Can you imagine if Lady freakin' Gaga turned up at your school to give you a pep talk?
It sounds like something out of a really good dream, but it could be a reality in some highschools.
The queen of pop recently announced that her Born This Way foundation had teamed up with the National Council for Behavioral Health to bring the peer-to-peer mental health program, teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA), to 20 more highschools in the US.
She even brought 16 teens who had already completed the program up on stage with her at one of her Las Vegas residency shows.
“With teen Mental Health First Aid, we like to say, it’s okay to not be okay,” Gaga said at the event.
“Sometimes when life gives you a million reasons to not want to stay, you need just one person that looks at you, listens to you, helps you get help and validates how you feel. Together, Born This Way and the National Council have put this program in eight schools and soon it will be in 20 more. I know for certain that I’m not stopping here. I want the teen Mental Health First Aid program in every school in this country.”
The program is an 8-hour program for high school students in years 10 to 12 to "learn about mental illnesses, including how to identify and respond to a developing mental health or substance use problem among their peers.”
Basically, it sounds like an extremely helpful initiative that should be compulsory in all schools and workplaces.
Here in Australia, more than 60,000 kids in have already completed the program, thanks to funding from the Australian Rotary Health.
Over the last few years, their 30,000 volunteers have quietly raised over $45 million dollars in research projects just like this one.
You can get involved in the cause by helping them fundraise for their annual fundraising day, Lift The Lid, on Tuesday 1st October, or donate here.
Who knows, maybe we'll even hear some of Lady Gaga's words of wisdom in Aussie schools soon!
You can learn more about the teen Mental Health First Aid program here.
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