Toll Gate High School is introducing Peer-to-Peer to its students and faculty. The University of Michigan’s Family Depression Center Peer-to-Peer program educates students and faculty about depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses. By doing so, students become aware of the warning signs within themselves and/or peers, along with the steps to take in order to get them the treatment they need. This program also helps decrease stigmas, increase knowledge, and increase help-seeking attention. According to this article from the Depression Center, “42% percent of U.S. high school students report that they felt sad or hopeless during the past 12 months(2023)” (depressioncenter.org/p2p ). This program is a big step in decreasing that number.
As the members of Peer-to-Peer at Toll Gate High School, our role is to educate our peers about mental health issues, promote help-seeking, and provide resources through our campaign. Since mental health is an issue that can affect anyone no matter their religion, gender, or race we believe it is important to spread awareness of the matter. We plan to do this by creating a campaign that consists of informative presentations alongside fundraising events. Our goal is to speak out about an issue that is not talked about enough amongst not just us but society as a whole. In doing so we create a community amongst the Toll Gate student body that is informed so they can not only help themselves but their peers as well.
