Teenagers often feel limited in their ability to enact change. Because they often seek permission from adults before making big decisions or taking action, high school students have a difficult time feeling empowered to make a difference.
But, Kristin Robinson, a Fort Worth Country Day senior, proves young adults can shape change in their communities as well as each others’ lives.
Robinson met a boy in eighth grade at a guitar recital when she was 14 years old.
“He was really nice and we quickly became friends,” Robinson said. “After the concert, we kept up through texting, and very shortly after meeting him, he confided in me that he wanted to kill himself.”
Robinson felt the weight of holding onto this secret. She felt pressure to stay loyal to this new friend, but she knew he needed more help than she could provide.
“The more time went on, the scarier what he said to me got,” Robinson said.
The boy talked to Robinson about harming himself and about potential suicidal plans, so she got her mom, his parents and her guitar teacher involved.
“Although he was very angry with me at first, I think I may have saved his life.”
This one boy's story does not stand alone. Suicide is the third leading cause of death in youth ages 15 to 24, according to the National Alliance of Mental Illness. And more than 90 percent of children and adolescents who commit suicide have a mental disorder.
“I have had way too many friends of mine tell me they struggle with depression,” Robinson said. “It's far too rampant amongst young people.”
So, Robinson decided to make a difference.
Robinson partnered this prominent cultural issue affecting youth with another one of her passions, music. And with that, the Music for Mental Health benefit concert was born.
Founded last year, the Music for Mental Health concert at The Live Oak Music Hall raised over $4,000 in its first year. All of the concert’s proceeds go toward the Local Outreach Suicide Survivors team, which is a part of the Mental Health Association of Tarrant County. This year, tickets will be $10 a person at the door, but the Music for Mental Health team always accepts greater donations.
This year's event will be held at 7 p.m. on Dec. 9 at The Live Oak. For more information, check out the event's Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
“People my age should not have to struggle to keep going day to day, in fact, no one should,” Robinson said. “I think we have a responsibility as a community to recognize this problem and try to fix it.”
All of the benefit concert's performers and volunteers are high school students. Robinson wanted to give her peers opportunities to showcase their leadership and artistic talents on and off the stage.
This year's performers include Fort Worth Country Day sophomore Harriette Hull, Paschall High junior Thomas Goetz, All Saints' Episcopal School seniors Kate Claunch and Sarah Boone, All Saints' Episcopal School sophomore Sloan Struble and the Tendons, made up of four junior Fort Worth Country Day high school students.
