With students, teachers, and parents preparing for a new school year, it’s important to keep in mind the state of our students’ mental health. That’s why FEEST young people have been organizing consistently towards securing more mental health resources for all students!
In late October and early November FEEST students hosted 5 campaign kick-off events in each of their respective schools, and we couldn’t be prouder of them! Each event was unique, fun, and engaging – all to raise awareness for their campaign to improve mental health supports in schools. FEEST youth worked together to create a survey to get feedback from their peers. With nearly 300 responses and a huge turnout on each campus, we’re thrilled to see so many students passionate about improving mental health resources.
In their survey, FEEST youth asked critical questions, intending to get a deeper sense of what problems students see in schools, and what students need so they can thrive.
Here are some of the questions our young people asked their peers:
Do you feel like your mental health is being supported at school?
If you could get support in 3 things at your school, what would they be?
What about school stresses you out the most?
How does the environment of school affect you?
In what ways do you feel supported/appreciated at school?
What kind of support do you need to support/improve your own mental health?
In addition to these questions, FEEST students got a chance to share their campaign goals and asked students to reflect on whether they felt aligned with what they needed on campus.
Our Mental Health Campaign Goals are:
Bigger Budget for Mental Health in the School Budget
Full-Time Therapists with similar lived experiences as the students they serve
Culturally Affirming Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) in all schools
SEL and Crisis Support trainings for teachers
Wellness rooms/centers in each school (We won this in HSD!)
With the Highline School District implementing wellness rooms in 11 of their schools, students at Seattle Public Schools are taking steps to win this campaign demand. In addition to working towards wellness rooms, students were also surveyed about crisis care centers and how they could be supportive to all students who need them.
The work is far from over. Now that FEEST Student Organizers are finished collecting data, they are digesting and synthesizing their findings and preparing for the next steps in their campaign, which are all about sharing these results with their peers, families, and decision-makers who could have a pivotal role in changing and implementing the solutions our youth are demanding.
Stay tuned in the new year for more exciting updates on our mental health campaign!
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Youth are in the lead at FEEST because we know that change is not effective unless those most impacted by health inequities are the decision makers. Support youth leadership by donating today, OR sign up for our newsletter to get the latest from FEEST!