapter 2 of The Other Wes Moore it is evident how the different communities affect each of the boys, Wes( author) in a somewhat positive way through the basketball courts, and Wes(incarcerated) in a negative way because he was exposed to the drug community through his brother from a young age. I wanted to research more about specific barriers to solidarity in low-income communities. Through my research, I found that "poverty stigma" is very prevalent and a major issue that causes many challenges for low-income families. Poverty stigma, in simple terms, is " not wanting to seek help because of the feeling of embarrassment due to being poor". This can lead to isolation, wearing down of their self esteem, and going to great lengths to hide the fact that they are stuggling. This prevents solidarity because it leaves everyone feeling alone and to stuggle by themselves.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Poverty stigma: a glue that holds poverty in place

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Poverty stigma exacerbates shamefully high rates of poverty in the UK. It can affect health as much as trying to survive on a low income. How do we combat it?

# data[].attributes.body
Does the absence of solidarity affect one's mental health? As portrayed in chapter 3/4 of the Other Wes Moore, it is clear how Wes (author) is affected by his two friend groups inability to come together. In summary, yes, the absence of solidarity affects one's mental health. The lack of solidarity, especially since Covid, has been very evident. People become more and more separated through social media, different viewpoints, and many other things. The absence of solidarity causes those to feel isolated, suffer from depression, anxiety amongst other mental issues. Solidarity is so crucial because it is what keeps humans together as humans are all one big family. The absence of it causes those to feel many different types of emotions, typically those that are negative and cause mental health issues.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s44192-024-00087-0

https://www.lundbeck.com/global

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Global mental health solidarity: strategies and solutions

Abstract

Mental health is deteriorating far and fast globally post-COVID. Though there were already over one billion people living with mental disorders pre-pandemic, in the first year of COVID-19 alone, the prevalence of anxiety and depression soared by 25% worldwide. In light of the chronic shortages of mental health resources and talents, along with disruptions of available health services caused by pandemic-related restrictions, technology is widely believed to hold the key to addressing the rising mental health crises. However, hurdles such as fragmented and oftentimes suboptimal patient protection measures substantially undermine technology's potential to address the global mental health crises reliably and at scale. To shed light on these issues, this paper aims to discuss the post-pandemic mental health challenges and opportunities, and the strategies and solutions the global mental health community could leverage to protect and elevate society's mental health in the long run.

1 Introduction

Mental health is deteriorating far and fast globally. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that approximately one billion people were living with mental disorders in 2019 [ 1]. To make an already daunting situation worse, in the first year of COVID-19 alone, the prevalence of anxiety and depression soared by 25% worldwide [ 1]. It is important to underscore that mental health is fundamental to both individual health and societal prosperity. In a meta-analysis of studies published between 2020 and 2021, for instance, researchers found that 76.2 million cases of anxiety and 53.2 million cases of major depressive disorder were added to the global mental health burden, which caused a loss of 44.5 million and 49.4 million disability-adjusted life years, respectively, in 2020 alone [ 2]. While effective in curbing and containing virus spread [ 3], COVID-19 countermeasures like lockdowns introduced a cascade of unintended consequences, ranging from disruptions of already limited mental health services to deteriorations of affected communities' psychological wellbeing [ 4, 5, 6]. An analysis of longitudinal data shows that lockdowns in the United Kingdom (U.K.) may have caused 29% of the participants to develop mental disorders, challenges that have lasted even after the restrictions were lifted [ 7]. Preliminary findings in the U.K. also show that, due to the pandemic, around 44.6% of people aged between 17 and 22 who face mental health challenges did not seek help [ 8].

