We are in the midst of a youth mental health crisis (Abrams, 2023, Golden et al. 2024; Toronto’s Vital Signs, 2023). Toronto’s Vital Signs Report 2023 notes that 38% of students in grades 7 to 12 in Ontario reported fair or poor mental health in 2021, rising as high as 51% for those in grades 11 and 12 (p. 37); and that “poorer mental health is on the verge of becoming the typical experience for students” (ibid, p. 49). The pandemic has contributed to an “alarming decline in student mental health” (ibid) including psychological distress, suicide ideation, anxiety, and overall poor mental health (ibid). Levels of youth loneliness and isolation have risen since before the pandemic, which may be contributing to the youth mental health crisis (ibid., p. 43). As educators and musicians, we observe daily the impacts of strained and poor mental health on students’ lives and schooling. As researchers, we have had conversations with colleagues in health studies and psychology regarding intersections between our fields in the area of youth mental health. We are also in dialogue with community partners, including local community music organizations, secondary school educators, and local community health centres on connections between arts, health and wellbeing, who are also relaying the same urgent message about declining states of student well-being. Through our focus on Music & Youth Mental Health in 2024-2025, we seek to bring musicians and researchers in our community into dialogue, and to provide opportunities for developing connections in and through music-making towards wellbeing.

As part of SLS’s focus on Music & Youth Mental Health, we are hosting the following events:

1. Fall Student Forum for TDSB students on October 22, 2024. The Student Forum brings together scholars in the fields of music and health studies – particularly in clinical psychology and neuroscience – with secondary school students and teachers from Scarborough Toronto District School Board (TDSB) schools for a day of hands-on music-making, workshops, and discussions.
2. Community Forum on Music and Youth Mental Health in March 2025. This free one-day event, hosted at UTSC, is an opportunity for the wider community to gather, engage in participatory music-making related to wellness, and connect through a variety of activities including panels, group discussions, and informal conversation with the goal of fostering the development of meaningful relationships and partnerships. The Forum brings together stakeholders from many sectors: researchers working in the fields of music and health, secondary and post-secondary educators; students at the secondary, undergraduate, and graduate levels; industry professionals; health practitioners; representatives from community organizations; families; and other interested members of the public. Specific themes and music-making activities will be developed in response to the Student Forum in October 2024.
3. Colloquium Series: The Colloquium Series on music and youth mental health will take place across the 2024-2025 academic year, with one date in Fall 2024 and two in Winter 2025 (dates TBD). Each talk will be hosted by an SLS affiliate faculty member in the UTSC Music and Culture program, and take place in connection with a current course offering. The Colloquium Series is free and open to the public.