What We Say to Teens Matters
Leah Langby
July 18, 2019
Keeping Up With Kids
person from knees down, wearing blue jeans and pink converse all stars, standing in front of a rusting wall
Image credit  Pexels

There’s an important post on Teen Librarian Toolbox about mental health, teens, and the impact that we as adults in their lives can have.  One quote:  “the weight of our words is a burden that our teens will carry with them long after we have forgotten that we have even spoken them.  So choose your words wisely each and every time.”

I think it is also true that at times, our words can be a gift that our teens carry with them long after we have forgotten we have spoken them.  Respect, kindness, validation all have a deep and lasting affect as well.  And the more we know about issues related to mental health, the more likely we are to be able to be giving a gift instead of a burden.

Some resources for helping you learn about teens and mental health:

http://teenmentalhealth.org/learn/mental-disorders/
Resources to Support Adolescent Mental Health from Health and Human Services
National Alliance on Mental Illness 

Local resources:
Mental Health Task Force of Polk County
Chippewa Valley Mental Health Matters

search all blog posts using keywords or title, date, categories

Archives

Categories

Related Articles

Thanksgiving Books

I recently got a question from a librarian who had weeded a lot of Thanksgiving books that perpetuate myths about Thanksgiving that are both historically inaccurate and promote harmful ideas about the Indigenous people already here when the colonists celebrated their...

Marketing to Teens

Thanks to Reb for passing along this sound advice from Angela Hursch about marketing to what can be a very tricky audience:  teens.  Take a look at this short video, Boost Teen Library Attendance,  and see how many of these things you are already doing, and if there...

Art to Calm Squirming Bodies and Minds

I attended an excellent webinar yesterday through Early Childhood Education Webinars with Anna Reyner, an art therapist who is also an early childhood expert.  Wow!  So many wonderful ideas.  The Early Childhood Education Webinars are almost always thought-provoking,...