tonight on studio 12.

Come along as we take you on a garden walking tour in the Highlands.

Filled with the wonder that only Denver Urban Gardens can display.

And we hear from a local, award winning filmmaker in our next in-depth profile in Humanize Women in the workforce.

Kyle Dyer covers the hottest issues affecting our state in this week's Colorado Inside Out, and we catch up with the band Cheap Perfume at their show at the Bluebird Theater.

Learn more about their punk music and unique sound.

All that and so much more coming up in this episode of studio 12. the Five Points Media Center in the heart of Denver, Colorado.

This is studio 12.

Hi, I'm Barzee kanani.

If you've ever strolled past a community garden with a Denver Urban Garden sign out front and wondered what's growing in there and who's behind it?

Denver Urban Gardens is inviting you to step inside all summer long.

They're offering free walking tours through some of the city's garden spaces and telling the story behind each one.

Take a look.

Well.

Welcome everybody.

Thank you so much for joining Denver Urban Gardens on our OG tour.

This is going to this is one of the best ones.

This is our original gardens.

This is a very sacred space.

It's been here since 1994.

People know that they are safe and welcome and included here in this space.

I can't even imagine, Denver without Doug and the Denver without these gardens.

It's just just in the fabric of this city that these spaces, are here for everyone to enjoy.

Beginning of the year, we were like, how can we get more people involved in, like, the gardens and just, you know, creating this bigger community?

Let's see.

Garden struggles.

So this is our second one.

So thanks for joining us.

We're at the George Chavez Memorial Peace Garden here at 38th and Cicerone in North Denver.

We're visiting the OGS, our original gardens.

So we'll be visiting this Troy Chavez Memorial Peace Garden, and we'll end at Pecos, where it all started.

This garden was built in 1994, designed, in memory of Troy Chavez, who was killed in gang violence and during the summer of violence here in Denver.

And so we worked with on a Chavez, Troy's mother, to really design this space as a sacred space, a safe place for anybody to be in here.

This is a place where, weapons are put down, and we're we're taking care of the earth here.

So it was designed, with Aztec art.

You can see behind me.

Mother Earth is holding its children.

Makes me cry.

So up front, we have a lot of different medicinal herbs, for the neighborhood and for anybody to to come in and pick and smell and touch and feel.

And in the back, we'll see a lot of different plots for neighborhoods, and residents around this, the space to grow food for themselves and their families as well.

All right.

Let's head to the next one.

Here we are at the Oasis Garden.

And so this was rebuilt, just a couple of years ago.

The community was a part of the design, the rebuild.

A lot of the residents that garden here are feeling much closer to their neighbors, which is, you know, a wonderful, benefit for creating a smaller space for the gardeners, but also just to start a new, with this space so you can see it's it's beautiful.

There are things growing.

It's really turned into a true oasis here in north Denver.

All right, are we ready to head to the next location?

I'm Jeremy Garcia.

This is the Shoshone community garden.

We're part of the Doug, Denver Urban Gardens program.

We're in lower Highlands, which is at the intersection of 33rd and Shoshone.

And, we've got about 30 gardeners here.

I get to be a part of this community and also share my expertise in managing the space.

Everybody lives in the neighborhood, and it's a great way to build the community and, get outdoors and kind of meet your neighbors.

My name is Taylor.

And welcome to my block.

I have growing here.

Corn, beans, squash, carrots.

Lots of different flowers, such as dahlias.

I have so much.

These are my plots.

I grow a lot of peppers and tomatoes.

I love to cook, so, by mid-August or late July or early August for harvesting.

And let's take everything home and, throwing in the pans and, you know, make dinner, so it's awesome.

Come on over.

So we're sitting here in the Pecos Community Garden, which is on the north side of Denver.

Some people know it as Highlands, but growing up here, we call it the North Side.

My mom is, Marty.

Robert.

Every time we water, we sell up to seven houses.

Marty is the one.

He was one of the first original people to start down via the Pecos Community Garden.

And this is one of the original.

They call it the OG Dove Garden.

It started out as a garden behind the nearby church, Saint Patrick's Church.

And then they found out, hey, there's actually space a block down that the archdiocese is willing to sell them that was sitting open.

And let's fly it and make a community garden out of it.

A bunch of people who had come from Laos called the Hmong people with their culture.

