District 15 tweaks mental health program in light of COVID-19 pandemic
Experts have been warning of the mental health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic since the spring, and Palatine Township School District 15 has responded by highlighting depression awareness and prevention in its annual program for junior high students.
District 15 started providing a yearly mental health program in 2011, first for 7th and 8th graders, and last year also for 6th graders, said Paul Budin, the district's social work services coordinator. The program was called "Signs of Suicide."
Starting this year, the program is "Depression Awareness and Prevention," whose substance is similar but with a focus on resiliency, he said.
"We use the term 'depression awareness and prevention' to be more of a positive spin and to really focus on coping skills, good mental health practices, protective factors such as exercise, medication, nutrition, positive sleep habits, peer relationships and the family unit."
The program starts this week with an education session for parents via Zoom at 7 p.m. Thursday. A staff member from The Bridge Youth and Family Services in Palatine, and possibly one from Kenneth Young Center in Elk Grove Village, will participate in the session, Budin said.
"The focus is to provide information to parents and also give them a safe forum, we hope, to also ask questions and express concerns," he said. Parents with children in other school districts are welcome to join the session with a link available online at ccsd15.net, he said.
The program for students starts next week. Parents and students both will be shown a video titled "We All Have Mental Health" by Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, based in England.
"Good mental health means experiencing negative emotions. It's not always about being happy," one young narrator says in the video. "Sometimes overwhelming feelings are brought on because of things in our life. Sometimes they happen for no reason at all," another narrator states.
The version that will be shown by District 15 has a voice-over done by Erika's Lighthouse, a nonprofit in Winnetka, because the original had some British terms unfamiliar to American audiences, Budin said. The nonprofit agency, along with Elyssa's Mission in Northbrook, support the district's mental health programming with lessons and materials, he said.
Diana Ballard, crisis intervention supervisor at The Bridge Youth and Family Services, said there's been an increase in depression and anxiety among young people, many of whom are worried about unwittingly infecting their parents or grandparents with COVID-19, she said.
"Parents need to be aware of their (own) mental health and be aware of being a little bit more 'eyes on their children,'" she said.
Signs that kids are having a hard time include self-isolating by not communicating with family and friends, sleeping a lot and being extremely irritable, Ballard said.
District 15, with 20 schools, has more than 60 social workers, counselors and psychologists, including interns, Budin said. Several new positions were added after a decision by the school board in early 2020, he said.
Staff members have seen an increase in mental health needs among students, with the added concern that virtual teaching makes it harder to tell if students need help, even if teachers are on the lookout for signs, Budin said.
"That is one of the reasons that we made the switch to the 'We all have mental health' lesson for this year," he said. "To really put a strong emphasis on what is it that we can be doing for ourselves - and our family and our loved ones - each day to support each other, to have stronger and more resilient mental health habits during a very uncertain time."