Miami-Dade Schools Implements Full-Court Press on Mental Health Awareness

It’s almost impossible to overstate the importance of mental health awareness. 

Just last week, a student took his own life at Fort Lauderdale High School, and since 2019, at least 31 teenagers and children have died by suicide in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, some as young as 10 and 11 years old. Recognizing the urgency, Miami-Dade County Public Schools created a division of mental health services four years ago. Today, on World Mental Health Day, the district held special events and activities at every school to emphasize the issue. 

At Milam K-8 Center in Hialeah, we saw kids doing yoga, making stress balls, coloring and other activities designed to teach them ways to relieve stress and to cope with anxiety and depression. 

 “We have learned, just like everything, we have to be preventative, and we’re learning to say hey, we know that mental health is just as important as physical health,” said Sally Alayon, the district’s assistant superintendent for mental health services. 

“I think a lot of us sometimes think our smaller children don’t struggle with anxiety or depression or low self esteem, I think that they do but they show it in different ways,” said Lorena Liscano, a counselor at the school. 

So what stresses kids out these days? Academics and the constant pressure to fit in, exacerbated by social media. 

“There’s definitely social pressure because I feel like, sometimes you don’t feel like you’re not cool enough, if you don’t feel like you’re cool enough, definitely there could be pressure on that,” said eighth grader Alana Russell. 

“There’s also a lot of like, like a lot of homework and the pressure of being a good student,” said Ariadne Pacheco, also an eighth grader. 

Of course, some kids deal with poverty, abuse issues, and other factors at home. 

“I know that it’s really uncomfortable for a lot of families to talk about mental health, it’s something that is embarrassing for a lot of families and so we really, with a day like today, want to highlight that mental health is part of our health and we need to make sure that students, from when they’re very tiny, understand that their mental health is important as well and they need to learn to recognize the signs and symptoms early on so we can prevent further mental illness later on in life,” Liscano said. 

The school district is also prioritizing teaching empathy to prevent bullying and also, training kids to recognize when one of their peers might need help. The district says it all has a cumulative impact.

“Talking about it more, talking about mental illness, mental health, it’s opening those doors so those students will get more help,” Alayon said. 

Another way to get help: the school district has established an anonymous tip line to report bullying incidents, as they know unchecked bullying can have disastrous consequences. 

In a worst-case crisis scenario, the national suicide prevention hotline is always available by dialing 988.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or chat live at 988lifeline.org. You can also visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional support.