Kids In Crisis: Supporting your children with the right conversations
May 19, 2022, 12:07 PM | Updated: Jun 22, 2022, 2:06 pm
If you’re the parent to teenage kids, you know getting them to talk isn’t always easy — and yet they need your help now more than ever.
All day Thursday — in this Healthy Mind Matters series — KSL TV is talking about Kids In Crisis and what you can do to provide support.
Although it’s a scary thought, Dr. Scott Langenecker with the Huntsman Mental Health Institute says it’s important for parents to realize they don’t see everything their kids are going through each day.
That’s why he says having the right conversations is essential.
“And if something’s like, on the edge of their mind, like, ‘I don’t know … we’re in a rush, we got to get home, we got to get ready for dinner; there’s other kids to deal with in the family; I don’t want to be a burden to my family’ — maybe I wouldn’t mention it.
“Then all of a sudden you give that child permission to spill the beans, if they’re close, that might be just the thing.”
If you are worried about your child, reach out to your primary care physician, use the Safe UT App, or if you’re facing an immediate crisis — call the Utah Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255.
