After a difficult year of incidents involving bullying and teen mental health, a North Texas community is continuing its mission to do something about it.
Tuesday night, families across the metroplex are invited to attend a free mental health forum in Bedford.
‘Voices of Resilience: Presented by Breathe Mental Health Awareness’ runs from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Midcities Montessori on 209 Harwood Road in Bedford. Anyone from across North Texas is invited to attend.
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The grassroots effort has been coming together throughout the year to make sure no family and no child is alone in their journey toward better mental health.
“I kept seeing that no one knew where to start, how to bring community together, how to get everyone's voices heard,” said Kim Olstrup, school director for Midcities Montessori and one of the driving forces behind the effort. “There's help out there. And unless you can educate the community and give them those resources, you can’t expect them to know how to help.”
In June, Olstrup joined forces with mental health professionals and other community members to host their first mental health forum, in light of a string of teen suicides. It brought together families beyond the Midcities and from across DFW.
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“I was surprised about how many people first showed up and then secondarily how many people shared personal stories about what they went through,” said Ashley Stafford, a licensed Clinical social worker and founder of Canvas Outpatient in Hurst. “Even though it was myself, a psychiatric nurse practitioner and another therapist talking about signs, symptoms and safety planning for mental health, I think the thing that was most impactful were the stories from the community.”
The summer forum inspired a group of teens who attended the forum to keep that momentum going into the new school year. Now, this second forum will feature a teen-led approach, with a panel of youth who are coming forward to share their stories candidly in a setting moderated by mental health professionals.
“They have curated this event. They have come up with the questions that they want to talk about. And I'm so proud of them for that,” said Stafford, who will be moderating the panel.
FOR YOUTH, BY YOUTH
Aadiya Sharma is one of the teenagers leading the charge on the forum.
The 17-year-old has experienced more than she ever should have in her young life, including bullying, addiction and mental health struggles. She said her parents moved her from public to private schools to during her darkest years, but she has finally found stability in her junior year of high school at the Montessori.
"I've been learning to love myself more over the past couple of years. Because I had lost that sense of self-worth from being harassed by my peers,” she told NBC 5. “I just want kids to know that it's not impossible to get better, to feel better about who you are. Because I feel better about who I am now."
Sharma will be one of several teens sharing their story on a panel moderated by mental health professionals so that families can hear from the source what it's like to be a teenager in 2024.
"I think that a student-led forum is very important because it gives you firsthand insight into what's really going on with the teens," she said. "You get more of the truth, hearing it from a firsthand perspective from the teens who have been through that and dealt with it for a long time. What did they do? How did they get through it? I feel like it'll help a lot more than just naming statistics and stuff like that. Giving true, real stories.”
She hopes to share with other students – and especially their parents – about the help that is out there for them. The same help that she received.
"Kids who are going through bullying, who are really struggling mentally, I want them to know that there are resources out there. That there are going to be people who are going to listen to them and not demonize them. That there are going to be people who can understand them and give them what they need. I want them to know that they're not alone at all,” she said.
‘NO SHAME IN PAIN’
There is some hope that initiatives like these are working.
The CDC recently released some new data that reveals some improvements in mental health among teens across the country.
The latest Youth Risk Behavior Survey, released in August, provides a detailed analysis of the health behaviors and experiences of high school students across the nation, comparing 2021 and 2023.
Key improvements include decreases in the percentage of students overall who experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness
However, the report also shows concerning increases in the percentage of teens reporting experiences of school-based violence, bullying at school, and absenteeism due to safety concerns.
“It is a different world for them. And I think social media is a huge part of that. We kind of grew up in a world where our lives were not displayed for everyone to see so when we left school, if home was a safe place, it was a safe place,” said Stafford, pointing to the rise of online bullying. “I think a lot of kids are feeling that pressure of perfectionism or feeling like they need to be better than or just as good as the next person and it's not reality but it's what they see and they're inundated with it every single day.”
Heidi Razo, a teacher at Midcities Montessori, said she tries every day to connect with her students and meet them where they’re at. She hopes this forum can help her and others learn more from youth directly about how to help them.
"The way that kids feel is no different than the way all humans have felt on this planet since the beginning of existence, and I just want them to know that it's normal. And there's things that can be done to alleviate it. It's temporary and we've got tools that you can use to do that,” she said.
The adults behind this week’s forum hope if they can help even just one child, they've succeeded.
"We got to take the shame out of the conversation. There's no shame in pain. Pain is real. Everybody has it, and some people more than others, and when we kind of hide from shame and tragedy like that, then it's hard to invite a conversation and invite support,” said Marlene Barardo, a longtime school counselor and a PTA mom in HEB ISD.
Barardo hopes the families of students who are perpetrators of bullying can consider attending as well.
"We focus a lot on the children being bullied. And in my mind, we really need to address the bullies, maybe even more than we address the students that are being bullied because the bullies need something. There's something happening for these kids that gives them permission, so to speak, to act out in a way that is hurting other people," she said. "What's happening with them that they are needing to express in such aggressive ways? There's something that needs to be healed there, too."
The hope is for this forum to continue gaining momentum to become a regular, yearly event.
"When you can educate a school that, it's not just about 'me', it's about 'we'. It's not a me world, although it feels like it. That’s why this forum is really important for that reason – think of someone besides yourself,” said Olstrup.
Canvas Outpatient will be on-site at Tuesday's forum to connect families with resources, including free evaluations to help for those unsure of the level of care their child might need.
If you would like to join the Breath Mental Health Awareness Facebook group to learn about more events, click here.
