Changing Systems 2019: Emotional Support in Schools

In Summer 2019, a group of high school fellows with the Social System Design Lab designed and facilitated the fifth-annual Changing Systems Youth Summit to engage St. Louis youth in problem-solving on the topic of emotional support in schools, in response to growing rates of teen suicide, anxiety, and depression.

The students used systems thinking and system dynamics models to develop and present four Calls to Action for schools to improve mental health outcomes for all students: (1) Integrating Emotional Literacy into the curriculum to teach people to understand, manage and identify their behavior patterns; (2) Changing the Grading System to a place where it is adaptable to each student’s learning pace; (3) Implementing a Peace Room in every school building as a private space for students to be alone and destress; (4) Creating Awareness on Emotional Support in the school environment.