14 Tech-Based Innovations Tackle Youth Mental Health Challenges

 by Elisha London, Founder & CEO, Prospira Global; and Anna Huber, Community Success Specialist, World Economic Forum

Young people today face an increasing number of challenges to their mental health, and systems worldwide are insufficient to meet the large and growing demand.

Depression, anxiety and behavioural conditions are the leading cause of illness for young people and suicide is the fourth most prevalent cause of death amongst 15- to 19-year-olds. Meanwhile, around 50 per cent of mental health conditions begin by the age 14 and 75 per cent by age 24. So, if youth mental health challenges and their environmental factors aren’t addressed, they extend into adulthood. Conversely, having good mental health means being better able to cope, connect and function, leading to more fulfilling and productive lives.

Quality access to support and education remains a challenge in all countries, while stigma and discrimination prevents many young people from reaching out for support when it is available. However, access to support is not the only challenge. So too are the social determinants which influence mental health including poverty, social inequality, marginalization, exposure to war, increasing uncertainty and access to quality employment and training, with girls being disproportionately affected.

As outlined in the recent WHO World Mental Health Report, a major transformation is required worldwide, including deepening commitment to change, reshaping the environments in which we live, and strengthening mental healthcare.

The Uplink Youth Mental Health Challenge by the World Economic Forum sought to identify some of the leading innovations around the world working to address these transformational needs, especially those led by young people themselves.

The challenge was funded by Salesforce, and supported by organizations leading mental health work around the world including UNICEF, citiesRISE, Z Zurich Foundation, 7 Cups, Healthy Brains Global Initiative, Karolinska Institute, Fondation Botnar, the MHPSS Collaborative, United for Global Mental Health, Deloitte, Harvard University, and Bertha Innovation Center.

One hundred and nineteen submissions were received from around the world and 14 Top Innovators were selected to join the UpLink Innovation Network. This network provides these organizations with access to connections, visibility and support to accelerate their impact.

Here are the top 14 innovators selected:

1. Attensi and Dr. Raknes have developed the learning simulation Helping Hand, with the aim of preventing mental health disorders in adolescents. The game takes players through a series of life-like scenarios to reinforce positive decision-making, facilitate talking about feelings and thoughts, helping others master challenges and asking for help when needed.

2. Neolth Inc. offers a range of activities to help teens build coping skills and learn about mental health. Upon sign up, its proprietary algorithm matches teens with content personalized for their health needs, such as educational videos by clinicians and stigma-reducing content about lived experiences by teens.

3. Onkout connects a culturally relevant and unique trauma-informed, collective mental health peer support program to a virtual business training program, and the financial tools to improve young people’s lives. It supports young people in conflict-affected countries to be able to access services that are currently not available

4. Opa Mind has developed a “Voice Driven” support platform for people who struggle with emotional & mental health pressures. Opa Mind’s voice input system can listen and display various emotional based metrics, vocal biomarkers and supports, enabling individuals to undertake actionable follow-up steps in order to improve health and wellbeing.

5. OPTT, together with Curatio, offer an online psychotherapy tool to provide a technology-embedded, peer-to-peer social network for improved health outcomes. They allow mental wellness content producers, mental health teams, local health providers, and communities to work together to offer solutions proactively to their community members.

6. Renewal International Trust developed Positive Konnections (PK), a mobile application with a mental health intervention for young people with HIV that is designed to counter effects of stigma and help them access services privately or anonymously. The PK model uses creative narrative therapy techniques delivered on an accessible, youth-friendly platform.

7. Sati App is an on-demand peer support application that links users to a trained volunteer listener as soon as one is needed. With the limited number of mental health professionals available, Sati App is tackling the lack of accessibility and affordability for mental health care in low resource setting.

8. Sehat Jiwa Bahagia is a program to arm up youth in facing daily challenges and to create a positive community. The program aims to build stronger intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships through lectures, mentoring, training, and individual projects.

9. SuperBetter applies a proven game methodology that uses the same psychological strengths we display in game play to build skills, overcome obstacles and achieve goals in the real world. Teachers host SuperBetter challenges that students play to develop life skills and increase their resilience & mental health.

10. The CETA Approach leverages a multi-problem design to assess, triage, treat, and monitor a wide range of the most common mental and behavioral health problems. From provider training and supervision to multi-problem screening, treatment, and monitoring and evaluation.

