Canyon Springs Students Study Mental Illness in Hopes of Helping Peers

Mental illness and its treatment continues to be difficult for many people to acknowledge, let alone discuss or advocate for. However, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, about 20 percent of American children either have or have had a serious mental illness. Student leaders at Canyon Springs High School (CSHS) want to better understand mental illness in hopes of helping their peers, so 47 of them attended the recent Dare to Be Aware student conference sponsored by the Riverside County Department of Mental Health. The many interesting forums this year included Bullying, Human Trafficking, Moving Beyond Shame: Let it Go, Social Media and the Psychology of Technology, and How to Create an Atmosphere of Kindness and Compassion on your Campus. The annual conference was the origin of the very successful CSHS organization known as The Anti-Bullying Club (ABC).