Pojoaque Valley Students Air Feelings in “Talk About It” Campaign

Just having someone to talk to can have a positive and significant impact on the mental, emotional, and physical well-being of tweens and teenagers. This is the idea driving peer-to-peer helper students at Pojoaque Valley Middle School and Sixth Grade Academy the week of February 6^th- 13th for their “Talk About It” campaign.

Teens and Tweens are faced with an array of everyday troubles and situations like bullying, drug and alcohol use, family problems, relationships, fitting in, and academic pressure, just to name a few. Put all this together and the numbers of our youth experiencing depression — the number one factor contributing to suicide– is staggering. New Mexico has one of the highest youth suicide rates in the country, with far more attempting and contemplating suicide.

As you know, even one youth lost to suicide is an unbearable tragedy with repercussions that reverberate throughout a school and community, which is exactly what these teens and tweens are working to prevent. “We need our youth to watch out for each other”, says JoAnn Sartorius of Santa Fe, the Talk About It campaign state coordinator. “We need to give them the know-how to recognize when friends need help, let them know that secrets can be deadly, and encourage them to get the adult help that is needed.”

The “Talk About It” campaign will be running all this week at PVMS AND SGA during which students will flood the halls, bathroom mirrors, classrooms, backpacks, and themselves with stickers that encourage them to Talk About It and directs their peers to the School-Based Health Center.

School-Based Health Centers (SBHCs) and the Talk About It campaign are funded by the New Mexico Department of Health, Office of School & Adolescent Health. There are more than 80 School-Based Health Centers state-wide providing counseling and health services. The SBHC at Pojoaque valley Schools stands ready to help any student with any problem, knowing that it helps just to Talk About It.