11. The Trevor Project works to always provide free, confidential, best-in-class counselling to LGBTQ youth who may not have access to mental health services. It serves the more than 40 million LGBTQ youth estimated to seriously consider suicide each year across the world.

12. ViveTeens is an AI driven, ultra-personalised wellness companion that provides teens with world-class content, tools, advice and human led support, all in one unified platform. Its AI identifies the specific needs of users at any point in time and nudges them towards the content, tools and services that could benefit them the most.

13. Wysa is an AI chatbot that leverages evidence-based cognitive-behavioral techniques (CBT) to make you feel heard. Blended with professional human support, Wysa provides 24/7 high-quality mental health support.

14. Zvandiri supports governments to connect young people living with HIV (0-24 years) with trained, mentored peer counsellors (18-24 years) known as Community Adolescent Treatment Supporters (CATS) who understand and respond to their needs. The trained, mentored CATS provide quality services and are integrated within the national health system.

This article first appeared on the World Economic Forum Agenda.

Image credit: Steinar Engeland via Unsplash

FLHSMV: Back-to-School Safety Checklist

It is back-to-school for Treasure Coast public school students next week on Wednesday August 10.

Here is a school safety check list from the FLHSMV Department.

Secure their future – buckle up and choose the right seat

• Seat belts save lives and are required to be worn by all drivers, front-right passengers, and anyone under the age of 18; however, FLHSMV strongly recommends seat belt usage for all ages.
  
• The best car seat is the one that fits your child’s size, is correctly installed, fits well in your car, and is used properly every time you drive.
  
• Be sure to read the seat’s instruction manual and the portion of your vehicle’s owner manual when installing a car seat in your vehicle.
  
• Remember to check for car seat and booster seat recalls and sign up to receive any potential alerts in the future.

Image Courtesy FDOT

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Stop for school buses and slow down in school zones

• As of January 1, 2021, the penalties for failing to stop for a school bus and passing a stopped school bus on the side where children enter and exit doubled. It is imperative that all motorists properly stop for school buses so all of Florida’s children can arrive at school or home safely.
  
• Using a wireless communications device in a handheld manner while driving in a designated school crossing, school zone, or active work zone area is against the law and extremely dangerous.
  
• Be alert and watch for children especially near schools, bus stops, school buses and in school parking lots. Pay extra attention to the lower speed limits in school zones. Only drive or park in authorized areas to drop off or pick up children at school.

Move safely together – look out before you step out

• Always walk on the sidewalk if there is one. If no sidewalks are present, walk against the direction of traffic so that you can see oncoming vehicles.
  
• Cross the roadway where pedestrians are expected, at corners or in crosswalks, and watch for traffic when crossing the street.
  
• Pay attention. Avoid headphones so that you can hear the traffic and pedestrians around you. Never text or look at your phone when crossing the street.

Check for kids and pets

• As routines change, it’s imperative to remain vigilant and make sure all children are out of the vehicle and accounted for before leaving. Put your purse, phone, or shoe in the backseat as a reminder to check.
  
• Never leave a child or pet unattended in a vehicle. Florida temperatures are hot and will rapidly increase in minutes, even if parked in the shade or with a window cracked.

For additional safety tips, resources, and data related to child safety visit the FLHSMV Child Safety webpage.

TikTok to filter ‘mature or complex’ videos as child safety concerns mount

By  Theo Wayt

TikTok will start blocking underage users from seeing "mature or complex" content.SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

TikTok said it is rolling out a new feature designed to stop underage users from seeing videos with “mature or complex themes” amid mounting scrutiny over the wildly popular video app’s effect on children

The move comes as TikTok faces wrongful death lawsuits filed earlier this month in California by parents who alleged that their eight and nine year-old children died after trying to recreate “blackout challenge” videos that had been served to them through TikTok.

In an effort to protect underage users from “content with overtly mature themes,” TikTok is introducing a ratings metric the company says is similar to systems used in the film, television and video game industries. 

TikTok will start introducing “maturity scores” in the coming weeks, the company said in a blog post.

     TikTok is cracking down on “mature” content.

