It is back-to-school time, and the Northland’s youths are preparing to get back to classrooms and books. Stores are stocked with notebooks and pens. Driving by the high schools, you can see football teams practicing. School buses will be on the roads soon. Much of it looks similar to how it would have looked back when I was going to school.
Beneath those appearances, though, I remind myself that things have changed tremendously since I was in school, and much of the change is based on the fact that almost all of the children are online. When kids of my generation went home after the afternoon school bell, we left behind most of the social pressures and influences, but kids today carry all of that social pressure home with them today in their pockets.
I recently read the book The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. He says youth are now enmeshed in a phone-based generation versus the play-based childhood that prior generations experienced. He chronicles how that shift is leading to greater rates of depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. The problem cannot be ignored.
Beacon Mental Health is there to help. For years, we have been present in schools, helping kids deal with mental health challenges, and providing them with the help and information they need to avoid harmful behaviors. As those challenges have grown, so have our school-based team and our prevention team.
It is important to remember that on-line connectivity is not always bad. Our Prevention team has a lively social media presence, sharing supportive and informative content. Likewise, Beacon Mental Health posts positive, helpful content for all ages on Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube and LinkedIn.
Also released this month is the profile of our Board Member Janelle Porter, who also serves as the Assistant Superintendent for Student Services at North Kansas City Schools. We appreciate our good relations with all of the school districts in the Northland, and we are proud to work with them to assure the mental health and safety of our community’s youth, both inside and outside the schools.
