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PTSD
 When the Iraq war began, Youth Radio launched a series, Reflections on Return, tracing the experiences of young soldiers and marines in the battlefield and coming home. The series highlights young vets’ first person narratives of injury and homecoming, their responses to the prison abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib and the Iraq elections, and their reflections on the continuing conflict on the ground in Iraq. These stories are, of course, widely covered, and the major players in almost all of them are young. What’s unique about Youth Radio’s series is that the coverage is produced not by embedded reporters, but by young journalists and, in some cases, the young soldiers themselves. The series presents a range of perspectives, from soldiers opposing the war upon their return, to others eager to go back to Iraq for multiple deployments.
In this Reflections on Return installment, Jesus Bocanegra shares his story. Jesus joined the military at 18, in part to help support his family. He spent four and a half years in the Army, including one year as a cavalry scout in Iraq. He’s now out of the military and living with his family in South Texas. But the war is still with him, so much so that he’s been treated for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.
Click here to find the full script and audio for this story.
Teach Youth Radio
For this month's feature, you will be able to view these strategies and resources:
1. How teachers can align this Youth Radio story to National Standards in the classroom.
2. Suggestions for lesson plans that link the story's content to your classroom's themes and subject areas.
3. Suggestions for lesson plans that explore media literacy, using the story to re-read mainstream media.
4. Bios of the Youth Radio reporters who produced the story.
5. A list of resources and further research related to the story's themes.
6. Links to Youth Radio’s media production techniques as guides and inspiration for your students’ creative media-making projects.
1. NATIONAL STANDARDS: Standards Alignment
Subject: LANGUAGE ARTS
NL-ENG.K-12.1 READING FOR PERSPECTIVE
NL-ENG.K-12.3 EVALUATION STRATEGIES
NL-ENG.K-12.4 COMMUNICATION SKILLS
NL-ENG.K-12.5 COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES
NL-ENG.K-12.6 APPLYING KNOWLEDGE
NL-ENG.K-12.7 EVALUATING DATA
NL-ENG.K-12.8 DEVELOPING RESEARCH SKILLS
NL-ENG.K-12.11 PARTICIPATING IN SOCIETY
NL-ENG.K-12.12 APPLYING LANGUAGE SKILLS
Subject: HEALTH
NPH-H.9-12.1 HEALTH PROMOTION AND DISEASE PREVENTION
NPH-H.9-12.2 HEALTH INFORMATION, PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
NPH-H.9-12.3 REDUCING HEALTH RISKS
NPH-H.9-12.4 INFLUENCES ON HEALTH
NPH-H.9-12.7 HEALTH ADVOCACY
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2. NEWS YOU CAN USE: Story content in your classroom, Suggestions for lesson plans
Language Arts:
From Interview to Story: A Youth Radio reporter, Sophie Simon-Ortiz, produced this story out of a conversation she had with Jesus Bocanegra. First, she “pre-interviewed” Jesus, without recording, to get a feel for his personality and experience. Out of that conversation, Sophie developed a full list of interview questions, and arranged to record their conversation. As they talked, she made sure to think about the key points she wanted Jesus to touch on, and also what transitions she might need so the story would make sense when she put it all together. Have your students replicate this narrative technique by identifying another young person they want to interview (you might suggest a topic or theme relevant to your classroom curriculum). Have them either tape record or take notes on the conversation, and then arrange the responses into a story. This process almost always leads to provocative discussions related to ethics (making sure editing stays true to the interviewee’s narrative) as well as aesthetics (how to create a story that flows).
Combat Zone, Comfort Zone: Jesus says, “I wish I would have stayed in the military, because when I was with my unit it was sort of a bubble. The outside world does not even get in. The hard part is when you go home and there’s not 10 or 20 guys to talk to in the morning.” Although some might find it surprising, Jesus was more comfortable in his military unit than at home. He talks about the challenges of adjusting and longs to be around people who understand what he is feeling. Students can create their own narratives that explore a situation where they were immersed in a completely new environment. This could be a different school, neighborhood, city, state, country, etc. What makes a comfort zone comfortable? What are the advantages and disadvantages of leaving one’s bubble?
