Around 150 students from different schools in the Greater Moncton area spent the day Wednesday connecting with their peers and talking about their mental health.
The annual Youth Mental Health Summit took place at Riverview Middle School and was a chance for a select few to attend workshops on various topics and learn more about the community resources available to them.
Grade 10 student, and event MC, Elizabeth Harris said some kids are dealing with a lot of drug and alcohol abuse, both at school.
“A lot of people grow up in houses that their parents will be dealing with drugs or alcohol addictions and they’ll be growing up in a rough environment. A lot of kids right now are struggling with depression or anxiety or other mental health issues that either aren’t getting diagnosed or not able to seek help for,” said Harris.
Harris said the summit brings the message forward that mental health is a thing kids struggle with, and it is something people struggle with for a long time, no matter what age they are.
“Just because someone’s young doesn’t mean they can’t have a lot of these problems,” said Harris.
The Anglophone East School District wants those who are struggling to know that it’s OK and there are third-party services in the community that can be accessed.
Heather Stordy, the district’s community engagement coordinator, said creating positive spaces and normalizing mental health conversations is the whole key to the summit.
“Normalizing the conversation about mental health, letting folks know it’s absolutely a hundred per cent normal to seek therapy. Not just therapy, talking to someone. Doing things that are good for your mental health,” said Stordy.
Grade 12 student, entrepreneur and advocate Kai Pejsa was selling products at the event for the LGBTQ+ community.
Pejsa has made stickers and other items that involve colours of different LGBTQ+ flags that allow students in the community to communicate with each other without putting themselves in harm’s way.
“Giving LGBTQ+ youth the ability to combat that loneliness and isolation and to find that community without the fear of bullying or being found out from their parents is a really, really good way to combat that mental health crisis that we’re definitely facing right now,” said Pejsa.
Participants say the benefits of holding a summit like Wednesday’s can’t be understated.
“It’s crazy helpful,” said Pejsa. “You’re going to end up getting resources from therapists and people who are trying to create those community bonds and giving these mental health resources.”
District superintendent Randy MacLEAN said an event like the Youth Mental Health Summit wouldn’t have happened when he was a high school student.
“This wouldn’t happen a decade ago. This wouldn’t happen two decades ago,” said MacLEAN. “There’s a lot of misconceptions around depression, anxiety, mental wellness. And, as we learn more, we have to respond and meet the needs of, not only our students, but our staff and our community.”
District community schools coordinator Jessie Brown spoke openly about the bullying she endured as a teenager and her own mental health struggles.
“When I was in high school, it wasn’t really a topic of conversation. We got really good at hiding the way that we were feeling, and I think that lead me to feeling more alone. And the main message that I want youth to know is that they’re not alone,” said Brown.
The students will take what they learned and work on a project that the rest of their school can participate in next spring.
