Parents are learning new ways to help their children improve their mental health.
The Greater Essex County District School Board is offering free mental health seminars throughout the year.
At these seminars, parents are able to speak to mental health professionals, who offer suggestions and strategies about how to help their children deal with these issues.
Thursday's seminar was about building resiliency in children and youth.
According to Vice Principal of Dougall Public School, Mike Baker, today's children tend to have difficulty coping with poor mental health over long periods.
"Trend-wise, children do not seem to be having the same coping skills they have had in the past," says Baker. "They do not have the same skills in dealing with adversity or failure and it is creating struggles for them."
Baker says each session focuses on a different aspect of mental health.
He also says more parents are showing an interest in their children's mental well-being, and the seminars have been well-received so far.
"Over the course of the year we have had a tremendous turnout with tremendous feedback," says Baker. "These are free seminars open to anybody in the community and it is a great learning opportunity."
Baker says the school board wants to continue bringing the topic of mental health out of the shadows.
"Mental health issues is such a huge area of concern, partially because, historically, there has been such a stigma attached to it," says Baker. "One of our goals in terms of the seminars is not only to educate the community about a specific topic, but trying to reduce the stigma and letting people know it is ok to seek help."
The seminar series is open to all parents and there are no attendance fees.
For a list of upcoming sessions, visit publicboard.ca.
The school board will also be posting the seminars to their YouTube channel.