School Mental Health Ontario – Santé mentale en milieu scolaire Ontario(smho-smso.ca) and Wisdom2Action (W2A) have relaunched #HearNowON to gather updated input from Ontario secondary students to inform next steps in building student engagement, learning and leadership in mental health at school. #HearNowON is a province-wide student engagement initiative that first took place in 2019. Through an online survey launching today and virtual forums scheduled for the fall, Ontario secondary students are invited to share:  

• Insights on how to build and sustain mental health and wellness at school, with and among their peers 
• Preferences for mental health learning at school
• Suggestions for how school communities can adopt an equity-based approach to school mental health to better support students impacted by systemic oppression 
• Ideas for encouraging student engagement in provincial, district and school-level initiatives that support student mental health and wellness 

“Student voices are absolutely essential to improving mental health and well-being in Ontario secondary schools,” says Fae Johnstone, Principal Consultant with Wisdom2Action. “If there’s one thing we know for sure about school mental health, it’s that students want to be involved in creating positive change in their communities. Students are experts in their own experiences. Through #HearNowON, students have the opportunity to share their feedback and perspective on what’s working well in schools and what we could be doing better”. 

More than 1000 students from across Ontario provided input through the 2019 #HearNowON survey and in-person forums. The final report informed the development of School Mental Health Ontario’s overall strategy and approach to student engagement, and of new resources and training, including online courses for educators and school administrators and a classroom-based mental health literacy course for secondary students.  

“In 2019, students resoundingly told us that they wanted to learn about mental health at school. Ideally, they wanted to do this as part of their regular classroom instruction,” says Dr. Kathy Short, Executive Director of School Mental Health Ontario. “Informed by student voice, and working alongside students, educators and mental health professionals, we were able to create a plan focused on what students said they want: knowledge of mental health, ways to cope with stress, and information on how to get help for themselves and their friends when they need mental health support. Now we want to know what has changed or needs to change, for example, because of the pandemic. As we do that, we want to consult with students to help us identify what we should be prioritizing next in order to help them through this difficult time”. You can find some examples of resources and supports co-created with students here.  

The online survey is available now and will remain open until November 19^th 2021. The survey focuses on student mental health knowledge needs, preferences and priorities.  

Registration for the virtual forums is also open. The forums will focus on mental health literacy, help seeking and help-giving, equity in mental health and student engagement and leadership opportunities. 

Students can sign up for virtual forums here.  

About School Mental Health Ontario 

School Mental Health Ontario is a provincial implementation support team that works with Ontario school districts and is funded by the Ministry of Education to enhance student mental health through culturally-responsive, evidence-informed strategies and services.  

About Wisdom2Action

Wisdom2Action is a national social enterprise and consulting firm specializing in community engagement, creative facilitation, research and evaluation, knowledge mobilization, and EDI (equity, diversity, and inclusion). 

Media Contacts:  

For questions about HearNowON2021, please contact Alice Gauntley at Alice@wisdom2action.org.

For general questions about School Mental Health Ontario, contact Elo Igor at eigor@smho-smso.ca 

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