The Friendship Bench Blog

Bereaved Parents: Living Life in Black and White

Bereaved Parents: Living Life in Black and White

July is Bereaved Parents Month, which, speaking from experience, is something those who have lost a child wish to ignore. Counterintuitive, I know. The reality is that such campaigns tend to ignite physical and emotional reactions in bereaved parents that we would...

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The Friendship Bench and World Suicide Prevention Day 2017

The Friendship Bench and World Suicide Prevention Day 2017

This year, World Suicide Prevention Day falls on Sunday, September 10. According to the WSPD website, more than 800,000 people die by suicide, and up to 25 times as many make a suicide attempt, each year. According to statistics provided by the Canadian Association...

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Instagram Tops List of Harmful Social Apps

Instagram Tops List of Harmful Social Apps

Kids, we get it; you don't want to be lectured to; you don't want to be told what to do, how to think, or what to believe. You're happy to jump on a bandwagon of friends online and do, think, and believe what the crowd tells you; it's the only authority figure that...

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Instagram Tops List of Harmful Social Apps

How a Simple Hello Can Save a Life

I'm representing the #YellowIsForHello team this week on a cross-Country trek for CMHA's Mental Health Awareness Week, and so the #mentalhealthmonday tip for this week is inspired by the message I'll be sharing with students from North Vancouver, BC to St. John's,...

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Don’t Worry, Be Happy

Don’t Worry, Be Happy

Tip from Jamaica: "Don't Worry, Be Happy."   To help fight the negative narrative of "Blue Monday" today (known as the most depressing day of the year), we've declared it #YellowMonday - the most optimistic day of the year! Inspired by this effort and the well...

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