1.1 Technology-empowered mental health interventions

In times of existential challenges, global mental health solidarity-defined as the ability of the global mental health community to work collaboratively and cooperatively towards achieving the shared purpose of protecting and improving our collective mental health-is increasingly important. At a time when in-person interactions could become fatally contagious, technology was considered ideal for delivering contactless mental health services timely and efficiently [ 9]. Starting from the early days of the pandemic, telepsychiatry, virtual consultation services, and online self-help that could be accessed via everyday technologies like smartphones have provided much-needed help and timely interventions for people across the world, especially communities living under prolonged lockdowns or facing mobility difficulties such as elderly people in China [ 10]. Advanced analytical tools such as artificial intelligence (AI) also helped health experts identify people who experience acute mental health crises such as suicidal ideation via analysing social media posts in a near-time manner [ 9]. However, fragmented and oftentimes suboptimal patient protection measures, along with equity issues, raise questions regarding whether technologies that aim to help may introduce unintended consequences that compromise people's mental health.

1.1.1 Double-edged impacts

In a study of the 23 most popular women's health apps on the Apple Store and Google Play in terms of download frequency, for instance, researchers found that 87% of the apps share user data with third parties, often without either the users' consent or awareness [ 11]. Similarly complex, if not more pronounced, relationships between technology and mental health are fast-unfolding in the context of social media [ 12, 13, 14, 15, 16]. On one hand, many researchers and scholars rely on social media for participant recruitment, intervention distribution and delivery, key stakeholder feedback, as well as monitoring public mental health [ 17, 18, 19, 20, 21], which has strengthened the field on multiple fronts. On the other hand, partly epitomised by the Surgeon General's call for adding a mandatory warning label on social media-similar to that of cigarette packages-to protect particularly young people's mental health [ 22], concerns have been increasingly voiced about the potential harm of social media on people's psychological well-being [ 23, 24, 25].

1.1.2 Digital divide issues

Furthermore, disparities in technologies and high-speed Internet access within society mean that many vulnerable populations, such as people living in rural areas, may have limited or no access to mental health technologies [ 26], effectively further deepening health inequities and introducing additional inequalities that digital health solutions should help bridge [ 27]. According to research conducted by the Pew Research Centre in 2021, amid COVID-19, approximately 25% of older people (65 years and older) in the United States (U.S.) do not have access to the Internet [ 28]. Subsequent 2024 surveys further showed that around 35% of American elderly did not have at-home broadband [ 29], while only around 76% of seniors in the country own a smartphone [ 30]. Considering that the U.S. is one of the most affluent countries in the world, it is possible that situations are worse in poorer developing countries. Albeit daunting, these hurdles reflect ingrained systematic issues that have been plaguing the global mental health community, from poor awareness to chronic lack of funding. In other words, while cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) have brought new and novel treatment opportunities, they are nonetheless not immune to structural woes that shape the fundamentals of global mental health, such as a lack of evidence-based mental health awareness, fragmented global mental health education and regulation systems, and a chronic shortage of funding for mental health research and development.

2 Strategies and solutions to improve global mental health solidarity

Drawing insights from the literature and our own research, to address the deep-rooted issues that hinder society's utilisation and optimisation of technological advances in AI to improve global mental health in the post-pandemic era, we proposed three strategies, along with their potential benefits, drawbacks, and balancing solutions (please see Table 1), to further our collective understanding of and advances in global mental health improvement.

Table 1 Proposed strategies, potential benefits and drawbacks, and balancing solutions

2.1 Improving mental health awareness and narratives

While substantial progress has been made, there remains a lack of evidence-based awareness and balanced narratives of mental health. It is important to note that the extreme gaps that need to be bridged not only exist between the ideal and actual societal mental health awareness statuses, but also in the divides between developed and developing countries, urban and rural regions, as well as communities that have varied fluency in mental health literacy [ 31, 32, 33, 34, 35]. Recurring evidence, for instance, shows that many people are still living in an environment where discussion or disclosure of mental disorders remains tabooed or avoided. In a study of 1,216 students across 65 countries, for instance, the findings show that stigma against mental health patients is prevalent among these students, with those living in less affluent countries more likely to hold negative attitudes [ 36]. Yet it is important to note though improving mental health awareness and fostering balanced narratives associated with mental disorders seem like straightforward solutions, they are not immune to potential unintended consequences, such as a perceived "inflation" of mental health diagnoses.