They had come over and were looking for space to grow their traditional foods.

They got that access to Seattle Infant Seattle.

They came together and then they found wheat.

And so they came and tracked down Marty and said, hey, we're you have a plot of land.

Can we join?

And she said, yes.

Witness Garden and Pecos Community Garden started there about 7 to 8 Hmong families and within the family multiple generations.

But the sad thing over time is as generational generations integrated into our society, a less they lost their desire to garden.

We still have 2 or 3 families left, but it's the older generation, but it's definitely not as popular with the younger generation, unfortunately.

So now it's trying to figure out how do we get younger people involved and get more younger people gardening.

Let's make gardening cool again.

Marty.

Starting this plot was really trying to develop a place for people in the neighborhood to grow their own food and have food access and have fresh food.

Do the right thing, spike Lee.

Do the right thing every day.

This as for every diet.

And then with me continuing her legacy, continuing to maintain green space in, ever urbanizing, crowding neighborhood and trying to maintain a space where people can be in touch with the Earth and grow their own food and be curious about nature and learn about the environment and develop, friendship with their neighbors and develop community and develop relationships.

Take care of Mother Earth.

Okay?

You go back today.

These free walking tours happen once a month through September in neighborhoods across Metro Denver.

To find the next one near you, head over to Denver Urban gardens.org/events.

on Colorado inside Out Kyle Dyer and her dynamic lineup of panelists bring to the table real issues that impact Colorado and our lives.

Here's Kyle with more from this week's stories making headlines.

Hi, Vassy.

One of our regular followers of Colorado, Inside Out, called in to PBS 12 and suggested our panel take up a topic that is grabbing the attention of a lot of people in Colorado.

And as Congressman Joe Neguse calls it, it's a five alarm fire for public lands preservation.

If the federal budget bill passes, it would allow for the sale of 8.3 million acres of BLM land in Colorado and the selling off of 16 million acres of Colorado land managed by the Forest Service.

With one of the ideas being there would be more space to build, more housing.

Here's a listen to our conversation.

This next topic was recommended by a viewer named Barbara.

And she's not the only Colorado and who's thinking about where this is going to play out.

14 million acres of federal public land in Colorado could be put up for sale if the budget bill passes as is.

Adam, we're talking about hiking trails, wildlife habitat, areas that butt up to waterways and ski resorts.

It's a lot in this western U.S., but a lot in Colorado.

Yeah, we're learning more and more that, you know, triple B is it's got everything in it.

It's a little bit of a Christmas tree, some tucked in or these different provisions, one that is causing a lot of concern from Westerners because we are talking about, you know, Vail and Copper Mountain are both on national forest land.

You have lunch loops near Grand Junction, Big Thompson Canyon, Hartman Rocks and Gunnison and the City Mountain in Durango, all potentially included in this bill.

And the thing is, once public lands are sold, they are gone.

That's usually how this has worked.

Historically, 70 to 90% of Westerners, often even mega according to polls, are opposed to this concept of selling off public lands.

We have a really proud Western culture here.

We'd love to get outside.

We'd love to get out in the mountains, and we love access to those amenities.

It's part of why we choose to live here.

There's also a provision stuck in this bill, which I would encourage everyone to look at that says, well, you know, these lands can only be used for housing or related infrastructure.

That's only for ten years.

There's a stop on that.

At which point then they would be much more flexible for other use.

So once again, keep looking at this very comprehensive long piece of legislation because, there are concerning things in that bill.

Okay.

In the version that went to the House, there were a proposal for public lands in the West to be sold.

It didn't include Colorado that had to get pulled before it passed the house.

But now Colorado has been at it's been added back in with Colorado.

And you can look to our own, Prairie pen Lee, David Bernard, people who've been involved with the, with administration for coming up with the plan and pushing and project 2025 pushing, selling public lands.

Adams.

Right.

Even MAGA supporters do not approve of this.

There was a big poll like two months ago.

People in the West want to keep the lands public.

And let's hope this makes it through all right.

This is certainly become a hot issue up in Grand County, where we spend most of our time as it is throughout the state, but particularly the mountain communities and where, this public land, largely exists.

I, I'm just left thinking, you know, this description of the big, beautiful bill, big.

No one can argue with the big part of it.

Beautiful.

