P.E.I. teachers trained in new provincial mental health curriculum

Island students will soon receive more knowledge in understanding and improving their mental health, says the province.

More than 30 P.E.I. educators received their master training this month in how to deliver a new provincial mental health curriculum to students.

The curriculum, developed and taught by adolescent mental health expert Dr. Stan Kutcher, is already used in many provinces and other countries. Kutcher said more than 70 per cent of mental health problems are diagnosed during the period from adolescence to age 25.

“Schools are the best place to address literacy because the students and teaching resources are already in place and once the capacity is built into the school system, it stays there,” said Kutcher. “Island educators are very enthusiastic about this opportunity to increase their knowledge of mental health and share it will their colleagues and students, as well as their family and friends.”

The curriculum will be rolled out in P.E.I. schools in 2018 and 2019. Education Minister Jordan Brown said mental health literacy is the foundation for all mental health improvements.

“Because it helps us to understand the difference between the normal stresses of life and when we should seek help for a mental health issue,” he said in a news release. “When we build mental health literacy in our schools, we have much more opportunity to support student well-being and achievement, and to prevent and reduce mental health issues that can escalate in later life.”

Kutcher trained 28 educators and student well-being team members, as well as two community mental health experts from the Canadian Mental Health Association and Health P.E.I. during the sessions.