Amid rising calls for action to invest in developing mental health talents and tools, from well-trained psychiatrists, effective treatment solutions, to easy-to-use and accessible telepsychiatry planforms, questions have also been raised about whether the rising mental health awareness may have "inflated" the prevalence and severity of mental health issues en masse, especially among young people [ 37]. It is suggested that, because young people may have limited experience in weathering through stressful events like COVID-19, over-exposed to oftentimes conflicting and polarising digital communications like self-diagnosing advice [ 38], they are vulnerable to mistaking life's daily struggles as mental health stressors. While having a diversity of voices is but a trademark of academia, these diverging views could nonetheless distract researchers and policymakers from committing to safeguarding people's mental health with meaningfully comprehensive investment in force and unison. To balance these issues, we proposed potential countermeasures along with the strategies (please see Table 1).

2.2 Rigorous funding for mental health and development

Greater investments have the potential to materially and meaningfully improve the availability and accessibility of mental health services worldwide. In its June 2022 report, the WHO reveals that, on average, governments across the globe allocate roughly 2% of their overall health budgets to mental health services [ 1]. This meagre investment both explains why many people still face access issues though mental health technologies are becoming increasingly ubiquitous for some, and underscores the critical need to build mental health infrastructures-like universal access to high-speed Internet, electronic devices, and eHealth literacy education programs-particularly in underserved communities such as rural residents and older people. Another way to ensure society is well-equipped to meet people's rising mental health concerns centres on healthcare capacity building, starting from increasing the productivity of the current mental health workforce, preferably with the help of AI tools and technologies, expanding the size and skills of the global workforce, enabling greater international mobility for the free flow of talents, to more rigorous investment in mental health research and development. Take talent development for instance. To motivate interested individuals and free them from avoidable living cost distractions, government and health officials could invest in improving the pay package, career aspects, and social welfare of mental health professionals. Moreover, society should also strive for equal pay on a global level to ensure talents trained in low- and middle-income countries are both morally and financially incentivised to serve the local communities to prevent global mental health disparities from worsening. A more detailed discussion of the benefits of rigorous funding for mental health research development, along with the potential drawbacks and balancing solutions, can be found in Table 1.

2.3 Standardising global mental health practice and regulation

In light of the size and scale of the global population that faces mental health challenges, better integration of mental health education and awareness programs, such as in the form of required courses for students across school levels, should also be developed to mobilize the agency and ability of individual members of society. When optimally implemented, timely and effective education could not only ensure mental health issues become less stigmatised, but also can help people become more vigilant in identifying and addressing their mental health needs. Not to mention that an increase in resources and talents could substantially alleviate some of the worst debilitating hurdles faced by the medical community-around half of the world's population lives in societies where there is less than one psychiatrist for every 200,000 people [ 1]. To address these issues, in addition to the above-mentioned pay standards to enable a greater yet balanced flow of talent, mental health education, training, and regulations should also be comparable on a global level, so that talents and resources can be readily mobilized across the globe in times of crisis.

Take regulations for instance. While technology could shorten geographical distances between service providers and users, regulatory barriers such as access limitations exerted by individual governments or app stores could prevent people from accessing mental health services in a timely fashion. Having a global mental health regulation system in terms of protection of patient safety, security, and privacy, in turn, has the potential to make interventions readily accessible to users across borders. Other differences are also present. A recent report in China revealed that, even though her recovery was clinically validated by the physicians, a woman-now in her 30 s-was not permitted to leave the isolated psychiatry ward she was confined to by her parents for the past 14 years because her parents refuse to sign off her release [ 39]. Though the revelation is chilling, in light of the chained woman incident [ 40], it is hardly an isolated incident that reveals the yawning gaps between the quality of mental health services-from the integrity of the rule of law to the availability of timely help-between developed and developing regions. These realities combined, overall, further emphasise the importance of standardising global mental health practice and regulation.

