The rise in technology and social media, as well as the compounding traumas of our county’s fires and pandemic have left our youth more at risk of depression, bullying, mental illness, drug exposure and self harm.

National Crisis

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention is warning of an accelerating mental health crisis among adolescents, with more than 4 in 10 teens reporting that they feel “persistently sad or hopeless,” and 1 in 5 saying they have contemplated suicide, according to the results of a survey published March 2022.

Local Crisis
According to the “YouthTruth” survey conducted by Community Foundation Sonoma County, when asked if they feel like a real part of their school’s community, only 34% of Sonoma County high school students say yes. More than one in every 10 of these same students say they have considered suicide in the last 12 months

1. cdc.gov/suicide
2. sonomacf.org