When we're starting to attack or jeopardize the beauty of this state and the beauty of this country, I think beautiful might be in some dispute.

There's so many red flags being raised around this issue.

We've already had a lot of them.

There was a recent report from headwaters Economics that found that less than 2% of public lands in the west, near towns with increased housing demand, are even suitable for housing.

And that 2% is even further complicated because of wildfire risks.

The second is the way that it was introduced.

Senator John Hickenlooper, who sits on the National Resources Committee, told CPR that he was completely blindsided by this bill because none of the Democrats that are on that committee were given advance notice.

They didn't get to look at this bill.

They had no input on it.

Even though their states are on the list of, you know, places where these public lands are going to be sold from.

The financials are also a big one.

You know, we have no idea the kind of impact, negative impact that this would have on the outdoor recreation industry, which generated 1.2 trillion in economic output in 2023.

Supported 5 million jobs.

And lastly, Adam hit on this is the finality of it all.

You know, once public lands are sold, there's no there's no do overs.

They're gone.

And that's that's huge.

And the ranching community in Colorado, I mean, that will really hurt.

You can't have big development near cattle ranches, you know.

All right.

You can watch our full episode of Colorado Inside Out, a PBS 12.org on the PBS passport app or on our YouTube channel.

And you can also listen to our extended conversations on our podcasts, which show up on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

And I'm already working with this week's group of insiders for our episode that will premiere this Friday at eight here on PBS 12.

So join us for that conversation as well.

as part of our Humanize Women in the workforce series, we introduce you to Denise Soler Cox and award winning filmmaker, keynote speaker and culture Transformer.

After being a stay at home parent, Denise went on to become an activist, filmmaker, top 100 podcaster, and sought after international speaker.

She uses storytelling to reshape how we talk about culture, identity and belonging.

Here's more from Denise about her personal journey.

I'm Denise Silcox.

I'm from New York.

I was gonna say New York City, but I'm from New York.

In 1996, at a bar with a bunch of friends in Miami.

We were just hanging out like any other night.

The conversation went to what it feels like, to to live in the in between.

There's a saying in Spanish, the the aqui and the dollar, and it means not from here and not from there.

And many people that are first gen born here and have parents who are immigrants feel a tension in their identities, like they're not enough.

Like in my case, not Puerto Rican enough or didn't feel Puerto Rican enough.

And I also didn't feel American enough.

And there was also a feeling I never discussed.

We started talking about it and mostly started joking about it.

But then a friend of mine leaned over and said, but have any of you ever felt like you just weren't like Latino enough?

And that sparked a conversation I'd never been in before in my life.

It felt so precious to me to be able to discuss this cultural, not enoughness, because I immediately went from feeling very alone to realizing I have this.

I have this in common with my friends, and we're all first gen, so I must have this in common with every single other first gen. And all of a sudden I feel like I'm a part of something and other people need to know this feeling.

And so I'm going to make a movie about it.

However, it took me 17 years between that night at the bar and the and the New Year's Day, where I decided I'm good enough to make a movie about this.

What I believed during those 17 years was I couldn't possibly, like, be good enough to do great things, even though I felt like I was here to do something great.

And, and then the day that I decided, that I would do it no matter what, even if it took the rest of my life, I made a conscious decision.

I'm here to make something great, and this is the great thing I'm going to do.

The film is about that feeling that I had that night with my friends.

This particular story is not a political story.

It's not an immigrant story.

It's an identity story about what it's like to feel pulled on the inside but visibly look completely normal.

And, you know, like you don't struggle on the outside and something that's invisible, that gets discussed very little, but that deeply, deeply challenges people in their personal relationships and at work.

Not speaking Spanish fluently is a huge hot button for the community.

We we use it as a barometer.

I don't, but it is used as a barometer, to gauge someone's, Latina.

That or like just how Latino are you?

This is a story that persists in our community and it cannot be stressed enough how not okay it is to be related to that way by our own community, and had no idea that the story about the specific first gen Latino growing up in the United States would resonate with people all over the world trying to capture that feeling of not belonging to your own culture.

We put the trailer on Facebook, and in 24 hours it had gone viral.

People from all over, everywhere were reaching out saying, how can I see this movie?

Can you come to my company and speak?

And, I've been now on over 400 stages.

So after and, you know, engagement after engagement after engagement, I started realizing this piece of media is making people feel something.

