Latest news with #Adolescents
The Herald
3 days ago
- Health
- The Herald
Suicide now the third leading cause of death in 15-29 age group: WHO
Suicide is now the third leading cause of death among young people aged 15-29 years globally, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned, releasing sobering statistics to mark International Youth Day. The organisation said that one in seven adolescents aged 10-19 experiences a mental disorder, contributing to 15% of the global burden of disease in this age group. WHO said depression, anxiety and behavioural disorders are among the leading causes of illness and disability among young people. 'One in six people are aged 10-19 years. Adolescence is a unique and formative time. Physical, emotional and social changes, including exposure to poverty, abuse or violence, can make adolescents vulnerable to mental health problems. Protecting adolescents from adversity, promoting socio-emotional learning and ensuring access to mental healthcare are critical for their health and wellbeing during adolescence and adulthood,' WHO said. The agency warned that adolescents with mental health conditions are particularly vulnerable to social exclusion, discrimination, stigma, educational difficulties, risk-taking behaviours, poor physical health and human rights violations. WHO noted that adolescence is a crucial period for developing healthy habits such as regular exercise, good sleep, problem-solving skills and emotional regulation and that supportive family, school and community environments are essential. In South Africa, the link between violence in schools and youth mental health is under the spotlight. Minister of basic education Siviwe Gwarube revealed in a parliamentary response that 548 cases of bullying have been reported in schools since January 2025. KwaZulu-Natal recorded 29 cases, Gauteng 23, and Limpopo a staggering 305. The Eastern Cape reported 68 cases, the Free State one, Mpumalanga 26, the Northern Cape seven, North West 78 and the Western Cape 11. Gwarube said the department had developed the National School Safety Framework (NSSF) as a guideline to address all forms of violent incidents including bullying. 'It is our responsibility to ensure that every school is a safe space for learning and development,' she said. WHO emphasised that multiple factors affect adolescent mental health, including media pressure, gender norms, the quality of home life, peer relationships, violence and socioeconomic challenges. WHO said depression, anxiety and behavioural disorders can disrupt school attendance, cause isolation, and increase the risk of suicide. Globally, 4.4% of 10-14-year-olds and 5.5% of 15-19-year-olds experience anxiety disorders. Depression affects 1.4% of adolescents aged 10-14, and 3.5% of those aged 15-19. The organisation revealed that eating disorders are more common in girls and that they emerge during adolescence and carry the highest mortality rate of any mental disorder. WHO highlighted that harmful substance use often begins in adolescence. In 2019, 22% of 15-19-year-olds consumed alcohol with high rates of tobacco and cannabis use also reported. The organisation warned that failing to address adolescent mental health conditions can impair physical and mental health into adulthood, limiting opportunities to lead fulfilling lives. 'Suicide is the third leading cause of death in older adolescents and young adults. Risk factors are multifaceted, including harmful alcohol use, abuse in childhood, stigma against help-seeking, and access to means of suicide,' WHO said. WHO recommended focusing on strengthening resilience, providing alternatives to risk-taking behaviours and building supportive environments. 'It is crucial to address the needs of adolescents with mental health conditions, avoid over-medicalisation and respect their rights in line with international human rights instruments,' said the organisation.
San Francisco Chronicle
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Tony Hawk skates in U.N. Plaza, says S.F. will be featured in his next video game
Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk recently took a spin of San Francisco's newly refurbished U.N. Skate Plaza and left inspired. 'If you build it, we will come… do vert tricks (and sloppy kickflips) on banks & curbs,' Hawk posted on Instagram, along with footage of himself performing tricks such as a rock ' n' roll and boardslide through the space. An off-camera voice can be heard cheering Hawk on with remarks such as 'Yeah, dude' as he and fellow professional skateboarder Kevin Staab take turns shredding up the course. The clip, shared on Tuesday, April 29, was set to the song 'Dean's Dream' by the rock band the Dead Milkmen. 'Fun fact: SF — and this song — will be in the new @tonyhawkthegame,' Hawk added. The influential skater's new video game, 'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4,' will drop on July 11, marking the latest installment in his highly regarded 'Pro Skater' series from the early 2000s. A revamped version of the two games, originally released in 2001 and 2002, it follows the full remaster of 'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2,' which came out in 2020. 'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4' is expected to feature various AEG-managed and owned venues such as Los Angeles' El Rey Theater, which is hosting Tony Hawk Pro Skater Fest on May 8. The event, which fans can tune into via livestream, will celebrate the game's launch and is expected to feature performances from artists on its soundtrack such as rappers Danny Brown and Lupe Fiasco as well as rock band Adolescents. Full details about the San Francisco level in the video game, which Hawk hinted at in his recent post, have yet to be disclosed. But he seemed to be doing his due diligence researching the city. He even made a stop at Flour + Water Pizzeria 's first-ever standalone pizzeria at Mission Rock, and posted a Boomerang of his pepperoni pizza to Instagram on Tuesday.
