Depression, hopelessness, past trauma, problems with friends, pressure from family and teachers, and fear of the future. The list of potential mental health battles goes on and on for today’s teenagers. Those factors can make day-to-day learning so much harder in high school.
Spokane teacher Emily Torres thinks she’s cracked the code with a metaphorical “fight club.” It’s not at all like the Brad Pitt/Edward Norton kind of fight club.
She created a curriculum eight years ago for her 11th Grade English/Language Arts class unlike any other. Mrs. Torres teams up with a mental health therapist.
“It started as a joke because, you don’t talk about fight club, said Torres. “It’s really important for us that students know right away, you do not talk about what other people share outside of this class.”
Students have to self-refer to be in the class. They also have to undergo an interview and be accepted.
In this class, students tie literary characters and elements into what they are dealing with in their lives. Sometimes it gets deep and raw.
For help, Torres has a partner in crime. Once a week, mental health therapist, Sean Barrett takes the reins of the class.
“We want kids to succeed,” said Barrett. “I think where Emily and I are coming from is we want them to have wellbeing. And if they have wellbeing, then they have what the need to succeed.”
“He’s not here as a teacher, he’s not here grading them, judging them. He’s completely here to listen to them, and the way students engage with somebody who’s not in a position of power or judgment with them is just completely different,” said Torres.
Tyree Lay took the “fight club” class last year and said, “With the environment and with Sean, you just learn so much about everyone around you and, like, how everyone’s, like, similar. You just make more friends.”
Before starting the class, Tyree said he was fighting, had troubles at home and was experimenting with drugs. Then, gradually something happened.
“I saw a significant change in myself,” said Tyree. “At the time I was like pretty disrespectful to like my parents but after I was like able to talk about what I was going through at the time, it made it easier, and it helped me see my parents in a different way.”
The change seen in many of the so-called fight club students is incredibly impactful.
Barrett said, “I want to speak frankly. We’ve been told this class has saved lives.”
In the fall, Torres and Barrett gave a Spokane Ted X talk, trying to spread the word to other teachers and administrators to share their secret to success with their “fight club.”
“Our teenagers are struggling.” Torres said. “They want to be heard, and they want their mental health prioritized, and I think it can be done in public schools. I know it can be done in public schools. So, I would just continue to advocate for it.”
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