Comparable training should also apply to technologists who develop mental health technologies. Rather than solely relying on a limited number of AI ethicists or policymakers as oversight mechanisms, the global community could and should ensure technologists receive adequate and appropriate training in ethics to reduce preventable harms in mental health technologies, as well as improve the interoperability of these interventions across contexts. For instance, without a consensus in terms of what "sentient" entails for advanced AI systems among technologists [ 41], and how AI systems should be designed to ensure reliable and safe advice, let alone whether and to what extent AI technologies can be regulated, it could be considerably difficult to protect patients worldwide from erroneous advice or treatment insights generated by AI systems that are developed without universal guidelines. The global presence and prevalence of mental illnesses require a whole-of-society approach to tackle. Essentially, it is in every nation's interest to, preferably via fully and sustainably leveraging the potential of advanced technologies like AI, mitigate their residents, visitors, as well as physical and virtual neighbours' mental health challenges for the betterment of humanity and society, if not productivity and the economy. A more systematic presentation of the pros and cons of standardising global mental health practice and regulation can be found in Table 1.

3 Conclusion

Mental health is distinct as it is diverse. The challenges and opportunities associated with protecting and elevating personal and public mental health are exponentially greater on the global stage. In this paper, we proposed three strategies, discussed their advantages and limitations, as well as presented solutions that could help improve the intended results and reduce unintended consequences. Our exploration has been guided and inspired by ethical visions such as the WHO's "Health and a Better Future for All" and the age-old Confucian principle and ideal of " yi nai ren shu" (medicine as an art and artisanship of humanity). We hope the insights of this paper could help health experts and public health officials better think big and think global when developing mental health policies, not least to strengthen our resistance against emergencies like COVID-19. One of the most important lessons from the pandemic that should not be dismissed is the mere fact that, rather than quietly disappearing, ignored public health woes can be transformed by crises like COVID-19 into debilitating and demoralising burdens of once-unthinkable size, scope, and scale. COVID-19 is still here, and the next pandemic might be near. No walls are long or tall enough to departmentalise the Earth-our shared home that is as round as it is one. Such is also the case for global mental health: to survive and thrive, let us strive for unity and solidary instead.

Data availability

Data are available upon reasonable request.

Abbreviations

AI:

Artificial intelligence

U.K.:

United Kingdom

U.S.:

United States

WHO:

World Health Organization

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to express their gratitude to the editors and reviewers for their constructive input and insightful feedback.

Funding

This project is supported by "The Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities" (4025002306).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

1. School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210009, China

Zhaohui Su, Jianlin Jiang, Xin Yu, Yifan Liu, Tumaresi Alimu, Wenjie Dai, Ya Diao, Yujuan Feng, Dawadanzeng, Sajidai Kadier & Patiguli Milawuti

2. Bioengineering Research Group, Cardiff School of Technologies, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff, UK

Barry L. Bentley

3. Collaboration for the Advancement of Sustainable Medical Innovation, University College London, London, UK

Barry L. Bentley

4. Department of Humanities, South East Technological University, Carlow, R93 V960, Ireland

Dean McDonnell

5. Faculty of Health Studies, University of Sarajevo, 71000, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Sabina Šegalo

6. Bioethics Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand

Jing-Bao Nie

7. Fundação Dom Cabral - FDC, Av. Princesa Diana, 760 Alphaville, Lagoa Dos Ingleses, Nova Lima, MG, 34018-006, Brazil

Claudimar Pereira da Veiga

8. Unit of Psychiatry, Department of Public Health and Medicinal AdministrationInstitute of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Health SciencesCentre for Cognitive and Brain SciencesInstitute of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Macau, Macao SAR, China

Yu-Tao Xiang

Contributions

ZS, BLB, DMD, SS, JJ, XY, YL, TA, WD, YD, YF, D, SK, PM, JBN, CPdV, and YTX conceived the work, reviewed the literature, drafted, and edited the manuscript. All authors approved the manuscript for submission.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Zhaohui Su, Jing-Bao Nie, Claudimar Pereira da Veiga or Yu-Tao Xiang.

