UO team developing online mental health resources for rural schools

UO team developing online mental health resources for rural schools

School can be a stressful time, even when we're not dealing with a pandemic.

Now... students could have some help... thanks to some groundbreaking curriculum from the university of oregon.

Kezi 9 news reporter emma withrow explains..

Emma: with some schools not reopening their buildings because of health concerns many children are facing a whole new set of challenges.

But a researcher with the uo says she and her team are working to help kids cope with these troubling times.

A team of researchers has been developing this mental health curriculum for years... and lincoln middle school in cottage grove is the first school to use it ... but only when the classrooms were open.

But now... with school buildings closed... and the help of a 1.5 million dollar grant... the team is trying to take their program online.

Nichole kelly phoner: "a significant portion of both students and teachers have a history of trauma, and you could think of the pandemic as an active ongoing traumatic experience for alot of people."

And thats where the curriculum comes in.

Kelly says it specifically targets middle schoolers who are coping with the trying circumstances of adolescence... not to mention the pandemic which is turning their lives upside down.

Nichole kelly phoner: "we picked middle school students because it is the age that school becomes particularly stressful, its the number one stresser among the average middle school student."

Kelly said the program teaches students to better read their emotions and determine when they are outside of their "window of tolerance," which can include when kids get angry or sad.

Emma: coming up at 6 we'll hear about who this mental health curriculum is targeting nd why.

Reporting in cottage groove emma withrow.

Some families are