Mental Health in Schools: We’re Doing it Wrong | Maya Dawson | TEDxYouth@CherryCreek
School counselors are a crucial resource for students, but their services are not accessible for all youth. We are not giving students the language they need to talk about their own mental health, which is keeping them from getting support until they are in crisis. By integrating conversation around mental health into core school curriculum schools will give their students the tools they need for self-advocacy and a healthier lifestyle. “Maya Dawson is a junior at Conifer High School. She fell in love with storytelling from stories around the dinner table growing up, and now shares her own stories and those of her peers through her school’s student paper. She has worked as a Global Youth Reporter with the Team Harmony Foundation and has been published in several papers. Her work focuses on social justice and the challenges faced by today’s youth. She hopes to pursue political science or journalism in college- whatever will best let her share the stories of those who are not being heard. When not writing, she runs, plays basketball, and cares for her pet Axolotl (Look up photos… they are fantastic creatures).
” This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
25 Comments
mental health everywhere….. we're doing it wrong
Very nice idea…congrats! The school must change in many aspects…it's frozen for so long
well spoken, and great delivery. i agree with what she said when she said that it's beneficial to write essays about how we feel. It helps us to understand it and even let negativity go. it's difficult for some people to discuss mental health because they are raised with low compassion or infrequent interaction, therefore being open minded and trying to understand people, even the really negative people, is important in battling the droves of declining mental and emotional positivity.
I am an occupational therapist by trade. I truly believe OT practitioners can be part of the solution here. The thing is- many people in the general public don't know that occupational therapy practitioners have trainings in mental health, as well as having mental health as part of their education.
exactly. schools prioritize giving more homework for "learning" rather than giving time for one's mental health, and it damages it even more because students have to constantly think about their activities that need to be done rather than focusing on their own selves at least once or twice a week.
The toxic culture of schools is a reflection of the toxic culture of our modern world: emphasis on one part of our brains over the rest of the body, unnatural time schedules, control by grading . . . preparing children to be consumers and cog-like workers. It's no wonder we are the most medicated, most addicted, fattest, most in debt generation ever. We're all just trying to soothe our pain of living in this hyper-stimulating, work-obsessed world that we've created. The kids are the canaries in the coal mines; we don't need to fix the canary; we need to fix the mine.
Gabor Mate's new book "The Myth of Normal" explores these thoughts beautifully.
Well said! Yes to mental health, the brain, emotions – integration into school core curriculum!
well communicated. i'd like to have heard more in the way of ideas for integrating mental health into the classroom. i felt there was more to say about what's not happening rather than actionable ideas for change.
Brain surgeons cannot even say how the brain works with any level of certainty. Expecting classroom teachers to have any level of success in the outcome of a student with a neurological disorder is a tall order to say the least. It will take the APA to start diagnosing minors with serious disorders (such as personality disorders) instead of protecting their feelings until they are 18 to 21 years old. By then, much damage could have already been done. Not telling someone what their true diagnosis is, (imho) doesn't help or cure anyone.
Thanks for the video
This makes no sense. Schools were never designed to be mental healh facilities. Teachers are not mental health professionals. If you chose to be a parent, it is YOUR job to address whatever mental health issues your kids has. You do not dump your kid's problems on the public school system. This only kicks the can further down the line.
Any parents interested in a dictionary with the best definitions and video of each definition with picture examples
Sorry that has been your experience but School Counselors are typically not viewed as scary, I have never heard of that and ALL students have access to us and we do way more than you know, obviously–this was a good idea overall but not totally accurate with most schools.
I wished my school had some one that we could talked about are mental health.
So I see the video is a year old. It sucks to hear someone say that schools still don't hardly teach us about mental health. I also think it's crucial that schools teach what verbal and mental abuse is. Are there any statewide or nationwide requriements for classroom teaching about mental health? What can we do to make it a requriement? Petition some legislators who we think are likely to agree??
My opinion :
Therapists are like bandaids, they dont solve the problem, they just lessen the negative effects.
The problem is school, it needs to change, yet it has been the same for quite a while.
There are studies on that btw.
Fun fact : There's a conspiracy going on that the school system was originally made to easily control the population since influencing children is easier than adults.
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I wish school actually teached us that instead of teaching me abote thermal energy 4:09
Kids now a days want to be adults so bad but they can not handle it
Elizabeth Kluber Ross once said “ I’m not okay, you are not okay, but that’s okay”
As a High School Senior thank you so much for saying this for us
Great job!
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As I Jr. High student I don't know if I can say much but the system is all wrong cause I never actually feel like I'm learning I always just feel like I'm remembering stuff just to forget it for the next important set of information. I have literally learned more from some kids shows than school and learning always felt fun as a kid and once it's a job it stopped becoming what I wanted to do in sparetime.
Schools are the biggest cause of the mental health. Children should not be inside sitting most of their waking hours and in after school programs and activities. Parents barely have quality time to even know their kids. If you love your kids take them out of these institutions.