‘We’ll Get Through It Together’
January 29, 2019
By: Shawna De La Rosa
Source: Education Dive
Dive Brief
- At Taos High School in New Mexico, seniors lead an emotional intelligence retreat for freshman students as a way to welcome them and assure them they’re not alone during their high school years, according to The Hechinger Report. It’s an eight-year tradition in a district where, on top of the typical stressors high school brings, nearly 83% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-priced lunch — another factor that can be difficult to deal with.
About one in five youths in the U.S. between the ages of 13 and 18 experience a severe mental health disorder at some point in their life, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. And oftentimes, talkingabout these issues is hard — especially to people who aren’t their age. Working off this theory, many peer model programs work to eliminate any perceived stigma around mental health and increase students’ confidence in finding support in others. And with suicides increasing among this age group, Sources of Strength and other programs work to empower students and help prevent this from taking place.