Dear Dustin, Kimberly, and Leslie,

I really appreciate this post of bringing awareness to the public regarding the stigma that people with mental illnesses face in their daily lives. I got so interested about reading your post after I chanced upon its title. Having close friends who have struggled with bouts of depression and other related mental illnesses, I certainly cannot be silent on how the public stereotypically characterizes mental illnesses. In fact, I myself have experienced horrible episodes of anxiety. Based on my personal experiences and observations, it is true that people who hold stereotypes against mentally-ill people perceive the target group to be “violent, incompetent, comical, risky, psycho etc.”. The reproduction of these discourses within the society can continuously harm the marginalized population of mentally-ill individuals and can create lesser opportunities for them to be given attention to and allow them to be able to speak up and share their unique experiences of their lives. Another important point you emphasized is the prevalence of suicide and its relation to mental illness which should be a concern especially with the rising rates of self-imposed deaths based on the graphs and data you presented. Thank you for being an instrument to spread awareness regarding this matter!

Best,
Tristan

Dear Dustin, Kimberly, and Leslie.

Dustin! I’m Dustin too! I hope we can be allies!

You sound right to me when discussing the thoughtlessness with which some people use language and how this perpetuates stereotypes about those in the mental community. I appreciate your integration of data and would even add that suicide attempts are up, particularly for young women (https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/01/health/suicide-poisoning-teens-study/index.html)

I’m have several questions for you all.
1. How is social media raising the stakes for the discussion you point out and what solutions or redress of the harmful effects of social media might you (experts as youth posting on YouthVoice) suggest?
2. Have you considered part of your advocacy to demand public spending on mental health? Here in Chicago we’ve had many mental health facilities close down since the recession of 2008 and I have seen schools like the one I work with absorb that impact.

Dustin, Kimberly, and Leslie,

Thank you for sharing this interesting read. I think that this article was very well organized. I think that since you are writing to people who stereotype mental health disorders, you should be more passive in your approach to telling them to stop. I think that it is so cool that you guys care so much about this topic and I care about it to. I think it could be easier for people to see your way of thinking if you were a bit less emotional about the matter. Thank you for sharing this article it was a very interesting find.

Sincerely,
Audrey

Dear Dustin,

I really enjoyed reading your blog because it was really interesting. I agree with you when you said,¨while a person plays fortnite players can play with multiple people such as, friends, family or a stranger they have never met before¨. I agree with you on this because my brother was talking to a stranger and my dad got worried, so he took away his game for a bit. I also do have to agree with you when you also said,¨Some problems that Fortnite caused were people were losing their sleep to stay up to play Fortnite¨, because I do stay up late sometimes playing Fortnite. Thank you for the hard work you put into this, and for posting it to allow many to read.

Dear, Dustin
This article about fortnite is very interesting and it made me think about different effect it can have on people either positive or negative. A line that stood out was when you said “This could help players because they are antisocial in real life then this would be a great opportunity for them to make friends and socialize and they get to be someone they feel like who they really are.” this shows different aspects of a person and lets them be themselves. I think it was a cool topic good job.

Dear epic games,
I did not mean for my post to offend you and i tried to make it to where fortnite can benefit people also. I hope you get this and see that this blog is not what it seems
Sincerely, Dustin

boi im really bouta getcho pickle chin head ah boi

Dear Dustin,
“Can Fortnite Affect a Person Negatively or Positively?” was a really awesome topic choice. It caught my attention as soon as I read the title, mainly because I have a younger brother who loves to play this game. When he comes home from school, I often find him surrounded with two or three extra TV screens that his buddies hauled over to the house just so they can all play together and have their own TV. Anyway, it is great to evaluate the negative and positive affects this game might have on an individual. One sentence you wrote that stands out for me is, “But, something positive about Fortnite is it’s an online game that lets a person play with everyone.” I think this is a great point to make because it is a means to be social as well as competitive. Another point I loved was that people are able to express their personality through this game by the “skin” they choose. I think being expressive through our clothes is always a positive and fun thing for people. Thank you for your post, it was such an interesting topic.

Dear Dustin,
I could really connect to this poem because it reminded me of how sometimes hate can be the most powerful emotion, but there is always a counter-weight. Everything has an opposite. How you wrote that love could take away the hate.

hate only creates more hate like war only brings more war it is a never ending cycle that we deal with in this world.

Dear ________Dustin______,

Thank you for sharing your work. My name is ______Jayvon_______ and I am a student at Fremont High School.
Something I liked about your work was ________________all the artifacts you had inside your shadow box_________________.
Something I have a question about is ______________the hand print___________________. Please feel free to comment on my work in the future. The address of my student blog is http://jayvonafhs2022.edublogs.org/2018/11/30/assignment-3-the-identity-shadow-box/.
Thank You!

Dear Dustin, Thank you for sharing your work. I really liked your shadow box and your statement of it. That bead necklace, do the colors represent where you’re from? Or where your family is from? A sentence that really stood out to me is when you said, “When people usually look at me they think that I am a bad kid but if you actually get to know me, then you would get to know that I am very creative, chill, and a cool person.” People can be very judgmental about the way someone looks and they begin to build negative stereotypes from it. You being black I cannot relate but I am Mexican and there is so many stereotypes that people think of me that are negative as well. I can relate to you by saying that they don’t know the real me until you they get to actually meet me. You seem like a strong person by not taking all that negativity to your head. That is also something I do. Your post helped me know that it’s not only Hispanic people going through negative stereotypes but also other ethnic groups which makes me thing that we are not alone.

Hello Dustin, I enjoyed reading about your shadow box. Its great that your aware of the stereotypes and that your not giving into them. I think people see what they want to see and not who the real person is. I also enjoy playing basketball.

#SJSU