Last Wednesday, January 25th, marked the official day to recognize the Bell "Let's Talk" campaign. There have been countless commercials and ads on TV, billboards, on social media, etc., but to ensure that the message was being heard by our students, Pineland staff brought the conversation about mental illness in our classrooms. Messages were delivered in a sensitive manner, keeping grade level in strong consideration.Bell Let's Talk website - click
As community circles are used regularly in my classroom, all of the students seemed very comfortable viewing a couple of videos about mental illness and how to support those touched by it. The key messaging was simple to understand and easy to apply. All of my discussion centred around the following messaging:
5 Siple ways to end stigma in the classroom...
- language
- educate yourself
- be kind
- listen and ask
- talk about it
Most students engaged in the conversation and many shared personal anecdotes, despite being reminded frequently that it was definitely not an expectation and using names was strongly discouraged to respect individual's privacy.
I know from speaking with a number of students and parents that the conversations continued at home. If they have, please continue to keep open dialogue happening, and if nothing has been mentioned yet, perhaps opening up an opportunity to discuss the topics would be beneficial.
Please don't hesitate to contact me and/or the school if you would like to ask any questions about the information provided and/or for more information or resources.
Below are the three videos shown in class.
Best wishes,
Mr. (Dave) Moskal
Mental Illness Education for Kids
Bell Let's Talk 2017: Clara Hughes - Understanding is Key
Bell Le'ts Talk 2017: Howie Mandel - Talk to Someone
