The Importance of Our Youth

We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.

– Franklin D. Roosevelt

Youth, more than any other group, struggle with maintaining good mental health. The challenges youth face are unique. Young people often don’t have the knowledge to recognize that they have a mental health issue, and if there are no visible symptoms present, they may be misdiagnosed, or even worse, not diagnosed at all.

 

That is why our goal from the beginning has been to increase awareness about the importance of making mental health part of our everyday conversation by decreasing the stigma that currently exists around mental health. While we might not be able to directly change the future, we can certainly work towards educating our youth about their mental health. By talking to young people  about their mental, we are showing them that it is not a taboo topic, but rather it is just as important as their physical health. Educating youth about their mental health also helps them to recognize when something isn’t quite right, allowing them to feel empowered to speak up and seek help so that they do not have to suffer in silence.

An estimated 1.2 million children and youth in Canada are affected by mental illness—yet, less than 20 per cent will receive appropriate treatment.

– Mental Health Commission of Canada

This vision all starts by working directly with youth. Our ConvoPlates are predominantly hand-crafted by youth through our art therapy program, a fun and creative way to spark conversations with youth about their own mental health. This post is dedicated to all of the young people who have taken charge of their mental health by decorating a ConvoPlate. Most recently, we would like to recognize the 32 students of Lisgar Middle School for their participation:

 

760 Kyle Fernando
761 Renad Alhamdan
762 Aryan Sodadasu
763 Alexander Willis
764 Maryam Ahmed
765 Ishika Patel
766 Ella Grant
767 Justin Saki
768 Kingston Rathwell
769 Maryyam Abdali
770 Mateo Kiriakopoulos
771 Ibad Khan
772 Aiza Syed
773 Safa Fatima
774 Khadijah Hamil
775 Melanie Nandram
776 Tiara Norman
777 Esheeta Mavadia
778 Ishkeerat Kaur
779 Pal Bhatia
780 Mehak Thukral
781 Anam Rehman
782 Umaima Aziz
783 Abirami Mathirajan
784 Onyinyechi Oluikpe
785 Asma Habibi
786 Imaan Syed
787 Sarah El Redy
788 Hannah Huynh
789 Amal Merhi
790 Lea Nahal
791 Mona Aldoori
792 Zoya Muzamil

 

 

Special thanks to Liz Tavares and Lisgar Middle School for helping to make this happen.

 

Written by Kayleigh Clapperton

Social Media and Project Coordinator

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