Student Leaders Attend Dartmouth’s 2025 UN Global Symposium on Youth Well-Being
November 04, 2025
A reflection by Mavis Downey ’26
On Monday, October 27th, a group of student leaders from Thetford Academy attended Dartmouth’s 2025 UN Global Symposium on Youth Well-Being. The event brought together leading mental health experts, policymakers, and youth leaders to examine one of the most pressing issues of our time: the youth mental health crisis.
The Symposium opened with a fascinating panel discussion featuring several former U.S. Surgeons General. Hearing from people with years of experience discussing the issues affecting our youth today was both inspiring and informative. The panelists discussed the stigma around mental health, the drivers of poor mental health, and shared some shocking statistics – including how 15% of children today have major psychiatric disorders.
After the panel, students attended a presentation by the author of “The Anxious Generation”, Jonathon Haidt. His presentation was both thought-provoking and disheartening, focusing on Haidt’s deep concern about the negative impacts of social media on our generation. More experts followed, leading discussions that not only dove deeper into the factors causing poor mental health in youth, but offered innovative solutions and strategies for change.
However difficult some of the topics of the day may have been, the overall message at the Symposium was one of urgency and hope. Many presentations felt like a rousing call to action, rather than a list of depressing statistics. By the end of the symposium, we left feeling encouraged and hopeful that our policymakers, educators, and communities are beginning to take youth mental health seriously and are committed to making meaningful change for our younger generations.