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Su, Z., Bentley, B.L., McDonnell, D. et al. Global mental health solidarity: strategies and solutions. Discov Ment Health 4, 40 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44192-024-00087-0
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Keywords

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Global mental health solidarity: strategies and solutions - Discover Mental Health

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Mental health is deteriorating far and fast globally post-COVID. Though there were already over one billion people living with mental disorders pre-pandemic, in the first year of COVID-19 alone, the prevalence of anxiety and depression soared by 25% worldwide.

# data[].attributes.body
Question: How does one’s environment affect moral development?

Reason: In chapter 2 of the novel, incarcerated Wes Moore is arrested for threatening to hurt another kid with a knife after he was punched. I was wondering what led Wes to try and punish the other child so severely, or did he simply not understand the concept of his actions? Additionally, Wes’s friend Woody told the police at the scene, “If y’all don’t let him go, I’m gonna have to kill somebody!” (Moore 35). Evidently, both Wes and Woody didn’t understand the severity of their actions and only wanted to act on their enraged emotion. As far as Wes knows, he was just following his brother’s advice.

#1: Environmental Aesthetic Value Influences the Intention for Moral Behavior: Changes in Behavioral Moral Judgment

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8296289/#:~:text=Different%20environments%20trigger%20individuals%27%20emotions,Emotions%20also%20affect%20moral%20judgment.

-Beautiful environments lead to prosocial behavior

-An experiment was conducted and participants who were exposed to a higher aesthetic value had a lower intention to engage in immoral behavior, compared to those in an environment with a low aesthetic value.

-Moral judgment in different environments may lead to different behavioral intentions

#2: Moral Development | HHS Office of Population Affairs

https://opa.hhs.gov/adolescent-health/adolescent-development-explained/moral-development#:~:text=Specifically%2C%20cognitive%2C%20emotional%2C%20and,situations%20in%20completely%20different%20ways.

-Though adolescents don’t think like children, they still need time and support to process new ideas and ways of thinking.

-While adolescents vary in how fast they establish and change their moral values, cognitive, emotional, and social development all can have an impact on how adolescents shape their morals and values.

-Family members are often a person’s first teachers of how the world works, setting cultural norms and traditions.

-Adolescents’ values are formed by interactions with parents and other adults, peers, schools, religious groups, the media, the internet, and other institutions.

Connection: Growing up, the incarcerated Wes Moore was exposed to life with absent parents and a brother who encouraged violence because of his engagement in a gang. Moore didn’t have the proper support or environment to grow morals or know what was right and wrong. Instead, he followed his brother’s advice and used violence to resolve his emotional issues. When Moore was dealing with emotional control issues, he didn’t have the comfort or guidance to tell him how to correctly handle his feelings. Just like Wes, Tony also didn’t grow up with the essential guidance that a child and adolescent need to form a moral thought process. Their actions involve violence as the answer and are the result of a parentless childhood and a lack of support from their family. Children learn most from their parents, and without parents present, they have nothing to learn from but the violence and crime that surrounds their neighborhood in Baltimore.

# data[].attributes.body
Question: How does living in a low income environment affects children’s schooling?

In the book both Wes Moores live in low income areas and both struggle in school immensely. I wondered if this was due to the school, or due to them. Partially it is both affects on them. From my resource I learned that low income schools have less resources like books computers and teachers. But I also learned that the community a child grows up in also heavily plays a role in their schooling. If children see all the older kids dropping out of school and not doing good in classes they are likely to not try as hard because the bar hasn’t been raised that high. Both Wes Moores struggle in school with Wes( incarcerated) having to repeat a grade, and Wes( the author) skipping school and having poor grades. Through my research I concluded it’s a mixture of a lack of resources and also how the environment around them views school.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Unequal Opportunities: Fewer Resources, Worse Outcomes for Students in Schools with Concentrated Poverty - The Commonwealth Institute

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This report takes an in-depth look at resources and classes available at over 1,800 public schools across Virginia. The findings are clear: students who have fewer resources outside of the school building are getting shortchanged in the classroom as well. And the differences are striking.

