Students, teachers, and community members are in the process of coping with the Thursday, January 7 death by suicide of Dylan Buckner, football team captain and quarterback at Glenbrook North High School.  The high school is located in Northbrook, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago.  As is often the case in the aftermath of tragedy, people ask how such a loss could have been avoided.  These somber situations provide an opportune time to evaluate which interventions might help students seek out necessary mental health care before the unthinkable occurs.

Feeling down or having a bad day at school, at home, or at work can make anyone’s day a little less pleasant. Whether it results from performing poorly on a test, missing the game-winning shot, arguing with a sibling, quarreling with a friend, or getting a customer’s order wrong at work, moments of defeat and short-term failure can leave a lasting impact. For most people, the bad day is simply a bump in the road, quickly forgotten as new, positive experiences replace the negative ones.

WGN-TV recently introduced viewers to Jahkil Jackson, a 13-year-old who is driven to serve others and raise awareness about an issue that affects students each day: bullying. Jahkil wrote I Am, a children’s book that tells the story of a young person who was bullied by his peers. He based the story in part on his own experiences with bullying…

Physical distancing and the disruption of normal routines necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic have had an unfortunate—and tragic—side effect—an increase in depression, including among young people who are unprepared for the loss of traditional connections

Steve Brewster brought a smile to a young boy’s face when he created a detailed, airbrushed tribute to a beloved canine friend, Bullet. Small acts of kindness can go a long way toward making the world a be#er place!