Michigan State University Extension has been awarded a $1.55 million federal grant to fund a program aimed at equipping Michigan youth with vital mental health skills and preventing school violence.
The program is called STOP School Violence, and the acronym stands for Students, Teachers, and Officers Preventing School Violence.
The initiative is designed to teach youth how to recognize mental health issues, respond appropriately, and seek necessary support. By increasing students’ understanding and skills, the program hopes to reduce incidents of school violence.
The grant launched in 2023, and leaders with the program say it's become increasingly important in light of rising youth mental health challenges.
Kea Norrell-Aitch, an educator with MSU Extension in the Children and Youth Institute, focuses on mental health and emotional wellness. She noted that the need for intervention has increased in recent years, particularly for issues like anxiety and depression, which are the most common challenges faced by Michigan youth.
“The hope is that as students increase their knowledge and skillset in this area, then school violence would decrease,” Norrell-Aitch explained.
The program is integrated into schools and youth organizations through a series of six to eight sessions, called Teen Mental Health First Aid. “The biggest challenge has been scheduling,” Norrell-Aitch says. “Finding time within the school day to fit these lessons into already packed curriculums is difficult. But once we overcome those hurdles, we’ve had great success.”
Norrell-Aitch said in the last year, the program has trained more than 620 people in eight counties.
The STOP School Violence grant also supports a long-term vision of incorporating mental health education into all 4-H programs, a popular youth development initiative that spans the state.
Through the STOP grant, MSU Extension and the National Center for School Safety are working to build a statewide, community-based infrastructure of Mental Health First Aid responders.
