Flynn column: Cass County teens matter

Mar. 30—Over the past month I've been working on a story series about Cass County teens and their mental health.

It took a bit of a toll on me that I didn't quite expect. It was difficult to ask tough questions and listen to their responses. And I think it brought a lot of bad memories up for me from when I was their age.

When I was sixteen and my depression and anxiety started, I didn't have any classmates to turn to. The only person I had was Darlene Conner, the angsty TV teen daughter of Roseanne Barr.

I still love the first run of "Roseanne." The first episode I ever watched was during the summer of 1992, a rerun of an episode titled "Darlene Fades to Black." In the episode, Darlene, the always sassy middle child of the Conner clan, begins dressing in black, ignoring her friends, dropping out of school activities.

It's a multi-season plotline that carried me from that nightmare summer to my high school graduation.

Darlene became my role model. Each week I saw her evolve a little more from a depressed teen into a wannabe writer. She inspired me to try to do the same. I probably would have survived without Darlene. But I really don't know.

One of the things that I did love about writing this mental heath series was seeing that local teens wanted to be a face for mental health resiliency in their schools.

The original stories had the students' names in them. I was a bit worried they might catch some bullying from classmates or disappointment from parents for sharing their stories with me, but I was going to let them have their moment.

At the very last minute, the decision was made to use the students' initials instead.

I understand the decision to protect the students' identities and privacy. Some of the students said I could still use their names.

I applaud them for that. When I was their age, I was terrified I would be institutionalized because of my depression.

I told them they would have changed teenage Josh's life.

I hope they change some of their classmate's lives as well. It sounds like they probably already have.

Because they are talking. They are talking with each other openly about their mental health.

It starts with just one of them opening up. And then their friend says, 'you know..." and shares their own story.

I'm so proud of them.

Cass County teens matter. Their lives matter. Their struggles and joys matter.

How do I know?

Because I'm sitting here typing this, happier than I've ever been in my life. That's because of these kids.

Raise your hand if you've had to listen to me talk about how amazing the young people of Cass County are.

There are hands being raised from here to Kokomo and beyond. Indianapolis. Michigan. New York City.

I talk about these kids a lot. I write about them even more.

These kids made me feel like I had a purpose for the first time ever in my life.

They matter to me.

They are my kids. I haven't even met many of them yet but they are still my kids.

I hope the students I interviewed for the series will be mental health champions for their peers. Like I said, I think they probably already are.

I also hope they know they matter. That everything they do matters. None of it is silly teenage nonsense.

I said before that the Cass County youth are the best of us.

I really believe that. Even more so after this last writing project.

___

(c)2024 the Pharos-Tribune (Logansport, Ind.)

Visit the Pharos-Tribune (Logansport, Ind.) at www.pharostribune.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.