Mental Health Matters
Do you know how to open up conversations about mental health with your students?
Mental Health can sometimes feel awkward to talk about in classrooms, but it is SUCH an important topic. Every single student you will ever teach, will either have or know someone with a mental health condition.
So how do you go about teaching it?
I like to use Mental Health Awareness month, which is in May, to open up the conversation. But – any time is a good time to start with this topic!
Once you have students talking, you can explain the definition of mental health, and that it is not a shameful or BAD thing to have trouble with our mental health. Everyone has symptoms at times, and sometimes social media can falsely make it seem like others are always happy and healthy.
It can also be a good introduction to talk about what stigma is. Click below for a free resource!
And for further engagement, I like to show my students a video – below is a free YouTube video I made to go along with my full lesson on Mental Health Awareness! This video is another great way to kick off class. Show the video and then see what questions or comments your students have. I am always surprised by how much students want to talk about this subject!
