Thanks, Sabahat, for reading through this and taking the time to respond! You're definitely right -- solutions like broadcasting lessons on TV could be a step in the right direction, but it's also important to remember that not everyone owns a TV. One could say that the radio is an option as it's more widespread especially here in Kenya, and my government did try that. However, the problem is far more complex than perhaps might first meet the eye -- being at home brings with it so many challenges. I actually wrote an article for the August periodical on the alarming high rate of unintended teen pregnancies seen during the pandemic. Besides that, the way the society is set up here expects a lot from children in the household. So in as much as lessons were being broadcast on radio, a lot of children were busy with helping out their parents with cooking, caring for the livestock, etc that they didn't even have time to listen in, propagating the issue of inequality as some were indeed able to. To add insult to the injury, most students share books since the resources are not enough, so access to things like books becomes another factor to key in, so if they did find time to in fact listen in, they were not be able to apply it and practice it. Having NGOs distribute books, like you suggested, would be of huge help and that's a great idea, but as you said, it's far from the perfect solution and would require a lot of resources to accommodate for every single school-going child. It's just devastating to think about how millions of children are stranded at home unable to obtain an education because of the pandemic and in turn facing many more problems while I have the privilege to easily attend online classes at my own institution. I think it's an issue that we all need to think about and your suggestions could definitely be a good start. Thanks Sabahat! I hope Saudi is doing much better than this haha.

Taking this argument, and given the vast benefits of marijuana, I don't see why it should not be legalized. Perhaps it's all in the mind?

I see the argument from both perspectives. As highlighted in a different post, marijuana has numerous unknown dangerous health repercussions, especially in users under the age of 25, such as impaired thinking, learning disabilities, and neurological functioning deficits, according to drugabuse.org. While I see no problem with the legalization and normalization of marijuana, I think it's also important to spread awareness on the health dangers. The media, as Clare Yuan, in today's music and shows, mainly serves to normalize marijuana. However, this leads to increased abuse among teenagers, which only causes more harm than good. This is something that the media should ponder -- giving light to both sides of the argument.

Marijuana is illegal in my country, Kenya, with a high conviction rate for abusers. I think marijuana should be legalized, given that there are other drugs with much more adverse effects that are legal. Individuals should be given that freedom of choice. What aches me most, furthermore, is that it is not legalized for medical research either, which illustrates a case of a country letting her own conservative views blind her from innovations. Like Abby Strong, I don't see an issue with it being legal.

It's interesting to see how culture may also play a role in where marijuana is legal or illegal. I don't know about Asian countries, but at least in my own country, Kenya, a largely conservative country, there is barely ever any talk concerning the illegality of marijuana. Of course, a good number of youth use the drug, but there is hardly much controversy over the issue. Accordingly, most of the eastern world is red, meaning that this part of the world is largely opposed to marijuana usage, perhaps stemming from the more conservative culture. Contrastingly, the western world, which is often associated with more liberal views on life, has considerably much less red, suggesting that the illegality of the drug is not so enforced, and even legal in some areas such as Canada.

Interesting you raise that question. I actually watched her documentary about year ago where she boldly and openly highlighted her story of depression and eating, and bipolar disorder. Yes, she did recognize, at least partly, that the toxic nature of her career, given his young she was, played a huge role in her depression, such that she had to take a couple of years off to focus on her mental health.

I echo the famous saying "music is therapy for the soul." There's music for every occasion, mood, you name it. I turn to music, not only when stressed or sad, but also when happy, and I think listening to other artist's sing their stories has indeed touched a lot of people, if anything, it's always great to know that you're not alone in whatever you're going through. Personally, when stressed, I listen to Afro-beats, which are extremely lively and fun, in an attempt to relieve my stress and get me feeling motivated to tackle whatever I have left to do.

Following this example of the Rock, I wanted to raise a case of a friend of mine who is also currently suffering from diagnosed depression. Your last point states that the Rock stresses the importance of outreach and awareness, which we have to realize is not always possible, especially for those who come from more traditional countries like my own, Kenya. My said friend has only confided in me, a couple of other people, and his therapist -- his parents know nothing of this, the same parents who should be his greatest support system. Sometimes, it's just very difficult to reach out, especially to the people who care most about you, because of the stigma that surrounds the topic. In addition, he mentions that we ought to help them through it and remind them that they're not alone. I find this strikingly hard, especially in helping those with severe depression. My said friend does have severe depression. I'm one to be drawn to talk with people going through problems, and helping them, and for this reason, he trusts me as one of his closest confidants. I always try to remind him that he's not alone, but he always replies that he has lost all hope in life, and that he doesn't really care about anything anymore -- nothing I say seems to help and even his therapist doesn't seem to be making any progress. I just wanted to raise this example to show that depression cases and solutions aren't always black and white. I wonder if any of you have had similar experiences. However, I applaud the Rock for speaking out about his depression, and attempting to raise awareness on the topic.

# 1 is also something that people further need to realize and understand. It's often assumed that only certain events and situations in one's life lead to depression or social anxiety, but it's interesting and important to realize that chemical imbalances in the brain may indeed be another cause -- an emphasis on #2 which illustrates that depression is not something that can just go away, perhaps after removing the triggers that are believed to cause the illness. Lady Gaga, regardless, is an inspiration to many, including me, and an example of a person who is able to accept her reality and not let it stop her from achieving her dream, including being nominated and winning her first Oscar award just last month for her song 'Shallow' which I absolutely love! Congratulations Gaga!

I think they key way is to be there and support the elderly in our lives. While elderly communities may enable the elderly to relate more with others facing similar problems, in my opinion, more than ever, the elderly need to be with their families and feel their love, especially as they feel that their lives are coming to an end. Definitely showing support and talking with them, getting to laugh with them, I believe, will be the key in helping the elderly enjoy they last days of their lives.

