Mental Health Toolkit & Curriculum Released

State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster and Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services Secretary Kevin Hayden announced Wisconsin's Toolkit for Mental Health in Schools in conjunction with the May observance of Mental Health Awareness Month.

The toolkit addresses data from national reports indicating that mental health challenges in children and youth have increased substantially over the past decade.

Included in the toolkit is a new "Issues in Mental Health/Mental Illness Awareness" curriculum, which will be introduced, via full-day training sessions, to interested school staff members around the state. The curriculum helps eighth- through 10th-grade students learn to deal with friends who may have mental health problems and develop skills to help build a mentally healthy school. The curriculum also helps students perceive mental health and mental illness as falling on a continuum. It encourages them to abandon negative perceptions about children/youth who have mental illness, in support of a healthy, positive school environment. The materials outline real-life situations so students can role-play and practice communication skills that are effective with peers who may have mental health problems.

"We must promote a better understanding of student mental health issues in Wisconsin " Burmaster said. "Too often students encounter significant barriers to learning and can become isolated and frustrated in school due to a lack of understanding of mental health and mental illness."

"One in every five children and adolescents experience mental health problems each year such as depression, eating disorders, or general anxiety; and they should not suffer in silence" said Hayden.

Additional information: http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/eis/pdf/dpi2007_37.pdf

For more information about SEAchange, contact: Benson Gardner at (608) 266-3374.

Last updated on 5/14/2007