Dozens of area high school students are breaking the stigma over mental health with the help of the Stand Together program.
It’s offered through the Allegheny County Department of Human Services. The program recently had its final event for this school year and Channel 11 was there.
Students packed Wintergarden at PPG Place, proudly showing off their t-shirts and projects at the end-of-year celebration for Stand Together.
“Stand Together helps change the culture within schools. It helps children and youth feel empowered to reach out to support their peers, and it also helps them to be more accepting and compassionate of those that they know might be suffering from some type of a mental health or substance use challenge,” said Renee Patten with the Office of Behavioral Health within the Allegheny County Department of Human Services.
Stand Together started 13 years ago. The program calls for 15-25 students from participating schools to get training on mental illness and substance abuse issues. The students are then charged with leading three school-wide projects, all to bring about awareness.
“Those help to educate the other students and help support them and help to reduce that stigma and encourage one another to know that you are not alone in what you’re going through, and that there is help available,” Patten said.
West Allegheny High School students Molly McMullen and Ella Smith have different reasons for joining Stand Together.
“I have had first-hand experience with somebody who does have mental illness, and I see the toll that it really takes on a person,” senior Ella Smith said. “I want to be able to help destigmatize and get people help that they need so they don’t struggle like the person I know.”
“So many kids struggle with mental health, and it’s very prominent with school going on,” junior Molly McMullen said. “Throughout the year, people are so stressed out, and I want to bring some of that relief to them and help them out.”
Those stressors for students are so much different for this generation than in many generations past.
“Social media and phones also make it super hard to keep a personal life to yourself and keep, like, privacy,” Ella said. “So, if somebody else is struggling, then pretty much everybody else in school knows about it. Making sure that you have a safe space to go to whenever you’re struggling with your mental health is super important.”
One of the events McMullen and Smith put on was a Sideline the Stigma Basketball Event at West Allegheny. Both say they’re proud of the overall experience, what they learned and the help they got along the way.
“Everyone’s so supportive of it, and especially the teachers. We also got them involved with one of our other projects, and they became our Safe Space teachers. So, we train them into what they do in situations,” Molly said.
It’s the younger generation leading the way. It’s a trend we see often, not only when it comes to talking about mental health, but also in making sure someone knows that help is there.
“They are teaching this generation. I know sometimes people say it’s cliché, but they are our leaders. They are our future,” said Lamont Lyons, who is the director of student community engagement at North Hills High School. “They are our now, and so preparing them for now and then, ultimately, after they leave us, is what it is.
Lyons added that it is up to the rest of us to listen and encourage along the way.
“People are talking about mental health more, and breaking down those walls, stereotypes and barriers, providing support, providing opportunities, avenues, education, this is what we want to do, and our students want to do it. If the students see something and they want to activate their voice, we support them in all those adventures and opportunities,” Lyons said.
Each school gets $1,000 to fund its projects. Click here for more information on Stand Together.
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