Every year, Ohio’s high schoolers continue to look better and better on paper (higher test scores, better grades), and yet rates of youth mental illness continue to rise. Many high schoolers’ experiences are defined by chronic stress, sleepless nights, and panic attacks; but in competitive high school environments, mental health is extremely difficult to talk about. Among competitive high schools, the suicide rate is between 4 and 5 times the national average.With recent events like the Silicon Valley suicide clusters, it’s essential that communities come together to address this problem.
This event will be held on Monday August 26th at 7pm in the Jefferson Room at New Albany High School and will look at the relationship between mental health and high-stress, hyper-competitive high school environments. The program will include
a panel discussion featuring written and spoken testimony from recent high school graduates as well as current students and discussion around the steps that parents and educators can take to positively affect student mental health. For more information about the event, please contact John Ball at john_ball@college.harvard.edu