Supporting Students' Social & Emotional Health

  PTAC Hosts Community Forum: A View of Youth Stress

Last month's forum, "A View of Youth Stress: Warning Signs and Strategies for Coping and Dealing with Stress from the Experts," jointly hosted by the PTA Council, ACS, and Packard Children's Hospital brought together experts in the field, student panelists, a resource fair, the Palo Alto Unified School District Superintendent, and Palo Alto's City Manager. During the two hour presentation, 400+ attendees learned strategies for dealing with stress, the importance of resiliency in students, signs to look for that may indicate depression, and also heard from students about the stressors they face. Key take-aways from the presentation include:

  • Resiliency is learned and not in-born so parents should model coping skills for their kids.
  • Look for signs of depression including withdrawal from activities, loss of relationships, fewer successes, and having less fun and social support.
  • Don't worry about overreacting; get help for your child early.
  • Their not talking about suicide doesn't mean kids aren't thinking about it.
  • We should ask our kids very directly to learn if they are considering suicide and ask them to promise not to do it.

    • Links to the materials presented include:

    Presentation by Dr. Frances Wren
    http://www.lpch.org/pdf/clinical/psychiatry/wrenPTATalk.pdf

    Tips for Parenting Teens
    Tips for Parenting Teens (PDF)

    Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services Overview
    http://www.lpch.org/clinicalSpecialtiesServices/COE/BrainBehavior/Psychiatry/depression-suicide.html


    What is the Community Doing to Support Students' Social-Emotional Health?

    Over the past several months a number of entities from across the city has formed to address the issues associated with the cluster of deaths by suicide at the tracks. Among the many agencies participating are the City of Palo Alto, Palo Alto Police Department, Palo Alto Unified School District, Packard Children's Hospital, Stanford, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, ACS, YCS, Caltrain and others.

    And, of course, Gunn High School has responded with a myriad of programs developed by the students and staff. Student-led efforts include ROCK (Reach Out.. Care. Know) to connect students in need with student who want to help, .Talk to Me. tee-shirts, and HMGGMH (Henry M. Gunn Gives Me Hope) to connect students on-line. The school has implemented support groups and other programs which can be found on their website.

    Parents in the community are also organizing to monitor the train tracks as a stopgap measure while the city and Caltrain craft a longer-term solution. Motivated to protect kids and informed by the research reported in the Mercury News, volunteers are coming together daily.

    Project Safety Nethttp://www.cityofpaloalto.org/depts/csd/community_and_family_resources/safetynet/default.asp
    Track Watchhttp://www.cityofpaloalto.org/depts/csd/community_and_family_resources/safetynet/p4..asp
    ROCKhttp://rockatgunn.wordpress.com
    HMGGMHhttp://hmggmh.wordpress.com
    Gunn HS Resourceswww.gunn.pausd.org/~info/crisisresource.html
    Mercury News Articlewww.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_13630878


    Support Line Phone Numbers

    Adolescent Counseling Services650-424-0852
    Kara Grief Support650-321-5272
    Family and Children.s Service650-326-6576
    Center for Living with Dying408-980-9801
    Suicide and Crisis Hotline650-494-8420
    Teenline/Crisis Intervention/Counseling408-279-8288
    Alcohol and Drug Hotline650-573-3950
    Parental Stress Hotline408-279-8228
    Parents & friends of Lesbians & Gays408-270-8182
    LGBTQ Youth Support Hotline415-865-5555
    National Suicide Prevention Line1-800-273-TALK
    24-Hour Suicide and Crisis Line (Santa Clara County)650-494-8420