Preparing children for a new school year typically involves buying new clothes, replacing last year’s backpack, and stocking up on new school equipment. Often overlooked are other important issues such as a child’s feelings and emotions about starting or returning to school. The theme for this year’s campaign is “15+ Make Time to Listen, Take Time to Talk.” The 15+ program was developed by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to help parents and kids talk about everyday issues and tough topics. NMHA is working to adapt and promote the program for community use. The 15+ theme stresses the importance of positive parent-child communication in the emotional development and educational success of children.

The “Back to School” kit contains a number of materials to help NMHA affiliates and other groups spread this and other mental health messages, including:

1. Planning materials:
   • Activity planner
   • Fast Facts
   • Calendar
   • Resource list
   • Reading list for schools and parents

2. Parent outreach materials: “Children’s Mental Health Matters” fact sheets on
   • Good Mental Health (55 kb PDF)
   • Overscheduled Child (55 kb PDF)
   • AD/HD (61 kb PDF)
   • Anxiety (51 kb PDF)
   • Depression (55 kb PDF)
   • Bipolar Disorder (57 kb PDF)

3. Media outreach materials:
   • Drop-in article
   • Swiss-cheese press release
   • Radio PSA scripts

In addition, stay tuned to this site for new 15+ conversation starter cards and a brochure on bullying coming early this Fall.

For more information, contact your local mental health association or the National Mental Health Association

Back to School / Back to Campus

Top Ten Tips for Kids
Appreciating The Differences That Make Each Of Us Special

back to school home

1.      Never make fun of people who are different from you in any way. Accept that everyone is special in his or her own way.

2.      Start a new trend; say only nice things about everyone.

3.      Next time your parents take you out to eat, try a food from another culture.

4.      Go to the library and check out different books about kids from different cultures.

5.      Remember that what someone looks like on the outside has nothing to do with what is inside.

6.      Treat everyone you meet how you would like to be treated.

7.      If you are being teased or bullied, tell an adult you trust. Show that you are confident in yourself by ignoring the bully and walking away.

8.      Ask different people what they think about things. Respect their opinions.

9.      Never stereotype a whole group of people. Treat each person as an individual who has his or her own ideas and opinions.

10.  Believe in yourself! Just do your best, and be proud of the different things that make you who you are!!

Back to School / Back to Campus

Top Ten Tips for Teens
Appreciating The Differences That Make Each Of Us Special

back to school home

1.      Talk with young children about their friends and what makes each of them special. Ask them to tell you about their special qualities as well!

2.      Attend a play, listen to music or go to a dance performance by artists whose race, culture or ethnicity is different from your own.

3.      Offer to help tutor students at your school who are at a different learning level than your own.

4.      Speak up when you hear slurs, or name-calling. Let people know that bias speech is always unacceptable.

5.      List all the stereotypes you can, both positive and negative, about particular groups of people. Do you believe them to be true? Challenge yourself not to form opinions about groups of people without getting to know them.

6.      Spend time volunteering with an organization that serves a group of people with different struggles than you – a homeless shelter, a nursing home, an agency that serves immigrants or refugees, a hospice, or head-start program.

7.      Spend time trying to understand what it is like to live with a physical disability. Try to make a lunch using only one hand. Try to communicate with a friend without making any noise. If you have access to a wheelchair, spend an hour in it trying to move around your home, school or community.

8.      Spend time talking with your friends about how stereotypes make you feel. What can you do as a group to help turn stereotypes into positive praise of difference?

9.      Go to an ethnic restaurant with your friends. Learn about the people from that part of the world.

10.  Learn more about mental health from students who have a mental illness, such as ADHD or depression. Ask them how it feels, when they realized they needed help or how they cope. Spread positive messages about people with mental illness. Help to decrease the stigma!

Is Your Child “Totally” Ready?

Preparing children for a new school year typically involves buying new clothes, replacing last year’s backpack, and stocking up on new school equipment. Often overlooked is a check-up on our children’s feelings and outlook about returning to school.

Many children experience some anxiety at starting a new school year. Let your children know that this is normal and everyone experiences it. Encourage them to talk about their particular concerns and express their emotions. Although they are young, their fears and worries are as real and powerful as adults’. But, unlike adults, they have less experience dealing with their feelings. Their fears can be harmful if not addressed by the adults in their life.

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• September 11 Anniversary

The good news is there are many things you can do to help relieve your children’s anxieties and promote positive feelings about going back to school. Studies show that your involvement can contribute more to your child’s success than your income or education. So it pays for you to take time to listen to your children and support them as they begin a new school year!

Here’s some tips on how to get started:

• Take time to talk to your children about going back to school. Get them to express their emotions and feelings and share some of your own.
• Let your child know that you think school is important.
• Continue your talks as the school year unfolds. With the door to discussion wide open, your child will feel comfortable coming to you for guidance as tough issues arise in their life.
• Show interest in school activities and attend events that your child is in.
• Attend parent meetings and be respectful of your child’s teachers and other school personnel. Your model of how to behave with these people will help your child set his/her own behavior standards at school.
• Provide unconditional love and support to your child.
• Celebrate your child’s accomplishments. Encourage their talents. Accept their limitations.
• Set a regular time for your child’s waking-up, homework, chores, dinner and bedtime. Studies show that successful students have parents who keep a daily routine going in the household.
• To simplify mornings, help your child select what to wear to school on the night before.
• To help your child stay attentive in school, make sure they have a healthy breakfast everyday. A good breakfast will usually keep them from away from the less nutritious food in school vending machines.

For more information, contact your local mental health association or the National Mental Health Association.