Family Support: In the News Break, Jesus talks about his mother supporting him while he experienced symptoms of PTSD. In his biography, we learn that he joined the military in order to provide for his family. Students can write about a crucial time in their lives when a family member or friend offered them support. Why is it important to communicate personal trauma with someone close to you? What can family members and friends do to provide support for someone who suffers from trauma, even if they have not shared that experience?
Health:
Diagnoses: Have students research Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (see DSM-IV in the resources below). What are the symptoms of PTSD? What situations can induce this condition?
Easing PTSD: How is PTSD treated? How are drugs used? What are the benefits and risks associated with anti-PTSD drugs? What are some treatments other than medication that people can seek?
Resources and Referrals: Do students have friends or family members who have struggled with PTSD? Have students share how they have responded to those struggles. Ask them to imagine that a close friend started exhibiting behaviors like the ones Jesus describes. Do some research to identify useful first steps for helping that person find support. Working individually or in small groups, students can describe local community resources for teens with PTSD and other forms of mental illness, and compile this information as a classroom resource.
Relatively speaking: Jesus talks about veterans from the Vietnam War suffering from PTSD. He feels somewhat hopeless about finding a cure since he sees older veterans still suffering, decades after their service. Speaking to people his own age, from own his unit, brought him more hope. How does Jesus’s experience relate to people wanting to get help from people who have similar backgrounds to them when they are in a vulnerable situation?
Asking for Help: Asking someone for help is not always an easy process. In the beginning of the News Break, Jesus talks about circling the option to seek mental health help. Students can assess their own feelings about asking others for help. What are some of the things that prevent one from asking for help? In what situations do students definitely ask for help? What were the messages they received growing up about asking for assistance?
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3. CRITICAL MEDIA LITERACY: Putting This Story in Context
War at Home: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder comes from being in an environment that threatens one’s physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing. It is often associated with war in other countries, but how can PTSD be a product of stressful environments found in our own backyards? People who live in areas of high violence, survivors of sexual abuse, and inhabitants of regions that fall prey to natural disasters are just a few examples of people who could potentially be affected by PTSD. Can students think of other situations that could traumatize people, for whom PTSD might go undetected? How does being in the military affect diagnosis and treatment of mental health struggles in our society?
Analyzing Research: Have students find out what percentage of soldiers returning from the Iraq war suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Students are likely to find a range of estimates, depending on the source. Have them discuss the factors that might lead to contradictory statistics. As we see in Jesus’ story, he has to take the first step in seeking help. What services does the military provide for PTSD? How are those services described by military officials? By young military personnel? As students look at statistics related to PTSD, what critical questions arise?
Military Money: What is the budget for the U.S. military? How is the total amount sub-divided? Where does the money come from? Where are funds directed? How are decisions made about where the money goes? How much is spent on health care for soldiers? How much is spent on artillery? How does the defense budget compare to federal funding of education and health care?
Media Perspective on Military: The military spends money on advertisements and marketing. Who can serve? How does the military try to attract young people? Where can you find ads and commercials for joining the military? How is war marketed to youth? What are some of the military recruitment techniques linked to the federal education policy, No Child Left Behind? What are military policies pertaining to young people who are immigrants and not U.S. citizens?
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4. MEET THE COMMENTATOR
Jesus Bocanegra, 23 years old (as of late 2005), is from Elsep, Texas a small rural town. He is the second youngest of 8 children and joined the military immediately after high school to help out his family financially. One of the youngest in basic training, he felt rushed into adult life. When he came back from Iraq, he started at the local community college but found it hard to focus. He looked for the mental health help he'd been promised but found it almost nowhere. He eventually found some counseling but, as he says in the piece, he could not connect to the support groups, because members had served during the Vietnam War era and no one was talking about Iraq.
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5. RESOURCES AND RESEARCH
• PTSD Fact Sheet
• PTSD and criminal behavior
• DSM-IV
• New York Times article on PTSD
• Booklet explaining PTSD, including a self-test and resources for
getting help
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6. MEDIA PRODUCTION FOR LEARNING: Making Audio Narratives
Click here to link to Youth Radio's guidelines for conducting interviews, writing commentaries, and producing features.
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