     TikTok 

“When we detect that a video contains mature or complex themes, for example, fictional scenes that may be too frightening or intense for younger audiences, a maturity score will be allocated to the video to help prevent those under 18 from viewing it across the TikTok experience,” TikTok’s head of trust and safety Cormac Keenan said in a blog post. 

In addition to the maturity score feature, TikTok is introducing another tool for all users that twill allow users to manually block videos with certain words or hashtags from both their “Following” and “For You” feeds. 

For example, vegan users can block videos about dairy or meat recipes, Keenan said. 

Scrutiny of TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, ranges far beyond the “blackout challenge.” 

          An example of TikTok’s new filter tool. 

          TikTok 

American lawmakers have raised concerns about TikTok serving videos glorifying eating disorders and self-harm to children suffering from such conditions. They have also questioned whether TikTok shares data with the Chinese government, a practice the company has denied. 

In addition, consumer protection advocates have raised concerns about the spread of misleading advertisements for sketchy payday loans on TikTok, as exclusively reported by The Post in June. 

Following The Post’s reporting, TikTok banned several of the ads. 

Trinity Mount Ministries - FBI - Benefits of a Youth Leadership Academy

 Benefits of a Youth Leadership Academy

By Rex Sorrow

Most agencies, including my own, have seen a steady decrease in law enforcement applicants over the last several years. What if you could change this statistic by hiring young adults from the community who have already invested time in your agency? What if they praised your department for teaching them valuable lessons they can take into adulthood? It may seem like an overwhelming task at first, but organizing a youth leadership academy can help with hiring and more for years to come.

Of course, incorporating a youth leadership academy will not staff an entire agency because results take time, but it can benefit a department beyond recruiting. Such a program will allow agencies to see an increase in young people understanding what officers experience daily and the reasons behind their split-second decision-making.

Actual events of an incident are often misconstrued, either because of social media or insufficient or inaccurate facts, so it is important for the public to understand the difference between perception and reality in law enforcement. Increasing awareness will also help build stronger community support and bridge the gap between law enforcement and youth.

Cullman County, Alabama, Sheriff Matt Gentry believes youths are our most precious asset. He believes in investing time in children because they will become our community’s future officers, attorneys, doctors, nurses, teachers, and judges. In 2015, Sheriff Gentry tasked me with organizing a youth leadership academy to provide teenagers an understanding of the importance of leadership, patriotism, respect, and decision-making based upon his guiding principles of honor, courage, and integrity.

Lieutenant Sorrow serves with the Cullman County, Alabama, Sheriff’s Office and is a graduate of FBI National Academy Session 280.

I met with two Cullman County Board of Education career coaches to discuss ideas, student itineraries, potential issues, and requirements for the academy. In 2016, with help from a deputy and investigator at our department, we offered the first Cullman County Sheriff’s Youth Leadership Academy. Twelve students enrolled in the class, and since then, the program has grown significantly, with a record attendance of 44 in 2019.

Requirements

Each youth leadership academy student is between 16 and 18 years old and has a form of dependable and insured transportation to move freely between the program’s events and activities.

All students must read the classic Civil War novel The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara and submit a book report about the leadership styles presented.1

Itinerary

Cullman County’s summer weeklong youth academy consists of various leadership and team-building activities and events.

• Physical training (e.g., rock wall climbing, rappelling, self-defense classes, zip lining)
• Hands-on training (e.g., fingerprinting, crime scene reconstruction, shoot-no shoot scenarios)
• Classroom training (e.g., leadership etiquette, American flag history, death investigation)
• Team competitions (e.g., paintball battles, ropes courses, gladiator pit)
• SWAT, K-9, and live fire range demonstrations
• Guest speakers
• Tours of the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office and local jail

Incentives

Youth leadership academy students experience team-building skills while overcoming their fears in the face of diversity. They learn how the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office strives to provide efficient and professional law enforcement while serving its citizens. Students also learn the importance of taking pride in their homes, family, and community.2

Each student receives a course manual, two T-shirts, an identification card, and daily free lunches.

The program is free, and all graduates receive a certificate of completion, 40 hours of community service credit, and the opportunity to do a ride-along with a deputy.

“Youth leadership academy students experience team-building skills while overcoming their fears in the face of diversity.”

