Hello everyone and welcome to my second blog post where I will share my plan of action for my second project. For my inquiry project, I chose a topic that is important around the world but also connects to me personally. My question is: How does the loss of a parent affect teenagers? This is something that a lot of people go through, but everyone experiences it differently. Because of my own experience, I want to understand it better and see how it affects different parts of a teen’s life. In this project, I will be focusing on mental, social, and academic effects to get a clearer and more complete understanding.
Step 1: Mental and Emotional Effects (Blog Post 3)
For my first research round, I will focus on the mental and emotional effects of losing a parent during the teenage years. This includes things like grief, depression, anxiety, and changes in mood or behaviour. I also want to understand how teenagers deal with emotions differently compared to children or adults. This step will help me understand what is happening inside a teen’s mind after a loss and why it can be so difficult.
Step 2: Social Effects and Relationships (Blog Post 4)
In my second research round, I will explore how losing a parent affects a teenager’s social life and relationships. I plan to look at how friendships, family roles, and communication with others may change. Some teens might become more quiet or distant, while others might rely more on people around them. This will help me understand how grief affects the way teens connect with others.
Step 3: Academic Effects and School Life (Blog Post 5)
For my final research round, I will look at how the loss of a parent can affect a teenager’s school life. This includes focus, motivation, attendance, and overall performance. I also want to see how grief can make it harder to keep up with school responsibilities and what schools can do to support students going through loss.
Potential Sources:
- https://www.apa.org/topics/grief
- https://www.apa.org/topics/children/grief
- https://cmha.ca/brochure/grief-and-loss/
- https://kidshelpphone.ca/get-info/grief-and-loss/
- https://childrengrieve.org/resources
Overall, this inquiry question is important to me because it connects directly to my own life and experiences. By researching how losing a parent affects teenagers, I hope to better understand what I’ve been going through and why it impacts different parts of my life, like my emotions, relationships, and school. At the same time, this topic also matters for my community because there are other teens who go through loss but might not talk about it or get the support they need. By learning more about this, it can help people become more aware and understanding of what grieving teens are dealing with. It could also help schools, friends, and families know how to better support someone going through a loss. Overall, I hope this project not only helps me personally, but also helps create more awareness and support for others in similar situations.