New Campaign Offers Tools For Parents To Talk To Youth About Mental Health

As the nation observes Mental Health Awareness Month this May, alarming new data underscores an urgent crisis: 45% of youth are reporting mental health struggles, according to the Youth Mental Health Tracker (YMHT), a project from Surgo Health in partnership with Pivotal and SHOWTIME/MTV Entertainment Studios.

With mounting pressures from school, social media, and an increasingly uncertain world, many kids are overwhelmed. Yet research shows that when it comes to seeking help, teens are most likely to turn to their parents — not peers, counselors, or medical professionals. However, many young people also feel that adults dont fully understand what theyre going through, and that parents often rush to fix problems rather than simply listening.

To bridge that critical gap, the Ad Council and Pivotal launched the Sound It Out campaign, offering free, expert-backed tools to help parents and caregivers start and sustain meaningful conversations about emotions with their kids.

At SoundItOutTogether.org (and its Spanish-language counterpart, EscuchandoSentimientos.org), families can access a range of resources, including step-by-step guides for discussing common emotional challenges like anxiety, anger, and friendship struggles. A “Conversation Starter Pack” offers prompts designed to get kids talking openly.

Sound It Out Together also offers an interactive digital experience for parents to practice active listening, hearing directly from kids about the support they want from adults.

These tools are intended to help parents move away from quick solutions and instead focus on building understanding and emotional resilience together.

Mental health experts say that opening space for kids to talk without judgment or interruption can have a powerful impact — and its a crucial step toward helping them navigate increasingly complex emotional terrain.

With youth mental health challenges on the rise, resources like Sound It Out provide a practical starting point for families seeking to connect, listen, and support their children more effectively.