# data[].attributes.body
Does discipline from a parent or guardian help keep kids from making the same mistakes? In summary, yes it does; discipline rewards children for appropriate behavior while discouraging inappropriate behavior. Children learn by example, and when they are shown what to do and what is right vs what is wrong, they will follow in the footsteps of that parent or guardian. However, discipline should not come with physical violence, that only teaches the child that it is okay to solve problems through violence. When children are shown how to act and disciplined for their inappropriate actions, it helps that child to not commit the same mistake again and again.

https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/discipline-and-children

# data[].attributes.body
Does racism violate the physical and mental safety of those being profiled? In chapter 6 of the book Wes Moore (author) is out on a walk while in his military uniform; he feels strong and like nothing can stop him, that is until a bunch of kids roll up in a car making racist comments. A bottle is thrown at Wes and he runs away into the woods. Whilst in the woods, he thinks to himself how he felt that he was safe and strong when in his uniform, but that didn’t matter to those kids who rolled up on him. In summary, his uniform created a false sense of safety for him and the racist comments not only violated his physical safety, but also his mental. Racism is using the concept of judgement to make others feel below one other. Racist comments and actions are not just mean comments, they can cause trauma to those exposed which can lead to mental illness. Racism has real and direct consequences. Those who are profiled pay the price emotionally and physically. In conclusion, mental health is not just a mere inconvenience, it hurts those profiled and violates the physical and mental safety of those being profiled.

https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/explore-mental-health/blogs/racism-and-mental-health

https://www3.ohrc.on.ca/en/paying-price-human-cost-racial-profiling/effects-racial-profiling

# data[].attributes.body
Question: Why does the cycle of teenage pregnancy and poverty keep occuring?

In chapter 5, Wes' (incarcerated) girlfriend Alicia becomes pregnant and in chapter 6 Wes officially drops out of highschool after the child is born. There are a lot of reasons why teenage pregnancy and poverty go hand in hand, this is because only 38% of girls who have a child before 18 recieve a high school diploma, which greatly limits their future jobs and will leave them with low paying jobs in the future. This leaves 78% of children born through a teenage pregnancy living below the poverty line. This cycle of young pregnancies keep reoccuring due to a lack of education revolving around sexual education and also because it was normalized due to the childrens mother also becoming a teenage mother.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Preventing teen pregnancy can help prevent poverty

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In July, the Department of Health and Human Services said it will eliminate funding for 81 programs focused on preventing teen pregnancy.

# data[].attributes.body
Question: Why do humans need to belong, and how can a group affect a mindset?

Reason: In chapters 3-4, the author Wes Moore has a difficult time fitting into his private school life and his neighborhood. He wasn’t rich enough to feel comfortable in the private school and felt too privileged to fit into his neighborhood group. I wonder what a sense of belonging would do to Wes’s mindset and if he could have excelled in school if he had found a group to feel comfortable with. Also, does a particular group change who you are or your behavior? If Wes surrounded himself with a positive, productive group, could that have changed how he performed in school and life?

#1: Groupthink | Verywell Mind

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-groupthink-2795213#:~:text=Groupthink%20is%20a%20psychological%20phenomenon,Janis.

-Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon in which people strive for consensus within a group. In many cases, people will set aside their own personal beliefs or adopt the opinions of the rest of the group.

-It is often much more difficult to speak out when it seems that everyone else in the group is on the same page.

-Rather than sharing what they know, people remain quiet and assume that the group must know best.

-When no one speaks out or voices an alternative opinion, people believe that the group must be right.

