At the end of a presentation I made during the week of April 20 at a middle school in Kansas (on the topic of “Impact of bullying on mental health”), several of the children walked up to me and shared their stories of mental health issues and/or impact of bullying faced by them. There were also a lot of questions from these young students. In fact I felt bad because there wasn’t enough time left to answer all their questions. It was rewarding to see that several of them sent me emails later to ask their questions and communicate with me. They see me as someone who has gone through similar difficulties and will be able to understand what they are going through. I of course communicate with the schools involved, as appropriate, to make sure the children receive proper guidance and support.
I also had an excellent presentation and discussions in Rockton, IL on April 24. This was a smaller group of school psychologists and social workers from a number of school districts within Winnebago County Special Education Cooperative. They were very interested in my topic of “Impact of bullying on mental health” and shared examples of possible mental health issues among some of their students. It was good to see that they found my presentation educational and informative.