|
CONTACT: Stephanie Marquis, Communications Director, 608-266-1683
John Johnson, DPI Communications Director, 608-266-1098
WISCONSIN SCHOOLS TO IMPLEMENT MENTAL HEALTH
CURRICULUM
‘Toolkit for Mental Health in Schools’ includes
a new ‘Issues in Mental Health/Mental Illness Awareness’ curriculum
for students in grades 8-10
MADISON - State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster and Wisconsin
Department of Health and Family Services Secretary Kevin Hayden announced
Wisconsin’s Toolkit for Mental Health in Schools in conjunction
with the May observance of Mental Health Awareness Month.
"We must promote a better understanding of student
mental health issues in Wisconsin," Burmaster said. "Too often
students encounter significant barriers to learning and can become
isolated and frustrated in school due to a lack of understanding of mental
health and mental illness."
"One in every five children and adolescents
experience mental health problems each year such as depression, eating
disorders, or general anxiety; and they should not suffer in
silence," said Hayden. "This new toolkit will provide students
and teachers with ways to recognize signs and symptoms and reduce the
stigma associated with mental health so students get the help they
need."
Hayden noted that the impact of mental health issues goes
beyond the student and significantly affects the teachers, classrooms,
school staff, students, and their families and communities. "Research
shows that schools that promote mental health awareness report higher
academic achievement, lower absenteeism, and fewer behavior problems.
Identifying issues early is key to improving outcomes for students,
families, schools, and communities. The toolkit will be a valuable asset
in identifying and helping our students," he said.
Wisconsin’s Toolkit for Mental Health in Schools includes
an "Issues in Mental Health/Mental Illness Awareness"
curriculum. The curriculum helps eighth- through 10th-grade students learn
to deal with friends who may have mental health problems and develop
skills to help build a mentally healthy school. The curriculum provides a
set of skill-building lessons that teach students to understand mental
illnesses as treatable health conditions without accepting myths about
people who have mental illness. The curriculum adds skills in recognizing
a continuum for mental health and mental illness and that negative
perceptions about children/youth who have mental illness must be reduced
to have a healthy, positive, and supportive school for students and staff.
The materials outline real-life situations so students can role-play and
practice communication skills that are effective with peers who may have
mental health problems.
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, in
partnership with the Department of Health and Family Services and other
school and community partners, including the Mental Health Association in
Wisconsin, developed the toolkit. It addresses data from national reports
indicating that mental health challenges in children and youth have
increased substantially over the past decade. The DPI and state’s 12
cooperative educational service agencies (CESAs) piloted the toolkit and
curriculum last year.
"Our partnership in the development and promotion of
the toolkit and curriculum supports teachers, staff, and students with an
activity-driven approach," Burmaster said. "These materials
increase awareness, understanding, and recognition of mental health
issues, and help schools to take appropriate steps for prevention, early
intervention, and accommodation, if needed. The curriculum and activities
help schools create positive climates for enhancing social and emotional
development and contributing to our New Wisconsin Promise to provide a
quality education for every child."
The toolkit is introduced in a full-day training session
where school staff members learn that mental health and mental illness
exist across a continuum, how to identify and help students, and how to
avoid stigmatizing people with mental illnesses. The toolkit also includes
a system for pupil services staff to work with administrators in reducing
barriers presented by mental illness. The classroom curriculum includes
television episodes that illustrate how people with mental illness can
live successfully and make contributions to society and their communities.
"The stigma associated with mental illness has a
detrimental effect on all students," Burmaster said. "It impacts
the academic and social atmosphere of the school. It interferes with
students’ connections with school, their engagement with the curriculum,
and their ability to learn. A strong understanding of mental health and
mental illness is important to building a healthy school environment that
supports academic achievement for all students."
-END-
NOTES: Additional information about the mental
health toolkit and curriculum is available from the Department of Public
Instruction’s Student Services/Prevention and Wellness Team, 125 South
Webster Street, P.O. Box 7841, Madison, Wisconsin 53707-7841 or by calling
(608) 266-8960 or (800) 441-4563. Local Cooperative Educational Service
Agency offices have additional information on upcoming training dates and
locations. Links to the state’s 12 CESA offices are available online at
< http://dpi.wi.gov/cesa.html >.
Last Revised: October 24, 2008 |