And when and what they reflect back to me is giving me incredible insight into the conversation called like, where do I belong?

And so I've become, belonging experts very much accidentally.

I have a 17 year old and a 15 year old.

My greatest hope is that I have demonstrated to them that whatever dream they have, and however far away it might seem that it's so worthwhile spending whatever time you need to take to make sure that it happens in the world, because there are no accidents.

I try to be as transparent as possible with them when it comes to the things I continue to be challenged with, that it's possible to have, you know, to be a great mom, but also to be a great whatever it is I decide to be, and that it isn't an either or.

It's not binary.

My husband is an actor and he is a writer of screenplays, and, he has absolutely put his dreams, aside for me.

It required a lot of him to make that possible.

You know, from everything from the rides you know, driving the kids to and from school to parties to playdates, making sure that they're fed, going shopping, and also, you know, doing the work that he does, but not being able to really fully do the work that he wants to do.

And so it makes me emotional because I, I, I look forward to when he can fully embrace that and have the experience of living out what he really wants to do.

We all deserve to feel that way.

In Latina, the gender roles are like polarized or I would say specific.

You know, it's not really acceptable in my culture for there to be this mismatch.

Audience members, over the last several years have asked, what is my husband think of this?

Right?

Or a lot of women have said, I could never do what I really want to do because I don't have a husband like yours first.

Whenever I tell people I'm a filmmaker, let's say they're out.

They have no idea who I am.

Oh, that's nice, right?

And then they see the film and they're like, wow.

Like that was really good.

I wasn't expecting that.

Right.

And so I would say that's a general general public feedback.

Right.

Of of me.

I'm a woman, I'm Latina.

And if they know that it's even they're even more impressed.

And so the question becomes why?

Right.

Secondly, I've, we tried to sell the film to, a very well known outlet that produces very well known documentaries.

And the offer that was given was so abysmal that I declined and of course, I thought, wow, I'm Latina, I'm a woman.

I'm telling a story that has so much nuance that people can't really see the value.

If that isn't a the plight of women in business, I don't know what is.

Then we pitched a second film, same outlet, declined.

You know, I wondered, as I was pitching the film in a ginormous conference room in New York City is a very well known address.

How many men sat there pitching something similar, and who would have been taken a little bit more seriously than me?

But when it comes to the story of a woman in business, the narrative of I'm not going to follow these rules.

I got to figure out my own way, and I get to believe that my way will make it through the noise.

These restrictions or challenges are so baked into my day to day.

I surprise people with what I've created, right?

If anything, I would say I'm more determined than resentful because I also get, if anything, how many women need to see successful women and how many women of color need to be successful and of color, and how many storytellers need to see their stories be told.

Through Denise's recent film Annie and her upcoming book What Will They Say?

She teaches organizations how to scale belonging, and she empowers people to break free from their limiting beliefs.

To learn more about Denise and her work, go to her website Denise Soler cox.com and to view all of our Humanize Women in the workforce series, you can go to our YouTube channel or to our website at PBS 12.org.

This week's heart of the West takes us into a world where ancient tradition meets modern artistry.

Bala is an Indian immigrant and artist of nearly 25 years who brings henna inspired designs to life.

Her textured acrylic paintings and ceramics are rich with culture, color and the stories she's carried across continents.

So.

So this is the same style as doing henna body art.

And I'm doing this process called sleep training where I am piping liquid clay on clay to get textured lengths.

Hi, I'm black PR graduate.

I am a full time professional artist.

I came to the US as an immigrant from Chennai, India where I grew up to pursue a PhD at Kansas State University.

It confuses a lot of people because you don't hear a lot of artists who have a PhD.

My background is wildlife diseases.

Biology was the goal.

Any other middle class upbringing in an Indian household?

You grow up with this idea of wanting to be a doctor, an engineer, you know something where you establish a career, right?

Art is not seen as worthless.

And actually, I didn't even know I could do art till I started painting.

I love prepping paint.

The reason I started doing them is I grew up with this art that's called column in South India.

Millions of Tamil women do it every day around the world.

So my thought was wanting to do that on a canvas that I could hang by the entryway.

And that's kind of how I fell into the art world.

It felt like, oh, I could do more of this.

Taking a break from biology for a bit.

It just took a life like this.

This is where my creativity is at.

Snapping.

