It's often hard to know where to turn when we need some support or a release. Reality Check provides us with a way to share our stories and to read those of others who can relate to them. We attempt to help students deal with problems at hand by including information written by a licensed therapist and a list of researched resources. These are designed to provide honest and fresh assistance that is neither condescending nor generic.

Our problems and the choices we make are not unique to our generation. What is unique, perhaps, is our desire to break the code of silence, a code that often leads to feelings of isolation and despair. We already know what's right and wrong. We don't need to hear it again. What we need is the opportunity to express our feelings and receive validation, a chance to understand our peer's struggles, and tools to help us cope.

We publish eight issues each year, mailed directly to every student. Your stories are the heart and soul of Reality Check. We encourage you to submit your stories and read every issue.

"We have all known pain. We have all known life. We have greived over the death of a parent, a sibling's drug use, suicide and depression, rape, and the divorce of parents. Among us are alcoholics and addicts, some in recovery; some still in the disease. In our short years, we have witnessed battles against anorexia, bulimia, mental illness and violent homes. We have fought, cried, begged, screamed, mourned and pleaded. Some of us won. Some of us lost. And some of us are just beginning." (LGHS student)

Back issues from September 1997 through the last issue are available in the LGHS Library.