{"id":41624,"date":"2016-10-20T16:35:58","date_gmt":"2016-10-20T20:35:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=41624"},"modified":"2016-10-20T16:50:47","modified_gmt":"2016-10-20T20:50:47","slug":"dont-suffer-in-silence-badgers-talk-mental-health-with-school-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2016\/10\/dont-suffer-in-silence-badgers-talk-mental-health-with-school-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cDon\u2019t suffer in silence:\u201d Badgers talk mental health with school kids"},"content":{"rendered":"

It must have taken unimaginable strength to do what Denise Grummett did Thursday in Bob Davis Gymnasium.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

In front of 600 school kids only a few years younger than her son was when he took his own life in June, 2015, Grummett stood at centre court and told them to do what Tyler Grummett didn\u2019t: Talk with someone if they\u2019re feeling like life is too much to handle.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no shame in admitting you need help. You don\u2019t have to suffer in silence.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou spend most of your waking hours at school. Your teachers, your administration and your friends see you every day. They are some of the most important people in your lives who you can share what\u2019s troubling you with,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s no shame in admitting you need help. You don\u2019t have to suffer in silence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grummett, a Brock alumna, was one of six guest speakers who addressed the crowd of Grade 6, 7 and 8 students from across Niagara who came to Brock Thursday for Don\u2019t Hide in the Den, the second annual men\u2019s basketball team Badgers Speak Out event, this time with mental health being the focus.<\/p>\n

Afterward, Grummett said she was glad to share her story with the students.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would never have thought mental illness would touch our lives because our son did suffer in silence. We had no idea something was bothering him. He didn\u2019t confide in his friends. He didn\u2019t confide in us,\u201d she said. \u201cWe don\u2019t know what was bothering him on the inside and we still don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tyler Grummett was a star basketball player at E.L. Crossley secondary school in Fonthill and attended a Brock basketball training academy. But instead of one day suiting up for the Brock Badgers varsity team, there\u2019s now a memorial tournament held here each December in his name.<\/p>\n

While her message to students was to talk to someone, Denise Grummett\u2019s message to parents is to keep asking questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow was school today? Is something bothering you? How are you feeling? I wish we had asked different questions. Maybe we could have discovered what was bothering him,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

I was so afraid that they wouldn\u2019t be there for me, but they were. They supported me and they got me the help I needed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Also speaking Thursday were Badgers men\u2019s basketball head coach Charles Kissi, graduated player Matt Marshall, current player Nolan Mackenzie, Brock Department of Child and Youth Studies Professor John McNamara, and Matthew Beard, an E.L. Crossley schoolmate of Grummett\u2019s who said he has also dealt with mental health issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne in three people might struggle with mental health in their lives,\u201d Beard said. \u201cWhat I did was I told somebody. I told my friends, my teachers and my parents and I was so afraid that they wouldn\u2019t be there for me, but they were. They supported me and they got me the help I needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

McNamara said kids should look at mental health like any other injury or illness.<\/p>\n

\u201cTalking about it is like going to the hospital to get a cast on a broken arm or taking an Advil for a headache,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Grummett hopes the elementary school students left Brock University Thursday afternoon knowing help is out there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t need to suffer alone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\t