Welcome to the Reach Out Teachers Network blog

For those starting to think about planning curriculum content in to 2012 , here is a great vimeo file you can use in support of units of work around body image and self esteem! Follow: http://vimeo.com/34813864

Whats happening on the forums on ReachOut.com?

Monday 16th January- Getting Real - working/employment

Nature / natural Community challenge!! http://forums.reachout.com/showthread.php?1944-Jan-2012-Nature-natural-challenge!  The Community Challenge is all about our wonderful NATURAL ENVIRONMENT & NATURE.

Each week on the blog we highlight the discussions and activities happening on ReachOut.com that you can encourage young people you work with to get involved in. Click here to learn more about ReachOut.com - Australia's leading online youth mental health service.

The ReachOut.com forums are a safe space where young people are encouraged to connect with other young people who have been through similar issues and talk about these issues in a positive productive way. The forums provide a valuable support community for young people seeking to improve their mental health and wellbeing, and can provide additional support between sessions for young people you are working with.

Whats happening on the forums on ReachOut.com next week?

Monday 9th January-Getting real session-Boredom in the holidays

Thursday 12th January-Infobus session-Isolation

Help us send a ReachOut.com pack to every high school in Australia by supporting the Back to [High] School appeal.

It's just $44 and could save a life.

High school can be a really exciting, and also extremely stressful time in a young person's life. From coping with peer pressure and exam stress to dealing with the angsts of adolescence, there are so many physical and emotional changes happening during this time that can leave a young person feeling anxious and alone.

ReachOut.com exists so young people can know they are never alone. We collaborate with young people to deliver personalised, actionable help wherever, whenever and however they choose. ReachOut.com gives young people the skills and confidence to overcome life's obstacles, from the everyday to the significant.

We want every high school in Australia to know about ReachOut.com so we've launched the Back to [High] School appeal. Just $44 will allow us to send a ReachOut.com promotional pack to an Australian high school of your choice. To ensure packs go directly to school students, we'll be sending them to school captains and encouraging them to tell their peers about ReachOut.com. We'll be giving them suggestions of how to use the materials and letting them know we're here if they need advice or support.

Last year, ReachOut.com helped over 500,000 young people. This year we aim to reach every high school student across the country.

Simply select the school you'd like us to send a ReachOut.com pack to, click the donate button and follow the prompts. With your support no young person will be left behind.

This literature review addresses two key questions:

1. What are the essential skills, capacities, relationships and attributes that Year 8-10 students require in the family/home, community and secondary school settings that prepare students for the transition into further education/work?

2. What are national and international examples of best practice initiatives that support and prepare students in Years 8 and 9?

Key points of interest:

• Quality relationships formed at school with peers and teachers are positively linked to student engagement (Suárez-Orozco, Rhodes & Milburn, 2009).

• If a young person's health and wellbeing needs are not met this impacts upon their ability to form positive and supportive relationships. On a basic level this influences an individual's ability to concentrate and be fully engaged in their education and this in turn affects their aspirations.

• Research also highlights the importance of regular school communication with parents to promote positive interactions (Ma, 2007).

• Mental health is one of many aspects influencing wellbeing and an individual's wellbeing is also linked to their mental health.

• Problems associated with youth mental disorders include "school failure, impaired or unstableemployment, and poor family and social functioning, leading to spirals of dysfunction and disadvantage that are difficult to reverse" (McGorry, Purcell, Hickie & Jorm, 2007, p.S5).

Full article: http://apo.org.au/research/preparing-students-transition-work-or-further-study

New this week to our website is our 'School Highlight' section under the Teaching Resources tab. Here you will find information shared by school communities about what they are doing in regards to mental health and well being and possible ideas for you to implement at your school.

If you would like to share what you are doing in your school community, please email: teachers@reachoutpro.com.au

 Something to share with your students, staff and faculty!

Each week we will be highlighting the discussions and activities happening on ReachOut.com that you can encourage young people you work with to get involved in. Reachout.com forums are a safe space where young people are encouraged to connect with other young people who have been through similar issues in a positive productive way.

The forums provide a valuable support community for young people seeking to improve their mental health and wellbeing, and can provide additional support between sessions for young people you are working with.

Each Monday night ReachOut.com hosts discussion sessions on general issues and topics that affect the mental health and wellbeing of young people- with recent sessions getting over 1,000 views, and up to 50 active contributors. This week's Getting Real session will be a community led discussionon schoolies, what to expect, and how to have a good time while staying safe.

MONDAY: Talking LIVE about Getting through the holidays

Date/Time: 8.00pm AEST (5pm in WA), Monday November 21st

Ideas to promote this forum: through daily announcements/notices, school newsletters, SRC meetings, faculty/staff meetings, computer screen savers and home pages of your website.

An interesting read regarding Australian children and the internet.

