Celebrating Children’s Mental
Health Awareness Day
By Leslie Quander Wooldridge
Performers at SAMHSA’s third
annual National Children's Mental Health
Awareness Day included youth dancers,
singers, and performance artists. Presenters
included local high school students
in dramatic and musical skits, two
young actors, and a former NFL player.
The purpose of Children’s Mental
Health Awareness Day is to emphasize
the positive impact that effective
school- and community-based mental
health services have on children and
youth.
As part of its “Still I Rise” celebration,
SAMHSA recognized seven youth from
the Duke Ellington School of the Arts
and Manassas Park High School for
their ability to express resilience
through performing arts. These youth—who
have experienced mental health challenges—sang,
danced, and recited spoken-word performances
to communicate messages of encouragement
to youth in the audience. Also performing
were the internationally known Dana
Tai Soon Dance Company, and LeDerick
Horne, a spoken word artist.
Awards and guest speeches were part
of the talent showcase co-hosted by
Keke Palmer of Akeelah
and the Bee and Marc Indelicato of “Ugly
Betty,” along with Megan McNair,
a student majoring in broadcast journalism
at Howard University, in Washington,
DC.
Former NFL player Herschel Walker,
diagnosed with disassociative identity
disorder (formerly called multiple
personality disorder), was recognized
for increasing understanding of mental
health issues through his memoir, Breaking
Free.
Howie Mandel, Awareness Day Ambassador
and host of television's “Deal
or No Deal,” spoke in a pre-recorded
message on the importance of the celebration.
A group of high school seniors in San
Francisco, CA, performed via satellite
as part of the city’s “system
of care” partnership with Safe
Schools/Healthy Students.
SAMHSA, along with Youth MOVE National
and the National Federation of Families
for Children’s Mental Health,
launched Dare
to Dream America, a new initiative
encouraging youth to promote positive
mental health among their peers. The
Agency provides scholarships to
create awareness campaigns in communities
around the country.
The event also served as a backdrop
to the release of a SAMHSA report
showing that comprehensive, community-based
programs can help high school youth
with mental health needs to succeed
at home, in school, and in the community.
The report, Helping
Youth Thrive in the Community,
reveals that youth with behavioral
and emotional issues who received
SAMHSA-funded systems of care services
demonstrated improved school attendance
and academic performance and exhibited
fewer disciplinary problems.
Furthermore, youth suicide attempts
were reduced by half within
6 months after entering systems of
care (from 12 percent to 6 percent),
with attempts further reduced by more
than two-thirds (to approximately
4 percent) for high school youth who
received program services for at least
18 months.
