- stem4 held their first parent conference on teenage mental health on Monday 20th March in conjunction with Wimbledon College and had an amazing turnout of over 130 parents. The conference was targeted at parents who have children in secondary school and wanted to know more about mental health trends both developmental as well as common mental ill health problems in children and young people.
- Dr Nihara Krause gave the audience some background on teenage mental health, talking about the pressures that young people face, signs that could indicate there is a problem, and what families can do to maintain good mental health. We then heard from stem4 ambassadors Iain and Michael Maitland who used a question and answer format to describe Michael’s illness and the ups and downs of getting him help; Rosie Day who spoke about the effect of mental health illness on siblings and the whole family; and Miriam George who described parenting a child with a mental health illness.
- Along the way Dr Krause presented tips on what parents can do, discussed where and how to get help, and how to build resilient families. There was plenty of opportunity for parents to ask questions and interact with our speakers. We really hope that the conference helped parents develop their awareness of mental health, understand how mental health affects learning, and identify strategies which could help everyone manage their child’s well-being.
- Thank you to Wimbledon College, in particular Paul Fitcher, for allowing us to host this event, and to all our speakers for bravely sharing their experiences.