Turlock forum offers ideas for kids with mental health needs. One is from Spider-Man
One child in five suffers from a mental health issue, a Turlock audience heard Thursday night. But adults can offer help, whether it’s urgent intervention against suicide or just a warm smile on a rough day.
Three education leaders took part in a forum hosted by the EMC Health Foundation. They offered advice about K-12 students dealing with anxiety, depression, dating violence, social media pressure and other challenges.
“We’re trying to create psychologically safe environments on the school campus for these youth,” said Tracy Manzoni, director of student services at the Patterson Unified School District.
She was joined on the stage at the Carnegie Arts Center by Superintendent Terry Metzger of the Denair Unified School District and Crystal Sousa, principal at the Atwater campus of Valley Community School. The forum was moderated by Dr. ChrisAnna Mink, a pediatrician who covers children’s health for The Modesto Bee through the Report for America program.
The event was the second in a series on mental health concerns in 2020.
Desperate acts
Metzger told of students who have cut themselves in a desperate bid to deal with emotions — and of one so distressed that he put his head through window glass.
She also said students can become “addicted” to how their peers interact with them on Instagram and other social media. “Kids never get a break,” Metzger said. “There’s a lot of pressure.”
The district hosts meetings where parents can learn about social media, drug abuse, domestic violence and other concerns.
Metzger also noted the general stress in families with both parents working multiple jobs.
‘Spidey senses’
Manzoni said troubled children can benefit from “a trusted adult” — a parent, neighbor, school volunteer, church member or anyone else willing to listen.
She also drew on a superhero, Spider-Man, for insight on how children can center themselves amid powerful emotions.
“They are to focus on their Spidey senses and what they can see and hear and feel and touch in that moment to help reset and calm down,” she said.
Sousa oversees a high school for at-risk students, about 40 percent of them gang members. Many had undiagnosed mental health issues when they arrived, she said.
The principal noted one success: a ban on cell phones on campus. “Now I look around me and kids are actually looking each other in the eye at lunch and having conversations,” she said.
Sousa, who also is a Denair school board member, had this advice for parents in general: “Just listen to your kids. ... What’s the harm of giving them too much attention, because we know the harm of not giving them any attention or (not) giving them help when they’re crying out.”
The mental health series will continue with a May 5 conversation between a psychiatrist and a psychologist. This will be followed by a Sept. 10 program for children of aging parents, and a Nov. 5 session on social media and children. All will be at 7 p.m. at the Carnegie Arts Center, 250 N. Broadway, Turlock. Admission is free.
This story was originally published March 8, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