And it's been 13 years.

It's all discovery along the way.

Honestly, like everything you see, I don't have a vision in my head when I paint.

Right?

It's not about the students of my hands.

It's about how I can control my breathing.

It's like I start with a blank canvas and where it takes me, it's unknown.

So when I finish a painting, it's as new to me as it is to you seeing it for the first time.

My main technique is grounded in how I can bring in my culture.

So you see, when I've made paintings, it's, It could be just henna.

Or if you know more about Indian stuff, it's Scholem.

Or when you see a portrait, it's like, oh, it's a dancer or it's a braid.

And so there are all these different points of connection that leads back to celebrating a culture.

When I was back in academia, it's like, you do lab work.

You do field work, you do statistics.

You know, there's so many different things you do.

But once you start doing art, you know, there's the business side of art and then there's the creative side.

But there's also this.

You have to constantly keep you all being and do more.

The masks in particular.

I started doing them about the same time.

I started painting portraits.

And it's nice because it's two different mediums, but they inform one another in how we create portraits.

Series of mixed media series.

That's the new thing that I just started like an eight and a half ago, and it is my way of showing the power of everyday women, in a sense, in the, you know, I never added labels to my identity in the past, but now it feels like I do have to, you know, say, hey, I am an Indian immigrant.

Women doing this because it brings visibility not just to me, but to also other underrepresented artists in the community, whether it's, women artists or Bipoc artists.

Right.

It's it's adding that extra voice to what I do.

We can be anything we want.

I'm not labeled or boxed in by like, oh, I used to be in academia, I was a scientist, or I am just an artist straight.

We are all so much more.

It's nice to be able to be part of that.

It's inspiring, especially for kids that they don't have to grow up with this idea of like, oh, I need to be a doctor or an engineer or any of that, that they can do whatever they want.

One of the reasons I paint mandalas and not mountains is wanting to highlight my culture and doing what I know, of course, but also I want kids to grow up with more.

More than what their parents grew up with, what their grandparents had as art in their homes, right?

We live in a global world, in a global culture, and I want kids to experience that.

And I see my art as a means producer.

It's my identity.

It's every thing that I bring to the table of who I am.

It's not just my art.

It's not just my language.

It's not just how I dress, right?

It's just all comes together.

Art is the easiest way I can express it.

Congrats to Bala on being part of the Go West Art show at the dairy Art Center in Boulder.

It'll be going on now through June 29th.

And to find out more about this Colorado artist, you can go to Art by Bala.

Com or find her on Instagram at Art by Bala.

Recently, the Colorado Department of Behavioral Health hosted a statewide summit at Q and Shoots Medical Campus in Aurora.

It brought together experts, advocates, and young people to tackle one of the most pressing issues facing our state teen mental health.

As part of our Decode Colorado series, we sat down with some of the teens who spoke on the panel at the summit.

They shared their personal stories, helping to break down mental health stigmas, and they offer advice to both schools and parents.

My personal experience kind of started when I was around ten years old.

My youngest sister was diagnosed with something called complex regional pain syndrome, actually at the Children's Hospital of Aurora campus.

And it's a nerve condition and there's no current cure for it.

It's very painful.

And she was very young when she was diagnosed.

And I remember I was probably around ten when we started managing with pain clinics and outpatient therapies and all of that, and seeing a family member go through something like that, and you can't fix it, you can't add to it at ten years old, and you have to go to school and put on a brave face, and you have to take care of the other sister.

It's heavy.

The next question is regarding current.

What do you think are the most common behavioral and mental health challenges youth are facing today?

And how can we break the stigma around talking about mental health?

Who would like to begin?

Okay, so tackle the first part of that question, asking about some of the struggles that our youth are are facing.

I think similar to our online environment, but, the ways that our communities have adapted post-Covid, a lot of these youth are growing up heavily around the internet.

They're growing up using online tools in in ways that in a lot of things can help benefit their growth in mindset learning.

But on the opposing side of that pendulum can also be really harmful and can create issues like loneliness and depression.

And for the second part of that question on how to tackle that, how to destigmatize it, I think just continuing the communication, behind it, of opening that door to conversation and really just reassuring that even though these times are very different than how old most of our parents and family members grew up, change doesn't always have to be a bad thing, and we have to be able to move through that change with these kiddos.

