Boston College should evaluate the efficacy of mental health services provided on campus in order to determine how to best serve the mental health needs of the student population. Some improvements that should be implemented include the creation of an email or messaging service to schedule appointments with University Counseling Services (UCS) and an increase…
The Boston College chapter of Lean on Me, the peer-to-peer texting mental health support network, has hosted nearly 200 conversations since its launch last year.
“My greatest hope for UGBC, and I guess for the institution as a whole, because I don’t think a lot of UGBC’s problems originate with the organization itself, is that we can increase the opportunities for shared governance at BC. I think that would be a huge step forward.”
The Boston College chapter of the peer-to-peer texting support system Lean On Me officially launched on Jan. 21 and is now available for use by BC students.
Lean on Me—an anonymous student-to-student texting service—will be launching at Boston College this January. The service originated at MIT when, after a string of suicides at the university, a group of students decided to create something to support student mental health.
Formed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2016 after a number of suicides had occurred, Lean on Me (LOM) is an active network at five major universities across the country.
The Heights Editorial Board believes that LOM BC is a promising alternative to an overbooked counseling system.
Lean On Me is currently operating at the University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, Northeastern University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