Conclusion

Since the program’s inception, the Cullman County Sheriff’s Youth Leadership Academy has led to three new hires for our department: two dispatchers (recently promoted to shift supervisors) and one detention deputy who works in the jail and plans to attend the next law enforcement academy to become a state-certified patrol deputy.

The benefits far outweigh the costs of a youth leadership academy. It can help with recruiting, raising awareness, and strengthening community relationships. The requirements, itinerary, and incentives for Cullman County’s academy outlined in this article have proven successful for our department and community, but to reap the same benefits, another agency may need to  structure its program differently according to its size, resources, and/or needs.

For more information on developing a youth leadership academy, please contact Lieutenant Sorrow at rsorrow@cullmansheriff.org to discuss how this program can work for your agency.

Endnotes

1 Michael Shaara, The Killer Angels (New York: McKay, 1974).
2 Cullman County Sheriff’s Office, “Sheriff’s Youth Leadership Academy,” accessed June 27, 2022, https://cullmansheriff.org/sheriffs-youth-leadership-academy/.

MMIWG Activist Pushing For Changes To Amber Alert System

 

A grassroots activist living in Vancouver who often speaks out on issues involving violence against Indigenous women and girls says she wants to see changes to the Amber Alert system.

Jamie Smallboy, originally from Maskwacis Cree Nation in Alberta, says she has more than 500 signatures on an online petition that will be presented to Justice Minister David Lametti to make that change happen – but is hoping for at least 500 more.

Smallboy says the case of missing 5-year-old Frank Young at Red Earth Cree Nation is just another example of a system that doesn’t serve missing Indigenous people.

“On a reserve, the opportunities to witness an abduction are not the same as in a city or in a town setting because you have people on every corner, but not on the reserve. We do have people that drive on the reserves looking and hunting for our women and our children,” she says.

“They don’t include that- it doesn’t even hit the Amber Alert criteria at all, so it needs to be adjusted to be inclusive of all the differences.”

When Young went missing on April 19, members of the public questioned why there was no Amber Alert issued.

RCMP Sgt. Richard Tonge said at an April 26 news conference that Frank’s disappearance didn’t meet the criteria to warrant an amber alert.

“There’s no evidence to support that Frank was abducted.  We’ve had numerous tips, some from as far away as Edmonton, Red Deer, Saskatoon, Prince Albert.  We’ve been following up on those tips,” Tonge says.

“We’ve been fortunate our partner policing agencies have been taking this seriously and they’ve conducted very quick and thorough investigations to show that sightings in these areas were not Frank.”

But Aly Bear, third vice chief of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations doesn’t agree.

“There’s a lack of awareness, and when an Indigenous person goes missing, it’s not taken seriously,” says Aly Bear.  “It’s just on us, and we make the posts on Facebook, but it’s not the same as alerting the whole community.”

According to Smallboy’s petition, “Indigenous children are left without the support and resources connected to the amber alert when a child goes missing. They do not fit the criteria required for an amber alert to be issued. The criteria need to be adjusted to include our on-reserve children.

“It is critical to the safety and well-being of our children to have a system and alert in place for Indigenous children. Our Indigenous women and girls are going missing and being found deceased at alarming rates. A billboard campaign with an alert system connected to the missing person reports would bring much-needed awareness and attention to the disappearance of our women and children. These decisions are at the provincial and federal levels but are possible to put into action across Canada.

“We need your support in signing this petition. The more signatures we get the more weight the petition will have as it moves forward. Think of little Frank from Red Earth, Tina Fontaine, Chelsea Poorman, Billie Johnson and so so many others that could still be with us if we had proper alerts and systems in place.”

Smallboy believes the ball gets dropped many times by police when an Indigenous person is reported missing, and it starts when police ask for the caller’s name, and they hear it’s an Indigenous name.

“That kind of seems where the breakdown is, the individual’s bias.  They take it upon themselves ‘well, is this an emergency or not an emergency, is this person really missing or are they just Indigenous’- and they’re out partying, or they’re at a cousin’s or an auntie’s?”

Smallboy says she’s heading home this summer and will continue to gather signatures over the summer. An official federal petition needs 500 signatures – which she has.

Smallboy says she’s hoping to present the Change.Org petition to Lametti and the Minister of Crown Indigenous Relations, Marc Miller this fall.

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