I'm West African, so my parents put a lot of stress on me to excel academically.

But with that, they also they didn't really address my mental health concerns because what I was doing really well in school, my behavior.

I was really like stress.

I had a lot of anxiety and I wasn't speaking to people at all.

I was completely nonverbal, and it wasn't as much of a concern to them because I was doing well in school.

I think growing up I had different behavioral health needs because I think that mental health, especially for youth, it's so different compared to back then because I think that youth like we're aware of it, but we don't always open those conversations, like Monica was saying.

So I think that first, like, we really need to like have more targeted behavior, health interventions, especially for youth that come from underserved identities.

I think our current interventions, it's very centered around like white straight like straight male youth.

And I think we need to expand that to the Bipoc youth, the queer youth, the youth from Grow Up has been real identities.

My real communities.

Because like when we do not address them, that we lack an important part of the mental health conversation.

And in order to make our interventions truly effective, we have to engage everybody, especially those those populations that have not traditionally been engaged in mental health interventions.

Wonderful.

Thank you.

I just think that mental health now more than ever, is more important that as a member of East High School, unfortunately saw the effects of mental health with gun violence and multiple school shootings, the realization that it was almost a shell shock experience that actually one of the kids who committed these acts of violence was in my class.

I talked with him, and I just didn't realize, you don't know what someone's going through at all times.

And seeing that firsthand had me almost more aware and hyper aware that as I was walking around, you just see people with their heads down, quiet, not talking, and recognizing that you really do not know what someone's going through until you're able to ask and get up to know them on that deeper level, and just experiencing that and realizing that isolation, some people feel has me wanted to go out and help others not feel that way.

There is.

I'm going to have you kick this question off because it's, regarding teens and youth, what do you wish adults understood better about youth mental health?

I think something I wish more adults understood is sometimes you don't exactly have the words to describe what you're going through, but that doesn't mean your issues aren't there.

And underlying that, sometimes you're often asked, how are you feeling and how you're doing?

And you just say, good because you don't have the words to describe truly what you're going through.

But being there and listening more to us youth and understanding that we are all going through something and sometimes just get through it, is not the right answer, is something I wish more adults understood.

And I remember at that point I was probably 11.

I remember reaching out to my mom and I said, mom, I'm not okay.

I never said that to anyone in my life.

And I said, mom, I'm not okay.

And my mom's a wonderful person.

She's a great mom.

And she reached out to Children's Hospital and connected me with a therapist.

And since 11 years old, I have seen several talk therapists, and it has gotten me to where I am today.

It's got me into the school that I attend.

It's got me into the career that I want to pursue.

It's saved my life, but it's also saved other people's lives because I'm still here.

So it was my older sister, actually.

We are super close and she's about seven years older than me, and I really appreciate for her because she was kind of the gap between generations for me and my parents.

So she definitely filled in a lot of blurred lines.

And by having that resource, I was able to involve teachers because my teachers, like they reacted very well to my parents, so they were able to like, have like more of like a behavioral health plan.

For me, that didn't really impact my schooling.

So it was small steps at a time, but it was like that continuous like form of engagement that really helped.

I think after seeing the events at my school, I didn't struggle a bit, that I felt isolated, alone.

But knowing my peers and my friends and my mentors I could talk to about what I was going through and realizing I'm not alone in this life.

And I have support from everyone around me, and how having used that to help push myself forward has definitely been something.

It doesn't always pan out in that beautiful, happy ending way for a lot of people, but for me, I'm lucky to be sitting here and advocating, for a lot of kids.

And I'm really glad that I had the support system in my life that allowed me to now support other people through their struggles.

There is so much stigma around mental health, because I think that when you talk about mental health, then you're on that you're crazy.

You automatically have issues.

I think that's like probably one of the biggest issues, because I think that teen where teens were aware of mental health, like, we know that it's there, but we all fully know how to address it, especially in a way that feels safe for us.

So I think that trying to navigate that is really difficult.

But I think at the for at the front line, we need to at least open that conversation.

Yes, I think there's a stigma around mental health because those who are seen getting treatment or getting help are sometimes often perceived as soft or not being able to take care of themselves and helping break down that seem, and realizing that sometimes it's okay to not be okay.

And how can you grow and learn and use your resources in community to help yourself get better?

