FRANKLIN — For Olivia, a 13-year-old eighth grader at Franklin Middle School, recess was a daily dose of cruelty. Suicide and mental health awareness plays out in ways the schools operate, how mental health can be integrated on a daily basis, and through coordinated responses of school staff who communicate by radio and respond as a team to behavior incidents. “They have no idea it’s helping them calm down.”Learning about wellnessGuidance, mental health, and counseling topics now comprise a required class, along with music, art and health. After a federal grant ended last year, funding dried up for mental health counselors at the elementary, middle and high schools. Counselors at local offices of Health First and Riverbend Community Mental Health see students on-site during school hours or after school.

Source: Daily Sun October 17, 2019 16:41 UTC