World Teen Mental Wellness Day: Working Together to Empower our Youth

By Glen Weiner, Executive Director of the Coalition to Empower our Future

On World Teen Mental Wellness Day, we are reminded about the importance of working together to support our young people as they navigate a mental health challenge unlike any generation before them. 

As a father of two and someone who has spent the past decade working as an education advocate, I’ve seen both the best of what it means to be a kid today and the weight and complexities of the mental health challenge up close. 

From housing and food insecurity, bullying, decline in time spent playing outdoors, economic hardships, overuse of devices and social media and much more – there are so many factors contributing to the state of youth mental health and wellbeing today.

We all want our young people to live in a world where they can thrive emotionally, mentally and socially – and as part of that, we must ensure they know struggles with mental health aren’t something to be ashamed of but something that we take seriously. 

We want them to feel safe, secure and confident. We want them to have the tools and the support they need to navigate the complexities of the modern world. 

The work being done by the many mental health experts, parents, educators, nonprofits, and so many other stakeholders is vital to meeting this moment for our children and their futures. The Coalition to Empower our Future aims to build on their work by bringing all of these voices and perspectives together to have meaningful conversations about the range of the underlying problems and find innovative solutions. 

Our hope is that this coalition will open a forum of discussion among people thinking about this serious challenge from many different vantage points and draw on the expertise of organizations doing critical work across the country. Learning from these conversations will in turn help us identify comprehensive and lasting solutions that address the full range of factors contributing to this challenge. 

Mental health challenges do not happen in a vacuum, and this coalition and our work aim to reflect that truth. While there is much work to be done, there is also reason for optimism. Society cares deeply about ensuring our children and parents are supported and empowered with the resources and tools they need to thrive, and I am confident that by working together, we can find comprehensive and lasting solutions.

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