Continuing Our Mission to Equip Local Schools with Mental Health Support

KyleCares Foundation News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 2022

MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS –

NOW MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER

As we extend our KyleCares footprint across New England, the work of KyleCares has never been needed more to help high schools and colleges create a positive school culture, expand social and emotional learning programs, and educate students, caregivers, and school staff how to recognize signs of mental health distress among students.

The better educated we all become on these topics, and the more openly we talk about them, the more confidence teens and young adults needing help will have to ask for it, and the easier it becomes for everyone to empathize with those who might struggle.

NATIONAL EMERGENCY

Two prominent organizations recently raised significant attention to the youth mental health crisis in the U.S. The severity of mental health and suicidal ideation issues cannot be ignored. All of us – families, friends, teachers, coaches, school administrators,

and communities as a whole – need to take action to help address the challenges

high school and college students are facing.

In October 2021 The American Academy

of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA) together declared a national state of emergency

in child and adolescent mental health."

We must treat this mental health crisis

like the emergency it is."

The US Surgeon General sounded the alarm over youth mental health in December 2021 Advisory – Protecting Youth Mental Health (reserved only for urgent public health issues), noting “the challenges today’s generation of young people face are unprecedented and uniquely hard to navigate. And the effect these challenges are having on their mental health is devastating. Our obligation to act is not just medical—it’s moral.”

Healthy Minds Network’s 12^th Annual

Student Mental Health Research Symposium

The Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) partnered with the Healthy Minds Network (HMN) and others to pilot a survey aimed at understanding faculty members’ perspectives on the current state of student mental and behavioral health.

Findings from “The Role of Faculty in Student Mental Health” survey show

that while 3 of 4 faculty members are willing to reach out to students, only half feel confident in how to recognize emotional distress issues. Just 1 in 4 faculty members have taken gatekeeper training, but those who have find it helpful.

The data show that faculty would welcome and benefit from additional training in student mental health, a list of available mental health resources, a checklist of warning signs of mental and emotional distress, guides for how to initiate conversations about mental health, and written mental health statements to include in their syllabi.

All of this warrants a strong response by school leadership to better support faculty.

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

MEGHAN MUREDDU

Each year senior students at Rogers High School in Newport, RI, are required to complete a Senior Project consisting of a minimum of fifteen hours of community service or a job shadow/internship outside of school. The theme or topic of the project is entirely up to them, and for Meghan Mureddu there was never any doubt her project would focus on mental health.

After losing her teenage cousin Kyle to suicide in 2018, grappling with bouts of anxiety herself, and seeing the negative impact the pandemic had on her classmates’ mentality and motivation, Meghan felt it was time to start openly raising awareness. Even today, the lack of face-to-face communication and isolation from two years ago when COVID-19 first hit, continues to affect the well-being of many students. Read more on Meghan's Senior Project on the link to the right!