March 28, 2024
Education News Canada

VANCOUVER SCHOOL BOARD
Here4Peers project helps students learn about mental health

May 10, 2018

High school students are helping their younger peers make the leap into secondary school through the Here4Peers mental health project.

Students from various high schools visit grade 7 classrooms and conduct workshops that cover what mental health is, how to recognize mental health issues and what to do to find support when help is needed.

David Thompson Secondary Grade 10 student Meenu Mouris joined the Here4Peers project as a workshop facilitator because she believed she could relieve some fears about entering high school.

"I really wished that someone told me what high school was really like and so being here with grade 7 students it's important to tell them the truth and not to sugar coat anything," says Mouris. "I do believe people are worried about high school is and talking about mental health, especially with the boys. Everybody needs to be able to talk to somebody."

The project is in collaboration with the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) who found through their statistics that although youth crime was down, many of the crimes were committed by kids struggling with mental health issues.

"If you ask many teachers they will say that anxiety is a major issue in the classroom," says Ashley Currie, Program Coordinator. "Issues around achievement, perfectionism, self pressure, pressure from families and cultural pressures.

"We have such a diversity of cultures in Vancouver, and in a lot of cultures mental illness isn't recognized as a legitimate health concern, so for a lot of kids this is their first exposure to learning about mental health."

Currie also says that low mood is showing up more in the classroom and social media is making a significant impact on kid's ability to manage the amount of stress they are exposed to outside of school.

Throughout the workshop kids are encouraged to share their knowledge of mental health, coping skills and to be empathetic to each other. For the older students, it's an opportunity to share their experiences and help the next generation of high school students.

"I like to do it so I have that self gratification that I may have helped someone's day, or even changed someone's life," says Meenu.

To date, 70 Here4Peers facilitators have been trained, including students from Vancouver Technical, Killarney, and David Thompson Secondary Schools. They have delivered workshops in 29 grade 7 classrooms, and have already reached approximately 800 students.

The Here4Peers program is funded by the Vancouver Police Foundation, and is provided in partnership with: the Vancouver Police Department, the Vancouver School Board, the Canadian Mental Health Association Vancouver - Fraser BranchVancouver Coastal Health, and the City of Vancouver.

Next year, Here4Peers will expand to include facilitators from seven high schools, delivering the workshop to 2,400 students.

Click here to read the full story.

For more information

Vancouver School Board
1580 West Broadway
Vancouver Colombie-Britannique
Canada V6J 5K8
www.vsb.bc.ca


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