Los Angeles Times
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
New documentary shows how a trio of brothers were instrumental in shaping SoCal punk
The first time that guitarist Frank Agnew went to a punk show he was about 13, and even though he was underage he was able to get into the Whisky a Go Go to see the Bags, Black Randy and the Metrosquad, and the Weirdos. It was 1978 and he went with his older brother Rikk. 'When the Weirdos came on, holy s— that changed my life forever because it was so good,' Frank said. 'Ever since I saw the Weirdos at the Whisky, I'm sitting there thinking, 'I want to be that good, I want to be that tight,' and so that was my goal.' Frank and his brothers Rikk and Alfonso 'Alfie' Agnew spent the next decade forming and playing for some of the most significant bands in the punk canon, including Adolescents, the Detours, Social Distortion, Christian Death, TSOL and D.I., among others — and now their journey as punk rock musicians is finally being told in the new documentary 'Agnew: The Story of a California Family,' which is screening for the first time on April 12 at the Fox Theatre in Fullerton. Recently, their life's work in music was put on display as part of the new exhibit 'Punk OC — From the Streets of Suburbia' at the Fullerton Museum Center that debuted last week. On a recent afternoon, the Agnew brothers gathered at the museum to pose for photos and relive the memories through artifacts of their punk rock youth. 'I constantly am asked questions about my family and about Rikk, D.I., Adolescents, all that stuff, it's amazing to me how many people not only know but care,' said Alfie, who is also a mathematical physicist teaching at Cal State Fullerton. 'This is just as much about the Orange County scene and the people that supported it, not only back in the late '70s and '80s, but also up to now, so I think this is kind of a celebration for all of us.' The documentary by filmmaker Gabriel Zavala Jr. was filmed roughly between 2018 to 2024 and looks back at the brothers' early history and their storied musicianship while also capturing the brothers as they play various shows and navigate the circumstances of their personal lives. Zavala told The Times that he was inspired to create the documentary after watching the Agnews play an explosive show together at the Observatory in Santa Ana. 'It was such a rush because at that time people were once again re-invigorated by punk rock and Rikk and Frank's version of the Adolescents and it was such an electric night,' Zavala said. 'I just told them, 'What if we made a documentary about your family?'' Rikk, Frank and Alfie all agreed to make the documentary with Zavala, who promptly began filming and interviewing various musicians associated with the Agnews including Gvllow, Gitane Demone of Christian Death and Casey Royer of Adolescents and D.I. Zavala, a feature filmmaker who directed and wrote the 2015 indie film 'Rude Boy: The Movie,' also interviewed the brothers' parents before they died while filming the documentary. 'I think they would be proud of it, they were always very proud and supportive of their kids, I think my parents were reasonably unique in supporting such an activity — being punk rock and being musicians instead of going for being doctors and lawyers, although eventually I became a professor,' Alfie said. As children of Irish and Mexican parents with immigrant roots, the brothers say they grew up surrounded by an eclectic variety of music, listening to everything from Irish folk to mariachi, and while their parents weren't musicians themselves, the brothers agree they likely inherited their musical gene from their maternal grandfather, Alfonso Fernandez. According to the brothers, Fernandez was a professional drummer who emigrated from Guadalajara and played throughout Mexico and the U.S. Southwest in a Latin jazz band called the Latinaires. 'When I learned about my grandfather, which was particularly personal for me because I was named after him — in fact my first instrument was drums — I very much had that connection and was always very proud of that,' said Alfie, who also plays guitar. Frank and Alfie didn't know their grandfather — Fernandez died in 1965 — but like Alfie, Frank also credits his grandfather's legacy as being influential in his own journey as a musician. 'My mom obviously would say, 'Your grandpa Alfonso was a drummer, and he was the best drummer,'' Frank said. 'And he had a reputation all through Mexico as being like one of the best drummers and so by her telling us that and showing pictures of him at his drum kit, it was really inspiring, it's like, 'Oh s—, grandpa was in a band, we can too.'' The brothers were at the height of playing shows while filming the documentary, but in 2020 several hardships took place that set the project back and also pushed the crew to finally finish it. First, the COVID-19 pandemic grounded all operations, especially when stay-at-home orders were implemented in 2020. 'COVID hit during the middle of this, God, so we were like in this limbo where we couldn't film for a month and then we had to proceed with the people that were willing to get together and work under the restrictions,' Zavala said. This period is also when Rikk, Frank and Alfie's parents died from old age — first their father Richard Francis Agnew, and then just six months later, their mother Lia Paula Fernandez. Zavala's father, Gabriel B. Zavala, a renowned mariachi performer and teacher, died in early 2021 from COVID-19 complications. 'It was profound and it was sad, but I know that he would have wanted me to fight and to finish the documentary, so that's what we did,' Zavala said. 'We buckled down and, in a way, it was also a healing process to not have to really think about it and I just focused on the goal of finishing this regardless of what it was gonna take to finish it emotionally, financially and with a skeleton crew.' Through the hardships, Zavala was able to successfully finish the documentary more than six years in the making, and the brothers say they are grateful and still humbly surprised that anyone thinks they are interesting enough to feature in a full-length film. 'I often hear from people how much the stuff we did influenced them and how it was like a positive thing in their life, and if that's the only takeaway, I think that's cool,' Frank said. 'Some things we did made people happy, made them move their feet, or influenced them in a way where it's like, 'Wow, I'm not the only one who feels that way,' and I just think that's fantastic and a good thing, and hopefully the documentary will display some of that.'
