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Distressed teens
Re Number Of Teens With Psychological Distress Rising At Alarming Rate (July 21): As a psychiatrist who specializes in the problems of teens, I am not at all surprised by the findings of the study done by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
Not only am I seeing more distressed teens, but the severity of their problems is greater, and the age of onset is earlier.
When I recently went to a high school to do some community outreach, and asked a class of Grade 11/12 students how many of them knew someone who had cut themselves or engaged in some other self-harm, to my dismay, 90 per cent raised their hand.
Teens are the "canaries down the mine" – they are the sentinels of what is wrong with families, communities and, through social media, society at large. We ignore them at our peril. Today's disturbed teens are tomorrow's statistics, be those about criminal activity, homicide or suicide.
How many more studies do we need before we put more resources into teen mental health? This one confirms that doing nothing is not an option. As we stand by and watch, the situation is getting demonstrably worse.
Marshall Korenblum, chief psychiatrist, Hincks-Dellcrest Centre for Children and Families, Toronto
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We had two boys in our early 20s, and a daughter in our early 40s. So she was raised in another generation. I saw first-hand how much things had changed since our boys were in school.
Performance pressures were infinitely greater – to have the highest grades, most impressive volunteer résumés, most versatile job skills. In Grades 11 and 12, she and her friends were chronically sick with exhaustion. When I picture them then, I don't see laughing, carefree teens; I see kids with tired eyes and furrowed brows.
When our sons graduated from high school, they and their friends applied to half a dozen regional universities, all of which were considered equally acceptable, none of which they set foot in until they moved into their dorms. By the time our daughter was ready, an overblown, U.S.-style obsession with college selection had taken hold; there were campuses to visit, personal statements to write, and a hyped-up, manufactured sense that it was a life-or-death decision.
Then, of course, there was social media. She was bullied online when she was 13; I don't think she ever really got over it. Who does? Add on shrinking job opportunities and the frightening state of the world, and it's no mystery why our teens are anxious and depressed.
Liz Mayer, Toronto
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Turkey, democracy
Re Erdogan Gives Himself Broad Powers With State Of Emergency (July 21): According to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey would "never step away from democracy."
Alternately, it might run, gallop, flee, speed or abandon it for the foreseeable future.
Ron Freedman, Toronto
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'Negotiating stance'
Re Merkel Urges May Not To Delay Over Brexit (July 21): Nearly half of Britain's exports go to EU countries; slightly more than half of its imports come from there. Britain needs time, it says, to put together a "negotiating stance" before it triggers its exit clause from the trading bloc.
Presumably, while it's doing that, the European Union is doing the same thing with its "negotiating stance."
EU leaders have already warned Britain that it will not be able to "cherry pick" what it wants from its EU trading relationship.
Read that as: You won't be able to shut your doors against the free movement of people.
With support for the EU swelling inside the trading union's membership, including Germany, France And Italy, it seems the EU has taken the British advice to "Keep calm and carry on" to heart.
Read that as: Keep calm and carry on … without Britain (EU Support Surges After British Vote – July 21).
Elizabeth Masters, Edmonton
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Re Great Britain Or Little Britain (editorial, July 16): The Brexit campaign, such as it was, represented a political failure on a historic scale. It seems unlikely that the "leave" vote would have reached a majority had the full economic and political implications been better understood within the electorate.
Britain's departure from the European Union would produce negative economic, cultural and geopolitical consequences for Europe as a whole, as well as a "Little Britain" – diminished in wealth, opportunity, influence and (quite likely) territory, as your editorial observes.
The Globe's endorsement of a protracted negotiation process between Britain and the EU, during which the real costs of Brexit are disclosed, and offering the possibility of sober second thought on behalf of the British electorate, represents a more statesmanlike approach to leadership than does immediately triggering Article 50, from which there is no going back.
Tom Hutton, Vancouver
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What a wonderfully convoluted, devious editorial. I can only surmise that it was written by Sir Humphrey Appleby.
Terence Coulter, Victoria
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In her own words
Re Melania's Speechwriter Pens An Apology (July 21): A speaker who is credible and authentic is congruent with their messaging and their delivery. If you are speaking about who you are and your own values, you do not need to plagiarize. We will know what Melania Trump stands for when she pens and delivers her own heartfelt words.
Melanie Novis, Toronto
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I find it quite laudable that long-time Trump employee, Meredith McIver, wrote to the family to apologize for the plagiarizing that occured of a speech once delivered by Michelle Obama.
I hope her written statement doesn't mirror anyone else's. Somehow the wording reminds me of an apology I read by …
Eddy A. Elia, Vancouver
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Let's talk Trump
Re Trump, In The Key Of Nixon (July 21): Watching the Republican and Democratic bids for the White House, the one fact that is becoming very clear is that this election is all about racism, the clash of cultures, and the struggles between the haves and the have-nots. The United States today is at its divisive worst.
Sheila Jacobson, Brampton, Ont.
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When Donald Trump and his contingent leave the political scene, we can rest assured that their powers of oratory and originality will remain. "Government of the church steeple, by the steeple and for the steeple." "Ask not what your military can do for you, ask what you can do for your military." "We shall fight those sons of beaches in the fields and in the streets." And lastly, "Keep strong and bring a bomb."
Jerry Amernic, Toronto
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Konrad Yakabuski ends his column on Donald Trump's channelling of Richard Nixon by saying Mr. Nixon "will be looking down approvingly."
Doubtless the reprobate and toasty Mr. Nixon will be looking up.
Ron Csillag, Toronto