This is an interesting point that you raise, and while my response doesn’t directly respond to the post, it is somewhat related. Kenya is 56 years old, that is, she gained independence from the British colonists in 1963. Therefore, a lot of the elderly, especially those around 60 years of age and above, were born, raised, and lived through the colonial days and the aftermath of the war of independence, including my own grandparents. The economy was in shambles — it still is today (according to the World Bank, 35% of Kenyans live on less that $1.90)— but it was worse back then. Because of this, a lot of the elderly reaped no retirement benefits, and live on nothing rather than depending on their younger sons and daughters (My own father financially supports my grandmother in every single, little way, including just buying bread for afternoon tea). As a result of this, many would rather spend their money on more “important, pressing” issues rather than mental health issues such as depression, given the stigma it also holds in the African community at large. In the long run, mental health issues have now place in the common Kenyan’s budget as there is already so little money and so much to spend it on, and this becomes especially a problem for the elderly who aren’t even making any money of their own.

In my culture, broadly, that is, African culture, elders are prized and treated with utmost respect. Children work hard just so they could give back to the older community by caring for them. It is also widely believed that disrespect to the elderly, especially one’s own parent/ grandparent, could potentially lead into a life filled with misery. For such reasons, the elderly tend to be held as wise, knowledgeable and should be respected. Because of this, depression in the elderly is rarely ever heard of, except , perhaps, because of fear of approaching death or reminiscing the youth days passed, and even then, it’s rarely ever chronic. Of course, other mental issues such as schizophrenia, are more common among them, but depression is a topic that is rarely spoken about when it comes to the elderly.

Sometimes, the best way to cope with heavy, serious issues in our world is through humor. Some topics may just be too heavy for people to deal with face-on. In the end, though, it shouldn't just be about the laughter and the joy taken from the memes read online or internet videos, but rather, being able to reflect past that. On the downside too, depression shouldn't be something that's watered down and negatively stereotyped because that in itself demeans the serious topic of depression, and turns it into a joke, or maybe even lead to further stigmatization. I think that through the comedy used, people should be able to learn more about the illness, rather than make a joke out of it, that is, educational comedy.

I have a friend who was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. While depression doesn't always have obvious on-the-surface signs, they opened up to me a few months ago, and this is what I've noticed from the few conversations we've had: 1. Locking oneself in their own world and not paying attention to others around them. 2. Wanting to be alone 3. Seeing no ultimate solution to their problems 4. Needing someone to talk to 5. But, distancing themselves from those who care about them, or when you probe for more answers, or even try to care 6. Exhibiting no hope 7. Indulging in food, music, and other pleasures to distract them from their thoughts

My country, Kenya, is rather conservative. Depression, or any type of mental illness, is considered a sign of "madness" and those diagnosed are often considered "abnormal" or "outcasts". There is also a general lack of information, because for many people, mental health is more of schizophrenia or dementia, and less of anxiety and depression. Depression and anxiety are just a non-issue to the government and many. Depression is more like temporary sadness, not an issue that needs to be depressed. Moreover, neither parents nor teachers are addressing this issue and many teenagers are left wondering in the dark with no one to turn to or even speak to, because all their life, depression has been stigmatized as a non-issue. Leave alone the lack of education, there are barely any support systems in place such as counselors or suicide hotlines - the country has "more serious" problems to deal with.

This is a controversial notion that you raise. Another issue that the opponents might raise is that of consent. Yes, vaccines are safe and are a significant medical breakthrough, but does one deny a parent the choice of consent when one requires them to vaccinate their child? This can be closely related to the recent breakthroughs in the CRISPR-Cas 9 technology used for gene editing. If the researchers and scientists are able to make a breakthrough to discover a way to eradicate a disease and thus prevent it from being passed down to future generations, would parents then be required to have their children's embryos edited? What of those that don't believe in the ethical notions of gene editing? A parent should surely be able to consent, shouldn't they? But then again, a lot of countries require certain vaccines, almost entirely stripping a parent from consent of whether they are in agreement with the "insertion of foreign chemicals in their child's fragile body", as an opponent may put it.

The artistic representation of how vaccines work was a great way of spreading necessary information. The idea of herd immunity came up as well. The controversial nature of this idea is such that many diseases which have been able to be dealt with are gradually beginning to return. One of the reasons that I think this, and the anti-vaccine movement, are prevalent today is because people may not be aware of why these vaccines are actually important, given the fact that many of the diseases that are vaccinated against today are almost non-existent. That being said, there should definitely be increased awareness on the importance of vaccines. In addition, there are deadlier diseases that some parents feel they need to worry more about, including malaria, where in 2015, 303 000 African children died before their fifth birthdays, and 220 million threatening cases worldwide (World Heath Organization: https://www.who.int/features/factfiles/malaria/en/). I, myself, being a personal victim: I spent 3 nights on a hospital bed when I was two years old; and 5 nights in an ICU room just last year. Now, a disease like this definitely deserves more research to find a way to prevent it, given the number of families it affects each year. Regardless, there should definitely be more awareness on the looming dangers of being unvaccinated and how it can personally affect each and every one of us.

While I agree that those who aren't vaccinated are a detriment to society, let's not undermine nor forget those who just don't have access to vaccination. According to UNICEF (https://www.unicef.org/immunization/index_why.html), highly infectious diseases such as measles are the primary killers of children in the developing world, simply because they are poor, thus, do not have access to routine immunization. Yes, I believe that vaccines are beneficial to societies' collective health, but often, especially in the developing world, it's less about morality or choice and more about a parent just not having access to the vaccines themselves.