President's Letter: One Small Step to Address Risk

In spite of seeking out and engaging in risky behavior, I and all of my equally at-risk peers survived fairly unscathed. Is today’s risky behavior significantly more dangerous or are we just more aware of the risks because they are constantly up for debate and public scrutiny/glorification? Or has the world changed so much that even basic activities like going to school can be considered risky in fear that gunshots will ring out in the halls and you will put into practice the active shooter drills? Risky behavior has and will always exist and will look significantly different for every generation, but one thing remains consistent: risky behavior can be life-changing and sadly life-ending and should be at the forefront of educators’ minds.

The pragmatic high school counselor knows that some student outcomes may be within our influence while others remain at the mercy of outside forces. The comprehensive high school counselor seeks to provide students with not only academic and college and career support but with thoughtful and valuable social/emotional support. The typical high school counselor spends every day delicately walking the tightrope with an overwhelmed and heavy balance bar in order to meet the daily unexpected and complex challenges our students face. So many risky behaviors, so little time and perhaps such little influence. As a result, according to KyleCares president and co-founder Jim Johnson, mental health and suicide awareness issues are near the top of every school list of priorities. Jim writes that, although “our country’s teens and young adults are struggling more than ever before . . . today’s young people are actually much more likely to talk about mental health than their parents or grandparents.”

If he is right and young people are ready to talk, we need to hand over the mic and really listen.

At my high school, supports and programming are in place to help prevent or at least respond to risky behaviors. But we realized this year that we, too, were taking risks. We were meeting students where they are, but a close look at our interventions, particularly proactive measures, showed we were not doing enough to support mental health. Were we taking our own uncalculated risk by not doing more to address the ultimate risky behavior, suicide?

KyleCares, a nonprofit in memory of his son Kyle that supports mental well-being of high school and college students. A partnership with Jim and KyleCares was one clear way for our team and school to better address our students’ risky behaviors. In early fall, Jim met with the Mount Saint Charles counseling and administrative team to discuss how KyleCares could support us in changing the conversation on mental health, reducing stigma and providing resources to students in need. Jim committed to stay close on the journey. A few weeks later, we shared the initiative with a small group of high schoolers, empowering them to take control, spread the word and seek like-minded peers to join their cause. We immediately took our next big step when the students themselves wrote a KyleCares grant to become an Active Minds school. Active Minds, a KyleCares partner for young adults and mental health, is in more than 1,000 campuses and communities and reaches more than 1.9 million people each year. Active Minds’ message is simple: mental health needs to be talked about as easily as physical health. Only then can we bring suicide and mental health into the open so no one struggles alone.
 

Mount Saint Charles was the first high school in Rhode Island to be named an Active Minds School. In just a couple of months, our Active Minds chapter grew to more than 30 enthusiastic students who meet and brainstorm ideas for programs and events. To date, we have shared our mission with the greater school community, hosted young adult speakers from Minding Your Mind (thanks to another generous KyleCares grant!), and hosted athletic events dedicated to mental health awareness. Students are planning a Stress Less Week and a rock paining event, and in April, a group of students and moderators attended the first KyleCares conference, at Gillette Stadium! This innovative event for student mental health drew more than 400 high school and college students to deepen their knowledge, skills and training, share inspiration, and bust stigmas with educational breakout sessions to normalize the conversation about mental health and encourage help-seeking behaviors.


We look forward to continuing this work and providing students and families with support and proactive measures to help reduce risky behavior. We are ready to take our own risks, to recognize our shortcomings and to approach complex and sensitive topics like suicide with greater attention and candid conversations. If, like me, you worry about the risks your students are taking, both those you know about and those you don’t, consider one small step: Reach out to Jim Johnson at jjohnson@kylecaresinc.org and learn more about opening up the conversation about mental health and change how mental health is talked about, cared for and valued in your school community.

Lisa Tenreiro is RISCA past president, a school counselor at Mount Saint Charles Academy and 2015 Rhode Island school counselor of the year. Contact her at tenreiro.lisa@gmail.com.