Risks and safety for Australian children on the internet
Findings from the AU Kids Online survey of 9-16 year olds and their parents

This report presents initial findings from an Australian survey of children and their parents designed to provide a unique insight into the balance of opportunities and risks experienced by these children as a result of their internet use. A random stratified sample of 400 9-16 year olds who use the internet, and one of their parents/carers, was interviewed between November 2010 and February 2011

Here are some highlights:

• 76% of 9-16 year olds go online daily
• 46% go online using a mobile device
• Average time spent online is 99 minutes
• 65% of Australian children who use the internet have their own social networking site profiles (SNS)
• Only 29% of AU 9-10 year olds, but 59% of 11-12
   year olds, have a SNS profile, suggesting that it is the
   start of secondary school, rather than the minimum
   age set by popular SNS providers, that triggers social
   networking activity.

For the full report, head to: http://cultural-science.org/journal/index.php/culturalscience/article/view/49/129

At ReachOut.com we are looking for young people who;
-are aged 16-25
-passionate about mental health and wellbeing 
-passionate about advocating for better services for young people
-would like to help us raise awareness of ReachOut.com among politicians and the media

If you, or someone you know fits this criteria:

head to:  http://au.reachout.com/get-involved/opportunities/reachoutcom-mega-workshop

Welcome to the Reach Out Teachers Newtork Blog

I'm Sarah Jackson,  the new National Manager-Schools. It's great to be on board and have you joining our blog!

It's an exciting time for the Teachers Network as we explore ideas and opinions around mental health issues as they relate to young people. The blog will also include information and discussion topics around technology in simple terms. We are please to have guest bloggers joining the team, both from the mental health field, as well as young people.

Join the discussion, include your comments and share your ideas and experiences here.

If you are interested in contributing to the blog on a regular basis, please email sarah@inspire.org.au. You don't have to be an experienced blog writer. We want to capture teachers' experiences of using Reach Out in the classroom, trying out our resources and also start conversations about some of the challenges and successes they have had.

Everyone is welcome so come and join the discussion!

Suicide is the leading cause of death for young Australians, claiming the lives at least 281 15-24 year olds in 2008. Although suicide is a tragedy at any age, youth suicide generates extreme levels of distress and loss in Australian communities.

Suicide Prevention Australia last week launched the Youth Suicide Prevention position statement. The position statement is the result of collaboration between representatives from Suicide Prevention Australia, The Inspire Foundation, Youth Beyondblue, Curtin University, Twenty10, Principals Australia, The Black Dog Institute, Headspace, AISRAP, Carers Australia, Youth Focus and Lifeline. The alliance was led by Jo Robinson from Orygen Youth Health and Dr Michael Dudley, Chair of Suicide Prevention Australia.

The resulting paper consolidates some previously inaccessible information on youth suicide and outlines the current programs and initiatives in place in Australia to tackle it. Drawing on international evidence the position statement also puts forward some recommendations on how we can become better at preventing youth suicide in Australia.

Recommendations include: removing structural barriers to youth wellbeing; targeting risk factors and increasing protective factors for suicide prevention, involving young people in the design and implementation of youth suicide prevention programs; increasing research and access to online services; focussing on early intervention in youth mental illness; reducing the stigma of asking for help; providing gatekeeper training for adults; and inclusion of suicide prevention mechanisms in the school curriculum.

School-based programs

Schools are seen as a key setting for suicide prevention programs. It is estimated that over 80% of young people have a limited risk of suicide and that universal curriculum programs are therefore sufficient to protect their mental health. Australian schools "play a vital role in promoting the intellectual, physical, social, emotional, moral, spiritual and aesthetic development of young Australians" (Ministerial Council on Education Employment, Training and Youth Affairs 2008). As a primary location for targeting young people, school-based programs offer an opportunity to promote suicide protective factors and reduce risk factors among youth populations.

School-based programs have been dominant since the development of the National Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy in 1995, and generally aim to promote mental health and wellbeing, and build resilience and coping mechanisms. In Australia, most universal programs provide teaching resources to supplement or be integrated into the curriculum. Teacher, school counsellor and, at times, parent training are also an integral component of school-based programs. A whole-of-school approach to positive mental health is promoted, including activities to create a school environment that values the holistic needs of youth.

Gatekeeper Training
Gatekeepers are individuals who are trained and resourced to recognise and respond to suicide risk in others. Teachers have been recognised as the primary gatekeepers in youth suicide prevention (Kutash et al. 2006). Professional standards for teacher training were released by the Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership last month and provided an opportunity to incorporate mental health first aid and suicide prevention gatekeeper training into teacher education. Unfortunately, the education policy makers overlooked such a vital aspect of the teacher's role.

The Reach Out Teachers Network and our key partners are lobbying for access to mental health first aid training for all school staff. Teachers must have an understanding of what to look out for and what to do if they are concerned about a student. Where it has occurred, positive results for teacher and school counsellor gatekeeper training have been found, with improved knowledge, attitudes and intervention skills observed in trainees, as well as their satisfaction with the training (Gould et al. 2003a).

Want to find out more ...

The Youth Suicide Prevention position statement and an executive summary are available from the Suicide Prevention Australia website.