Top 5 Resources

Largest grassroots mental health organization in the nation offering courses to parents, teachers, caregivers, etc. about mental health conditions and situations and how to best support those struggling. This is a link to the Westchester chapter, which offers free hour-long presentations to students and educators to learn more about the warning signs of mental health and how to help yourself or a friend! For educators, it also talks about how to partner with the parents.

Become a mental health first-aider! The goal of this website is to provide training to any adults that wants it (available in Spanish as well) in order to respond to mental health crisis and non-crisis situations, the same way that we have first aid for physical injuries. You can enter your zip code to the website and find an in person or online course near you.

SWBOCES provides educational services, programs, and resources to local schools in Westchester County that many students take advantage of. The website in partnership with the Westchester County Office for Community Mental Health provides links to many resources both for parents and children to better understand mental health, how to help themselves, a friend, or a child, and how to open a dialogue about it. Resources include links to videos, tips, and experiences.

Kognito is a platform that schools can use which provides simulation-based training for teachers, parents, and students to help them gain experience and comfort being initiating or engaging to conversations about mental health. With a lack of teacher training on mental health, lack of parent knowledge on the signs of mental health concerns or options for help, and students being surrounded by stigma and little to no information about their resources, it is important to increase comfort and knowledge on the topic,

ClassDojo is a popular platform used by educators to collaborate with parents and students as a team to track academic and personal progress! It provides an easy to use app that allows for quick and efficient information sharing and communication between school and home.

This website includes tools for parents to learn more about the implications of growing technology and social media use among kids. It teaches parents about the navigating the online world, screen time, being responsible with tech, and how to talk to your kid about it. This website includes fun quizzes and interactive experiences that parents and teens can do together, or that teachers can do with their classes to establish a class-created “technology contract”