It is estimated that 15 per cent of Canadian children and youth are living with some form of mental illness, and one in five young people will deal with a mental health issue at some point in any given year.
Since 2009, the Alberta Teachers’ Association has partnered with the Canadian Mental Health Association and Global Television to raise awareness of children’s mental health and to discourage the stigma often associated with mental illness. On May 4, 2011, schools across Alberta participated in Hats On! for Mental Health Day, a coordinated awareness day focusing on mental health.
Featured here are students from St. Thomas Aquinas Middle School, Red Deer. Counsellor Kelly Jacobson said students were provided with statistics about mental health and told how to guard against stressors in their lives.
For more information, visit the "Healthy Minds, Bright Futures" website at www.canwetalk.ca.
—Photo courtesy of Kelly Jacobson, St. Thomas Aquinas Middle School, Red Deer
