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RED FLAGS PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
One of the greatest accomplishments of Erika's Lighthouse is the establishment of The Red Flags Program on the North Shore of Chicago. The Red Flags Program is a comprehensive depression education program which consists of three parts: a unit for students at a grade level chosen by the school, an in-service for teachers and staff, and an informational presentation for parents.
Objectives:
- Alert students, parents, and teachers to the dangers of adolescent depression.
- Demystify the source and treatment of depression and other mental illnesses.
- Help students, parents, and teachers recognize the behavioral symptoms of depression in adolescents and to seek evaluation and treatment.
- Encourage school personnel to develop a policy for recognizing, referring, and accommodating at risk students.
- Assist parents in getting help for their children who may be depressed.
- Demonstrate how to be a friend to someone struggling with depression.
It is designed to help students, their parents, and all school staff to recognize and respond appropriately to signs of depression and related mental disorders. IT IS NOT DESIGNED TO DIAGNOSE. That is left to the professionals who are trained to do so. We have piloted the program at Washburne School, in Winnetka IL. The teachers at Washburne are in the process of enhancing the Red Flags Curriculum, which when they have finished, will integrate depression awareness into the science, art, and literary fields as well. The program is now being taught in middle schools throughout the North Shore of Chicago.
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