Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Military Hazing of Asian American Soldiers

If you've ever heard the name "Danny Chen," then you might know that he faced weeks of "corrective action" at the hands of his military peers.  The corrective action included being called "chink" and "gook", dragged across gravel on his back and had rocks and bottles thrown at him to simulate artillery.  After enduring this abuse, he went up to his guard tower and committed suicide. Two of those responsible for his hazing ended up with as little as one month of jail time when they could have received up to 17 years.   

This could be a reminder of Harry Lew, who was a also victim of military hazing just last year. After over three hours of being physically assaulted and choking when having a sandbag poured over his face and in his mouth, he shot himself with his own rifle in a fox hole that he was forced to dig himself. Once again, his perpetrators were either free to walk or were given one month of jail time.

Such suicides could have been prevented.  Congresswoman Judy Chu created a petition calling for a zero-tolerance policy for hazing in our military. Read her New York Times Op-Ed piece for the background to her policy:  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/04/opinion/military-hazing-has-to-stop.html?_r=1&ref=opinion.  Or, visit her website for more information about the proposed legislation to stop military hazing. http://chu.house.gov/press-release/reps-chu-cummings-honda-and-others-introduce-legislation-prevent-hazing-military

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

What A Difference A Friend Makes

The National Alliance Mental Illness (NAMI) recognized July as National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=Multicultural_Support&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=120508


SAMHSA and the Ad Council ran a campain which targeted young adults in the Chinese community and encourages social networks to get educated and support those experiencing mental health symptoms. http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/adcouncil/44964/

The "What a Difference a Friend Makes" campaign is an example of what public education can do to help reduce stigma towards mental illnesses.  http://www.whatadifference.samhsa.gov/Chinese/