Because once you're better, you're also able to then help other people, like we're doing with the Youth Council on Mental Health.

I don't think suicide is talked about nearly as much as it needs to be, especially as we make that transition from high school to college.

And it's a huge leap.

And you often feel alone that I've seen many kids, once they're in college, take their lives, actually.

And that rate is alarming almost to see how many are doing that and that bringing up the stigma, signs of what to look out for.

Something that I think needs to be spread more throughout schools and to that more messaging.

I think a lot of it has to do with our remote world, post-Covid, a lot of learning, a lot of development has been shifted to online, and it's become very adaptable in a lot of ways in the workforce.

That's been a really good thing.

It makes a lot of, of resources more accessible to us.

And in some ways that that counts for mental health resources of online accessibility.

For that.

But in other ways, it it can result in anxiety and loneliness and depression or bullying on social media.

And I think it's a harder thing to confront when it's not face to face, when that interaction or when those emotions or, we're struggles are developing from something that you can't actually confront in person.

It's online.

Yeah.

I think there's increased more now than ever and pressure to succeed socially, especially with the rise of social media where you're seeing where everyone's at, how often they're going and where they're going out to and who they're hanging out with and to seeing that makes you kind of feel left out and like you need to be a part of it.

And that social pressure, just like, is automatically applied just because of the access and how accessible social media is for us.

How do you think schools can do better supporting student mental health, continue to continuing to promote the resources schools have and continue to show, and the mental health professionals who are working with inside the school to continue to walk around showing they're there to support.

It's made a huge difference that I, especially after seeing the events in my high school, seeing how those mental health professionals started showing up more and being seen and making sure that no one has a resource around their communities is something I think schools could do better.

I think a big misconception is that if we're sad, it's only temporary and sometimes that is the case.

In other times it it's a longer storm with a longer, you know, evacuation period that we need to wait out.

And that's okay.

But it also means we can't just sit there and wait for it to stop.

We got to start doing stuff to help us get through it.

And I think a lot of youth it from a parent's perspective, sometimes it can seem over dramatized.

But for your youth member, a lot of times when they're struggling, they can't see that light at the end of the tunnel.

Their brain doesn't know.

In five years, I'll look back and think of that as growth.

I will learn from this.

I will mature from this.

But in the moment, if your kid is being bullied at school, they think that their world is falling on top of them.

And I think a big misconception that a lot of adults have is that it'll pass, it'll get better tomorrow or, things like that.

And I think sometimes that is the case, other times it's not.

And we have to continue asking those questions to figure out which side we're working with.

My advice to parents would be to continue to be there and continue to ask those questions and not take greater fine for an answer, but also continue to be there and support and show up for them, that you don't realize how important it is when he show up for your kid.

It makes him feel seen and supported, even if they tell you not to them.

Yes.

Oh, so continue to check in and also just notice what they're doing that when habits change, sometimes something's not right.

So you need to listen to what their kids are saying, hear what they're doing, and just be there and be supportive so that you're always there.

You're always there to help and support them.

There's something that's so crucial that I think a lot of people don't realize.

And I think first and foremost, you have to open the conversation up, even if it's uncomfortable, because it will be uncomfortable.

But I think what teens really need is someone to open the conversation, because when the teen says, oh, I'm fine, I'm okay, it doesn't always mean that they're fine and they're okay.

So have that continuous check in with them.

It's so important for them to really open up because they're not going to open up on the first conversation.

It may not be the 10th or the 20th, but maybe like the 21st conversation.

So I think it's really important because even on the panel, we were talking about being brave and being vulnerable with your teens.

I think for for parents, I think mutual vulnerability helps a lot.

When a whether that's mom and dad or guardian or whatever that relationship looks like, if the adult figure in their life shares vulnerability with them, a lot of times it is reciprocated down the road.

It might not be immediate.

And it's kind of a learning process that adults in day to day life aren't always 100% okay.

And that's something that kids might not know.

They might not see that side to us.

Adults today go through real struggles, and change is a big thing in life, and that's okay.

Then I think they'll be more comfortable with it when it hits them or when they have to go through something difficult.

But I would just say reach out to the people that you love and care about, and even if it's been a while, just check in.

And those little check ins, those little hey, how are you?

How are you really?

It can make a huge difference in the lives of many youth.

All the youth.

I would like you all to respond to this.

What do you need from adults?

