Florida Blue and the Tampa Bay Lightning held their third annual ‘Strike the Stigma for Teens’ event at AMALIE Arena on October 4. The event was a one-day symposium that engages area youth and teachers, providing students with the tools and resources to help them flourish, including therapy dogs, ponies, engaging activities and more.
More than 350 students from high schools in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties participated and had the opportunity to become teen Mental Health First Aiders.
WWE Global Ambassador Titus O’Neil served as the morning’s keynote speaker. Strike the Stigma is a multiyear initiative created in partnership with Florida Blue and Vinik Sports Group to leverage the sport of hockey to provide education and awareness around mental well-being and to help break the stigma. The goal is to provide solutions that can be utilized to achieve positive, sustainable results on the overall mental well-being of the Tampa Bay community.
“The Tampa Bay Lightning believes that taking care of one’s mental health is just as important as taking care of one’s physical health,” states the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Strike the Stigma webpage. “We are honored to use our platform of the great sport of hockey to amplify the conversation around mental health and to help break the stigma around asking for help. It is important that our community knows that there are resources available if you or someone you know is struggling.”
Participating high schools included:
- Tampa Bay Tech High School.
- Lennard High School.
- Sickles High School.
- Armwood High School.
- Plant City High School.
- Fivay High School (Pasco County).
- Zephyrhills High School (Pasco County).
- Palm Harbor University High School (Pinellas County).
- Seminole High School (Pinellas County).
- Richard O. Jacobson High School (Pinellas County).
- Sumner High School.
Key Facts:
- High school students with depression are more than two times more likely to drop out than their peers.
- Increases in the percentage of students who were bullied at school (15 percent to 19 percent), per the CDC.
- Increases in the percentage of students who missed school because of safety concerns either at school or on the way to school (9 percent to 13 percent), per the CDC.
- 64.2 percent of Floridians ages 12-17 who have depression did not receive any care in 2022.
To learn more about Strike the Stigma, visit www.nhl.com/lightning/community/strike-the-stigma.
