RESOURCES:
Miles Jeffrey Roberts (MJR) Foundation
TRANSCRIPTION:
Caroline MacGregor: This is 89.1 WEMU. I'm Caroline MacGregor. And today, we are talking about the important subject of youth mental health, specifically suicide prevention. With me today are two parents who have experienced firsthand the intense grief from losing a child. Kristen Roberts is Co-Founder and President of the Miles Jeffrey Roberts Foundation. Jeff Roberts is Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of the Foundation. Their son, Miles, was just 15 years old when he died by suicide on March 29, 2017. Thank you to both of you for joining me today!
Kristen Roberts: Thank you!
Jeff Roberts: Thank you for having us, Caroline!
Caroline MacGregor: Now, you both established the Miles Jeffrey Foundation in honor of Miles with the desire to help spare others similar grief. Jeff, maybe you could tell us about the foundation and the whole thought process behind this.
Jeff Roberts: Yeah. Thanks for asking, Caroline. You know, we were supported wonderfully by our community when we lost Miles, and we recognized that we weren't going to be able to move through the tragedy and the challenges and the grief by ourselves. And so, the outpouring of support prompted Kristen and I to think about what we could do to give back to the community and really try to prevent an opportunity to have somebody else experience what we were experiencing. And so, we got together with some friends and some colleagues about what we could do, and we realized that suicide prevention starts with education. And it really is all about teaching people, really at any age. Of course, we were focused on high school age about how to understand the challenges of life, what's going on in themselves, what's going on with others, and it really is all about teaching people, really at any age. Of course, we were focused on high school age about how to under the challenges of life and what's in themselves, what's going with others, and then understand where the resources are in our community, in this particular case, with the foundation at the high school level, and really educate them and get some mental health literacy moving through the high schoolers that we were working with.
Caroline MacGregor: Kristen, would you be willing to share a little bit about Miles and his life? He was an athlete. Correct?
Kristen Roberts: Yeah, he was an athlete from a young age and did quite a few different sports along the way. So, he was swimming at a young age, he played basketball, football, the full gamut, but his favorite sport was hockey, and he spent a lot of his life playing hockey. And that was a sport that just really brought out the best in him. He had a lot of energy. He always enjoyed being around people, and his teammates were like a family to him. And so, that was a really special place for him. And it was one of my favorite things when I would drive him home from practices to be in that energy with him.
Caroline MacGregor: Suicide is an epidemic that seems to be continuing to rise, particularly in youth. According to the CDC, for youth ages 10 to 14, it's the second-leading cause of death. Tell me, if you're willing to. Were there any signs in Miles in retrospect before he took his life?
Jeff Roberts: Yeah, Caroline. We definitely saw Miles had some struggles with mostly authority, mostly struggles with authority, and I would argue that the struggles that we saw seem to fit in the normal category, I guess I would say, what we knew a teenage boy going through the trials and tribulations of growing up, a competitive teenage boy who's very impulsive and wants his way. So, in hindsight, there were some challenges. We had some mental health support for Miles when he was in eighth grade, and we walked through that stage with him. It seemed to believe that we were out of the woods, I guess, so to speak, and, certainly, did not see his impulsivity and his ability to take his own life as a risk. And of course, it's very difficult to go back and think about each of the moments that we feel like if we did one thing different, just one word or one smile or one hug different, something else could have changed. And really, to be honest with you, that pain is what fuels the foundation's energy right now is to try to not let anybody else go through what we have experienced.
Caroline MacGregor: Kristen, what are some of the initiatives that you're involved in? I believe there's a program at Skyline High School in Ann Arbor. Is this the main program that you try to reach parents and kids?
Kristen Roberts: Absolutely! So, the main program that we do is called the MJRF Champs program. And we started that program back in '22. And we started at Skyline High School. Skyline, it was Miles' home high school, as well as our three other sons, so that offered a really great place for us to get going. And what that program is, and now we're actually at Pioneer, as well as Huron, we've expanded, but the program itself is working with different coaches, teachers, psychologists, different clinicians, school nurse that do presentations to students. And then, they will talk about depression, anxiety, suicide prevention, and it's in the team setting. So, it's an athletic team that comes together. For instance, they did a JV lacrosse team at Pioneer. So, that team comes together, they work with them, they talk through some different scenarios. It's really empowering. The kids are very involved, just talking through kind of like the toolkit of how to navigate these mental health struggles. Our champs also highlight what resources are available at the school, so that's really critical. There's so many resources through AAPS that is out there that the kids don't even really know about or understand that they can go to their counselor if they're struggling, so that's really important. We try to create awareness with the kids to understand that mental health is the same as physical health. And if you break a bone, it's very visual. The brain, the mind, isn't, but that doesn't mean it can't get hurt and need to be attended to. And what I think is really empowering for these kids too is to see the people in their community within the school, so the teachers, administrators, that are being very upfront about mental health and offering an approach and an ability for these kids to connect.
Caroline MacGregor: Is your focus through the foundation a general focus on all youth or are you sort of geared toward young athletes?
Jeff Roberts: Caroline, we started with the athletic community when we initiated our Champs program. And the reason that we did that was twofold. One was to honor Miles. Miles was absolutely his best self when he was a teammate playing with his team, winning, losing, it didn't really matter. He just loved being surrounded by his teammates. And so, we wanted to honor that aspect of him. But we also recognize that in order to kind of start a new mental health literacy program, you have to narrow the population. So, we went to student athletes. The benefit that we found with the student athletes is that, as Kristen mentioned, the team comes together. They're already bought in to be playing with each other, for each other. They're playing the same sport. They have a similar interest. So, it's a small cohort that is already kind of tied together. And when you start discussing the challenges of mental health, the stigma associated with mental health, in order to break the barriers that high schoolers will have about peer pressure and how somebody sees another person, going to these team locations are really the best for presentations. Now, we recognize that there's no real difference between an athlete in high school or somebody who really loves robotics, loves band, choir, acting, they're the same. And so, one of the areas that we are looking to expand is to go to non-sports clubs and provide the same Champs presentation. And like I said, that would be consistent with going to the bands, the orchestras, the choirs, the drama clubs, the robotics club, et cetera, and so on, because it really is a life lesson for all students, not just athletes.
Caroline MacGregor: Kristen, I believe the Miles Jeffrey Roberts Foundation for Youth Suicide Prevention has a charity event coming up, Mullets for Miles. Tell me about this.
Kristen Roberts: Yeah. So, Mullets for Miles, it's the third year of this event. It is run by a student at Skyline. He's a senior, Jude Carlson. And what the event is all about is young men sign up and volunteer to get a mullet cut. So, we have "before" pictures and then "after." People vote for the best mullets by donations. And we do an official cut on May 9th. It'll be at Pretzel Bell from 4 to 6:30, so in downtown Ann Arbor. And the Hair Spot, which is a longtime local barbershop, will be doing the cuts. And that's actually a barbershop that Miles worked at. He was a custodian on Sunday evening. So, they were a great support for us as well and have been through these years and continue to support through this event. It'll be excellent! You don't have to get a mullet cut to support and to come in and really enjoy the fun in the community event. And what's just so remarkable is the students are really supporting the programming by raising money and helping us understand that we're on the right track, and they want to have this type of programming to help them.
Caroline MacGregor: Kristen and Miles Roberts, thank you so much for joining me today to talk about your son and this very important topic of youth mental health.
Jeff Roberts: Thank you for having us, Caroline! It means a lot to be able to share about the foundation with you!
Kristen Roberts: Yeah, thank you!
Caroline MacGregor: And this is 89.1 WEMU Ypsilanti.
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