Teens for Healthy Youth Created Awareness for May Mental Health Awareness Month

Teens for Healthy Youth (THY), LowCountry Alliance for Healthy Youth’s Youth Coalition, raised awareness of May Mental Health Awareness Month in their schools through various activities. At Bluffton High School, THY shared the THY Coping with Exam stress on Grade level Google Classrooms with all 1,200 students. They also made a balloon arch and distributed May Mental Health Awareness Promotional materials in the morning to students.  Promotional materials included lanyards, pens, stickers, and more. They made their signage to encourage teens to prioritize their mental health.  They also provided a daily mental health tip based on Mental Health America’s calendar in the morning news. To watch a sample of mental health tip videos, click here. During final exam week, therapy dogs will be available for students to pet to reduce their anxiety before taking exams.

At Hilton Head Island High School, Teens for Healthy Youth distributed over 500 May Mental Health Awareness cups to their peers and teachers. The cups included positive tips for managing stress. A copy of the THY Stress Fact Card was placed in the cups for teens, and a copy of the THY Educator Stress Fact Card was placed in the cups for teachers.

At Cross Schools, THY members made a “Sea of Green” by giving students green ribbons, the color of May's Mental Health Awareness Month. They also provided each student with a May Mental Health Awareness sticker in the carpool line. Providing information through peer–to–peer education is under Strategy 1, Providing Information, in LCAHY’s 12-month Action plan for community-level change in the Seven Strategies of Change.

Teens for Healthy Youth members created awareness for May Mental Health Month at Bluffton High by making a balloon arch displayed in the atrium and by passing out promotional materials to students.

Teachers and staff also received May Mental Health Awareness materials from THY.

THY’s Coping with Exam Stress was shared electronically with all BLHS students.

This flyer was made by THY leader and posted in the bathrooms and around the school to encourage students to prioritize their mental health.

THY Hilton Head put THY Stress Tips Cups in teachers’ mailboxes and delivered them to classrooms.

The THY Cups provided five healthy ways to manage stress including reframe negative thoughts, manage expectations by avoiding perfection, move and exercise, rest, abstaining from substance use, and take time to enjoy life.