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Today’s students are experiencing stressors we could have never imagined in the past — vaping, social media pressure, heightened unrealistic body image portrayals, online bullying, opioid addiction epidemics, school shootings — the list goes on.
In addition to these pre-existing challenges, the pandemic turned our kids’ lives upside down.
In October 2021, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) declared a national state of emergency in children’s mental health. U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy’s public health advisory, issued in December 2021, says the pandemic and its impact on child, adolescent and young adult mental health was “devastating.”
The Mental Health Crisis is Nothing New
While it is important that the AAP and Surgeon General Murthy are sounding the alarm on the mental health crisis, it is critical that we respond to the emergency.
For the past 13 years, this mental health crisis has been addressed in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools through a program called Health Information Project (HIP).
As the founder and executive director of Miami-based HIP, I am proud to have partnered with Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, who helped make health education a priority locally.
HIP revolutionizes health education: Unlike traditional high school health classes led by adults, we utilize high school students as health educators. Instead of adults using outdated textbooks, cheesy videos and scare tactics, HIP is innovative, science-based and relatable. Our mission is to ensure that all kids are physically and emotionally safe and healthy.
In 2009, HIP became the first, and remains the only, peer-to-peer comprehensive health education program for high school students in the country. Since its inception, we have trained over 12,500 11th and 12th grade HIP “peer health educators” who have taught more than 260,000 ninth graders.
Our program is implemented during the school day and reaches all ninth graders at a school. HIP partners with 55 public high schools in Miami-Dade in addition to the private schools Gulliver, Ransom, Riviera and Cushman.
We also recently expanded to other schools in Florida, across Broward, Monroe and Pinellas counties.
Transforming the Archaic High School Health Education Model
HIP covers critical topics like depression, anxiety, eating disorders, abuse and obesity — and its peer-to-peer model creates a safe space for discussion, so kids feel less alone. (Research shows adolescents are more likely to shift their thinking and behaviors through health messaging from peers.) And at schools with HIP programming, students continue to report that they prefer to be taught these topics by kids their age.
The surgeon general’s report outlined a series of recommendations to improve youth mental health, including supporting mental health in school settings.
Miami is already a step ahead.
Addressing Learning Loss
Many educators have expressed concern about “learning loss” due to the pandemic.
However, it is crucial to understand that we cannot address academic performance if we do not address the physical and emotional stressors and distractions in students’ lives.
We’re doing that in South Florida, and other school districts should follow our lead.
As a product of Miami-Dade County Public Schools and a graduate of Miami Palmetto Senior High School, I could not be prouder of my school district and my hometown.
Risa Berrin is the founder and executive director of Health Information Project (HIP), a Miami-based non-profit revolutionizing health education by transforming high school students into health teachers, with a mission to ensure that all kids are physically and emotionally safe and healthy. To learn more, visit www.behip.org.