-Those who question the group are often seen as disloyal or traitorous.

Connection: During chapters 3-4, Joy is concerned about Wes’s academics and how he is failing to keep his grades. Though Wes needed to adopt a support system which can be found within a group like family or friends, groups can also backfire and have a negative effect. Being in a group causes you to conform to their ideas and follow the leader or the majority vote. If you’re in a group, people feel less inclined to share their ideas and follow what many believe, they adopt another person’s mindset and ideologies to fit in. Humans want to belong to a group to gain connections with others around them and not isolate themselves. They want to feel like someone wants to know them and who they truly are. However, a group can also ignore another person’s perspective. If Wes were in a group, he could benefit if he spoke about his experiences in life and had a support system that pertains to his needs, ultimately helping him with school and issues in his personal life.

# data[].attributes.headline
Social Issues Investigator - Olivia Beletic 

# data[].attributes.subject
Social Issues Investigator - Olivia Beletic 

# data[].attributes.body
Question: How is Moore living out and continuing Mandela’s legacy?

Reason: In chapters 7-8, the author Wes Moore travels to South Africa and explores the culture and how Apartheid has affected their community. He knows of Nelson Mandela, but he is educated more about his message and beliefs. Mandela believes that no matter what wounds a nation has, they should be set aside and forgiven to live together in harmony and have a society with equal opportunities. Mandela respects all human beings and believes that we should stop hating each other over what was in the past - we control our futures, not those who attempt to control us.

#1: Biography of Nelson Mandela | Nelson Mandela Foundation

https://www.nelsonmandela.org/biography

-Madela dreamed of making his own contribution to the freedom struggle of his people.

-In 1952 he was chosen as the National Volunteer-in-Chief of the Defiance Campaign, which led to him and 19 others being charged under the Suppression of Communism Act for their part in the campaign and sentenced to nine months of hard labor, suspended for two years.

-He requested a national convention on a non-racial constitution.

-He traveled around Africa and visited England to gain support for the armed struggle.

-”I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

Nelson Mandela never wavered in his devotion to democracy, equality, and learning. Despite terrible provocation, he never answered racism with racism. His life is an inspiration to all who are oppressed and deprived and to all who oppose oppression and deprivation.

Connection: Nelson Mandela’s work and ideologies led Wes Moore to continue his legacy. While Moore received more opportunities than the other Wes Moore, he still advocated for others and believed in equality. No matter where you start in life, you deserve an equal opportunity to succeed. Mandela also never answered racism with racism and continued to live in peace with those around him. To achieve equality, you need to believe in it and see everyone as individuals, yet as one. Moore also lives out Mandela’s legacy by continuing to speak his messages in America and give opportunities to those with less.

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Question: Why do people become drug dealers? And why is it so hard to stop?

In chapters 7-8 of The Other Wes Moore, Wes( incarcerated) realizes that he has been stuck in a community of violence and drugs and wants to escape. He joins the Job Corps and is enthusiastic, but upon his return to his community, he realizes that his issues haven't disappeared and he can't take care of his family with his new passion, so he resorts to dealing drugs and cooks up some more crack. In my research, they said that youth considered drug dealing a "career activity". Many children are exposed to drugs through their family, friends, and community, which normalizes it for them from a young age. A lot of the environmental factors for this are poor neighborhood conditions, poverty, peer group deviance, and limited job opportunities. The drug dealing world hooks young kids by providing a "job" and giving them money, they work their way up and get higher earning positions. Many kids drop out of highschool which further limits job opportunities which leaves a lot of people dealing drugs as it is the only source of stable money due to people being addicted and constantly needing more.

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“High On My Own Supply”: Correlates of Drug Dealing among Heterosexually-identified Methamphetamine Users

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Although rates of methamphetamine use continue to increase throughout the United States, little is known about the individuals who sell methamphetamine at the street level. This exploratory study examined the prevalence and correlates of…