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Clarksville Youth Council to provide mental health resources to students

The Evening News and The Tribune - 2/28/2023

Feb. 28—CLARKSVILLE — In the coming weeks there will be information about mental health resources for young people posted throughout Clarksville.

It's all thanks to the Clarksville Youth Council, a group that is working to address some of the issues young people face.

The group plans to ask Town Council to approve a resolution declaring March Youth Mental Health Awareness Month in the town, and that's just the start.

A $1,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Southern Indiana will enable the Youth Council's idea of making more mental health resources available with the "Mental Health Matters" poster contest.

President Eva Wheatley said posters will be judged this week and that young Clarksville residents were asked to come up with a design that addresses the topic of mental health.

The winners of that contest, which closed at the end of February, will be decided March 3.

"They had to incorporate whatever their feeling and express themselves on a sheet of paper and put what mental health means to them through art," Wheatley said. "Mental health means different things to all people, so it'll be great to see things through their eyes, to put out for people to see."

For Wheatley, it's imperative to find ways to help other students if they're struggling with their mental health.

"I think it's really important," she said. "As teens we have a lot to do, we have a lot going on in our home lives and school and friends. We are coming into the world, we are new, we are learning. I think it's important to address (mental health.) You never know what anyone else is feeling."

The Youth Council will pick winners in five different age groups and then those posters will be printed, along with phone numbers and links for mental health resources, and placed across Clarksville in areas where young people spend time.

The hope is the poster contest starts a conversation between youth in Clarksville and their parents about mental health.

Clarksville Communications Director and Youth Council Advisor Ken Conklin said close to 100 entries were submitted to the contest.

"It's nice to see, because one of the reasons the youth council was proud to have the poster contest was just to get people to talk about youth mental health," he said. "They've been talking to parents about mental health and that's why it's important."

The town's Youth Council was formed last year and focuses on things that affect youth in the town.

Some of the issues members have discussed include how bullying and mental health affect young people, along with the effects of the COVID pandemic.

For Wheatley, the Youth Council is an outlet that allows her to help other youth who live in Clarksville.

"This is one of our biggest first projects, to really get it out there to show people what (Youth Council) is," she said. "Let every student help make Clarksville a better place. We really put a big emphasis on this one project we are doing, this is kind of our debut. I just really hope that everybody appreciates it as much as I do."

She said she's looking forward to more projects with the Youth Council.

"Once the posters go up, I'm super-excited, it makes me really happy to know that I've done something to help other teenagers with what they might be going through," she said. "To get that help if needed. That's what mental health means to me."

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