SJHHS Freshmen Suju Park (9) and Jessica Lee (9) inspire a new and anonymous way for depressed, stressed, and tortured teens to express themselves without judgment or exposure.

Lee and Park are focused on creating an online document that teens from across campus and beyond can use to tell their stories anonymously, one which they hope to publish someday if possible.

“Anonymous Teens is a journal composed of past and current battles and experiences, meant to help teens to deal with or erase their scars,” said Park. The scars refer to the physical and mental wounds an individual must endure.

The story is meant to show struggling teens that they are not alone in their pain.

Both Park and Lee, and hopefully other students in the near future, agree that “Anonymous Teens is a way for students to express themselves without fear of discovery.”

Teens of all kinds are welcome to message Park and Lee and tell their side of the story. But once the tale is submitted and if the entry is ever to be published, all credibility is lost.

You remain anonymous, but you are finally heard.

Although Park and Lee knew each other in middle school, they knew of each other rather than about each other. One day, Park came to Lee and asked for her help. Through the idea of Anonymous Teens, Park and Lee grew closer as friends and co-writers.

Despite the extreme differences in personality, opposites truly attract with these two. Both have gone through experiences and seen those close to them feel insecure and alone. They’ve witnessed friends fall into deep depressions and rise from the ashes, and they have faced their own tormentors over the years.

Abuse varies with every victim, it can be physical or mental. Damage is always done and the time it takes to heal also varies, it can last from a few weeks to a few years.

Bullies from elementary to high school don’t realize the severe impact they have on their victims’ lives. Those who are bullied during early development are more likely to grow up insecure, depressed, and in some cases, suicidal.

“Insecurities and depressions form over bottling up emotion and hiding who they really are; either sexually, personality, or interest wise,” said Lee.

Many people, after years of abuse, begin to blame themselves for their misfortune and come to believe the untrue fact that they are worthless and deserved ridicule.

Do not be afraid to express yourself or believe that Anonymous Teens seeks to extort your struggles. They wish to help those in pain and prove to them that they are not alone in the world.

There is no time limit or deadline. Write to your heart’s desire without fear.

Suju Park and Jessica Lee can be contacted through [email protected]