Here at Hoosier Ag Today, we’ve told you many times about the good work being done by the Purdue Extension Farm Stress Team and their pursuit of putting an end to the stigma surrounding mental health in rural communities. This goes for farmers, but their families too.
“We have developed a curriculum that can be taught in high school ag classrooms,” says Abby Heidenreich, a Purdue Extension educator and member of the Farm Stress team. “Growing up on a farm, it’s a much different childhood than a lot of people experience, and so we wanted to create something that speaks to that to audience, and lets them know that they’re not the only ones who may feel a little bit of that pressure from the farm, or may have to do things a little differently than their friends, and maybe can’t go to all of the social functions that the kids without livestock at home can go to, and a lot of those different things that are just unique experiences for youth living on a farm or in a rural community.”
They unveiled the curriculum at the National FFA Convention in October and received a great response.
“We ended up having teachers from over 15 different states that were interested in getting their hands on this curriculum that we’ve developed, and they expressed that they see this need for this type of curriculum. Because a lot of times there’s a mental health effort in the schools, but it doesn’t always apply to the kids in ag classes, or maybe the kids in the ag classes don’t always fit the cookie cutter teenage stereotype. So, it’s important to meet them where they are.”
Resources are available at extension.purdue.edu/farmstress. If you’re ever feeling like you need someone to talk to, call or text 988.
