For my "Escape" photo, I wanted to showcase the idea of mental illness, and especially the discussion of suicide, that takes place among the youth in our society. It seems as though most of the children in our generation are facing some form of depression, anxiety, or other illness as a result of several factors that are beyond the scope of cell-phone use (a common scapegoat utilized by older people to blame technology for our generation's poor mental health). In reality, it is the stress of our education and economic systems that has left our age group to be desensitized to the importance of attaining their mental health again. The phrase "I want to kill myself," for example, has become an all-too common form of expression among teens that we as a society have forgotten the truly terrifying meaning of. My photo represents this phrase with a simple hand motion that is used silently between people in conversation throughout the day. The kaleidoscope effect only emphasizes how widespread this practice has become, with the vivid colors emphasizing how mental health is talked about in a light-hearted and jokingly manner. Due to the lack of attention being given to our generation's poor mental health, topics like suicide will only become more and more common.