This past
month, I had the honour to attend the Balancing Our Minds Youth Summit at
Rogers Arena.
Balancing
Our Minds Youth Summit is a day where high school students across the Lower
Mainland gather to discuss major issues surrounding mental health, to educate
young people about the sensitive topic, and to find ways to create a safe
environment where people can express themselves and get the help that they
need. At the conference, I was inspired by the many speakers who gave us
insights on their experiences with various mental health issues and how they
overcome emotional and mental barriers to become the people they are today. At the event, I was given the opportunity to connect with
mental health nurses, school counsellors, and teachers. One of the most
prominent discussion we had was why students’ mental health are progressively
deteriorating and the causes of this trend.
One of the
most interesting response to this question was that children are facing increasing
amounts of pressure from their parents to succeed in school. This is because of
the rising demand of undergraduate degrees. This mentality is also highly
prominent in minorities, as they often compare their children to other
exceptional students and hold them responsible for meeting the same standards.
In more extreme cases, children are threatened with abandonment if they cannot
achieve straight As and/or be admitted to a prestigious university. On the flip
side of the problem, students themselves feel as if they cannot speak out about
their struggles because of the stigma behind the topic. They are afraid of being
judged, excluded, or bullied. Yet, it is a crucial topic that needs to be
addressed and taught to the future generation.
In my
opinion, I believe that our current curriculum should include Mental Health as
a mandatory subject to students. One of the main reasons why bullying happens
due to stigma behind mental health is because of lack of education about the
topic. These lessons should include learning about the different types of
mental illnesses, disorders, and their treatment methods. It should be followed
by lessons on how to recognize signs of depression, anxiety, and other mental
illnesses and how to get help for their peers or themselves. Another big topic
that should be covered in these classes is suicide prevention and intervention.
To address these topics, lessons should be primarily discussion-based, where
students can share their perspectives and experiences openly with each other
without any judgement nor shame. By exposing the future generation to these
topics, who are the most vulnerable to mental illnesses, we can create a safer
environment for everyone to share their feelings and find ways to cope with
their emotions.
Aside from
educating students, an important element to improving the mental wellbeing of
the future generation is to educate parents on these topics. Many parents grew
up in an age where mental health was considered something too taboo to be taken
seriously and discussed. For immigrant parents, they may have come from places
in the world where mental health was a ticket to detention or other negative consequences.
A way of educating parents on these topics is through parent-teacher
conferences or monthly parent meetings at schools. By educating parents on
these topics, children would be less likely to feel disconnected or that they
must keep their feelings away from their families. Communication between
parents and children will also improve.
Moreover,
by educating both parents and children on mental health, I believe that our
future generation can improve their mental wellbeing, and as a positive
consequence, the prominence of mental illnesses will decline.
