OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – Omaha Mayor John Ewing asked young people what would make them want to stay in the city. Their answer was clear: mental health support.
Ewing chose 58 juniors and seniors for his new Youth Advisory Council. His goal was to find out what would make young people want to stay.
“Too many of our young people go elsewhere for their higher education and careers,” Ewing said.
Tuesday, the students gave him their answer. Mental health support topped the list, but not just when someone is already in crisis. They want help before it gets to that point.
“Now that that’s a clear need coming from our young people, we have to make sure we meet that need and grow our capacity if necessary,” Ewing said.
Students say mental health resources are reactive, not proactive
Toni Jeffery is a junior at Quest Forward High School. She has moved around to different schools. At each one, she saw the same problem: not enough mental health support.
“Definitely to bring more resources for mental health and when I say that I mean – something to be more proactive, it’s all like reactive stuff,” Jeffery said.
Camden Parks, a senior at Elkhorn South High School, is on a national mental health team and agreed. With suicide being one of the leading causes of death in teens according to the CDC, he feels preventative efforts are the way to go.
“The biggest thing is we have to start early, like really it’s starting in late elementary school and early middle school. It’s starting with bullying. It’s starting with cyberbullying. So if we can get resources in there to streamline it a little bit better – if that’s getting mental health therapists in schools or more of those professionals in schools,” Parks said.
Students bring other suggestions to mayor
Students brought other suggestions to the table as well.
Zaraiah Champlin is one of the homeschool students joining the council. She wants to be an author but says teen job options don’t match her goals.
“It’s mostly limited to fast food or restaurant business, which is fine, but unless you’re going into restaurants, it’s not going to serve you once you go beyond college,” Champlin said.
Samirul Islam, a junior at Elkhorn South High School, is working to help students balance prayer and school.
“One of our daily prayers is like 1pm and it’s hard with school. I’m like making a Muslim Student Association so with that I’m able to spread the knowledge to do stuff like that,” Islam said.
The 58 students represent a junior and senior from every school in the area. They will have a meet and greet in July and will start having monthly meetings together in August. They will meet with Ewing quarterly. They will finish in May, presenting all the initiatives they were able to implement.
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