LBHS students join Together4Teens panel on Oct 12 to discuss teenagers’ mental health
On Saturday, Oct 12, the Wellness and Prevention Center will host a half-day Together4Teens event at Capistrano Valley High School to address the topic of mental health and the pressure teenagers face in our current culture. This event is for students and parents and will feature a panel that includes students from Laguna Beach High School (LBHS). Registration begins at 8 a.m., and the session begins at 9 a.m.
There will be Java on the Go and Just Chilln’ Ice Cream trucks, giveaways, a resource fair, and an opportunity to earn up to five community service hours. This event is for adults and teens ages 12 and up.
Startling statistics
According to a NAMI report in 2015, one in five teens ages 13-18 experience a severe mental health disorder, one in six U.S. youths aged 6-17 experience a mental health disorder each year, and suicide is the second leading cause of death among people aged 10-34.
The event will include students from several schools in Orange County: Laguna Beach High School, San Clemente High School, Aliso Niguel High School, and Sage Hill School in Newport Beach. The teens will each go to different breakout sessions, and the event will conclude with a student panel in which they will address the topics presented and discuss the real world in which teens are living today.
Community Prevention Director for Wellness and Prevention Center Lauren Gallegos, ACSW, says, “One Laguna Beach student who asked to join the panel is passionate about mental health and helping his peers. He hopes to start a mental health club on campus this year.”
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Submitted photo
LBHS students during leadership training this past week
Together4Teens’ keynote speaker will be Adam Grabowski, America’s Got Talent finalist and APCA’s comic of the year for 2017. He brings his humor and personal experience with depression and anxiety to open a dialogue about mental health with his #SAYITANYWAY campaign.
According to Gallegos, this is the first event of this scale they’ve had. “This is a half-day event with breakout sessions, a keynote speaker, and a teen panel. In the past, we have hosted a series for teens and parents called ‘your teen toolbox’ that brought speakers in on important topics for parents of teens including social media, vaping, communication, and anxiety.”
Breakout sessions for teens and parents
In total there will be 12 breakout sessions – six for parents and six for teens – with topics that include supporting LGBT youth, coping skills, building resiliency, social media and more. Some speakers who are attending are Dr. Micaela Thordarson from CHOC, Brit Cervantes from UCI, Sgt. Clayton Cranford, Orange County Sheriff’s Department, and Gina Biegel, CEO of Stressed Teens, among others.
The Wellness & Prevention Center is the fiscal agent for the Wellness & Prevention Coalition, a drug-free communities coalition that partners with various organizations, individuals, and professionals to reduce youth substance use and increase support of youth mental health.
Gallegos says, “Mission Hospital is one of those agencies and they work very closely with LBHS through their on-campus club ‘Strength in Numbers.’ This past weekend we held a leadership training for youth at LBHS with students from both San Clemente and Laguna. The training was designed to provide skills and support for youth to create positive change on the campus, be that reduction of drug and alcohol use or increased awareness of mental health.”
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Courtesy of adamgrabowski.com
Keynote speaker Adam Grabowski
The idea for this event came about from a group of organizations and community members in South Orange County who want to see more education around mental health of teens.
“We have seen increased rates of anxiety and stress among teens in the South County cities, and it shows that they are not immune to suicide and one is too many,” says Gallegos. “The teen panel idea was generated by the Laguna Niguel Youth Committee, they are part of the planning committee and they said it was very important for parents and teens to not only hear from professionals but from the voices of the teens themselves.
Youth committee chose workshop topics
“This gives other teens an opportunity to feel heard and perhaps understand that they are not alone and for parents to take a different lens on the pressures that teens are facing. Oftentimes we find that the adults are the ones making the decisions as to what youth need to hear and what is important to them and this gives youth the voice. The youth committee also guided the workshop topics and said that of the most important were suicide, LGBT youth, and social media.”
The event was planned and sponsored by the Wellness & Prevention Center, Bloom Foundation, CalOptima, Mission Hospital, CHOC Children’s Hospital, NCADD (National Council and Alcohol and Drug Dependence), Olive Crest, City of Laguna Niguel, Tilly’s Life Center, and Newport Academy. It was a combined effort to bring this important topic to the South OC communities.
Capistrano Valley High School is located at 26301 Via Escolar, Mission Viejo.
For more information on the event and to register, click here.
For information on the campaign for the club supported by Mission Hospital, go to www.strengthinnumbersoc.org.
