Teen Conversation Archive – Mental Health
Mental Health plays a big role in modern life. The effects of Social Media, testing pressure, COVID, and friendships all provided reasons for why the topic is so important to teens in 2026. Listen here to some of the most poignant highlights from discussions on mental mental health. It truly is the most touching topic discussed by our community’s teens.
Highlights
**These highlights come from facilitated conversations hosted by the North Liberty Library in partnership with Cortico, MIT Center for Constructive Communication, and PBS Frontline.**
One participant noted how comparisons to others affects mental health and motivation in school.
A beautiful thought about simple acts that we can do to support people around us.
One participant talked about how people are turning to AI agents to provide mental health support and why that may not be the best option.
A participant talks about their journey with mental health support and why it can be valuable to others.
The idea that social media impacts you by showing you comparison to other people – the idea that you see people doing things or living different lives and you feel lesser.
Another statement of many about how the feeling of comparison towards those you see in social media impacts mental health.
The value of connection in the avenue of supporting mental health and an underlying desire for a greater sense of connection and understanding among us all.
A wish that there was more understanding and consistent support for people who are struggling with mental health. They feel like the systems in place aren’t able to properly support people who need it.
How comparisons to those on social media leads to problems with mental health – that they aren’t living the glamorous life or perfection displayed online.
A combined statement around stress and school workloads. There’s a strong sense of pressure and the feeling that they don’t have the understanding of how to handle that stress.
A combined statement around stress and school workloads. There’s a strong sense of pressure and the feeling that they don’t have the understanding of how to handle that stress.
An astute view on growing up and the feeling of wanting to preserve time while being pulled along by day-to-day life.
Almost a nostalgia for a time before she was born – that her parent’s life was more fulfilling than it is now.
Insight into the connection of repeat AI use as a substitute for inter-personal connection and how losing that personal connection is an emerging issue in mental health.
Comparison to others on social media was a regular thought. Here, one participant regularly deleted social media apps to avoid those comparisons.
While touching on AI, screens, and the environment, this is a poignant comment about the complexity and problems with the world the teens have been given into and the struggle with how to handle everything they’re exposed to on a regular basis.