Mental health is an important part of everyone’s health. If you’re feeling concerned about your mental health or the mental health of a friend, please speak up and ask for help. Students are encouraged to talk to parents, caregivers, counsellors or a teacher.
Social Media is a space where many children spend a large portion of their time. This time is often unsupervised. Children can be discussing many topics, one of which is suicide. This is a topic children often don’t share with their parents. It is our role as parents and educators to bring this topic up with our children to ensure they have the right information to get support for themselves and their friends. This can be a very difficult conversation for parents BUT it is a necessary one to have.
If you don’t think you can have this conversation, there are trained professionals who can help. You can reach out to your child’s school to ask for support. You can also access support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at any of the following:
- Provincial Mental Health and Addictions Crisis Line: 1-888-429-8167
- Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868 or Text CONNECT to 686868
- Trans Lifeline: 1-877-330-6366
- Mental Health and Addictions Intake: 1-855-922-1122
- Bullying Canada Now: 1-877-352-4497 phone and 1-877-352-4497 text
- Emergency: 911