I think that one thing I wish that adults understood on mental health is that, like mental health, it's not just like about being sad or being depressed.

Like we need to expand our understanding of it.

It can also be like in feelings of like anger and lashing out.

Like, I think that we need to like open our eyes and mental health because I think that when I was growing up, I had good grades in school, so clearly I didn't have any mental health concerns.

But that was not the case at all.

So I think that when adults, they learn more and want to educate themselves than they will.

And I think that what youth really need is like a supportive adult that like, wants to open that space for them.

Yeah, in agreement and kind of in addition to with what Stacy just said, you know, it obviously depends on the age of youth that we're looking at.

I nanny in college, and I can tell you right now that the development of a 20 year old, when their parents check in and say, hey, how is college going versus asking a four year old, hey, how was kindergarten today?

They're going to have a different response, right?

And so, you know, depending on what age those youth members are, can kind of deter the questions that we're asking to those environments, whether it's hey, I saw this in the news, is everything okay at school or how was your day?

And say four year old says it was good.

Then parent asks, what was the best part?

What was your rose and thorn of that day?

Not just ending it on?

Oh I'm fine.

Oh, my day was good.

Kind of taking those next steps into asking the harder questions, or even just sharing your own experience of yeah, my day was good too, but I had a conflict.

I had a hard conversation with somebody at work, or opening that door for them.

Helps them reach out to you.

I said, have resilience.

I think that especially with what's going on right now, it feels very weak.

I feel like we don't really have as much community because there's so much, there's so much trying to break that down.

But I think that resilience is so important because at the end of the day, I think we're all fighting for the same mission.

We're all trying to accomplish the same goal, and I think that we're all stronger together, and that's what we really need to push forward.

You can't make decisions about youth without them, and this goes for anyone working with youth.

This goes for the policymakers, the influencers, the parents.

Like if you are, if you are interacting with youth, you need to involve them.

I think a big issue is that youth are involved and our voices are constantly being taken from us.

But I think that when you open that conversation and allow for youth to have their own, their own agency and their voice, it really does change the conversation about mental health.

If you or a loved one are facing a mental health challenge, there are resources available to help.

We'd like to remind teens, parents, and everyone in our community here in Colorado what some of those resources are.

The 988 Colorado Mental Health Line is available for free.

Immediate human support 24 over seven.

You can call, text or live chat with 988 today and they're ready to listen.

You can also visit I matter colorado.org.

Colorado youth can receive up to six free therapy sessions through I matter with English and Spanish language services available.

Visit I matter colorado.org to learn more.

We leave you tonight with sound on 29th and a bold voice in Denver's local punk music scene that is fem core band Cheap Perfume.

Known for their feminist and politically charged lyrics.

Cheap Perfume brings big drums, heavy bass and sonic blasts of guitar chords.

Cheap perfume performed live on stage at the Bluebird Theater recently, and we also got the chance to chat more with them during a one on one interview.

Thanks for watching studio 12.

Be sure to follow us on social media and on YouTube.

And then we'll see you next Tuesday night at eight.

Until then, have a great week!

I'm Bazzi Kanani.

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Welcome to perfume.

How do you all maintain your energy during the show?

What place do you go to for that?

For me, I think it's a lot of like looking at the audience.

Especially when there's, like, a lot of young folks down there.

I've always believed that music is like such an exchange of energy, and so, it's definitely coming a lot from there.

I think that there's like a rage that is channeled for sure.

And then it's also just like fear, like I'm just scared.

Mine is kind of the opposite.

When I like when I do karaoke, I my trick is I just kind of, like, close my eyes and just pretend no one's watching me kind of thing.

And that's kind of what I do on stage.

I just kind of try to zone out, like look at I like and stuff and Willow and Dave because, like, they're my comfort zones.

But then every time I look in the crowd, I'm like, oh, those people are watching.

So I kind of just I also kind of just run around constantly, but more and insulated my own little zone kind of thing.

See, I, I love that because seeing you all perform nervousness or fear, the last thing that anybody would project onto you are you all have such a ease and such a power, and even the folks that I was like with when they're watching the performance is like power is what they felt from their performance.

So I think that says like something incredible, like, can you all talk to me a bit about how you how you built your alchemical process that allows you to take like nervousness and rage and all these things and change it into something that ends up like being a powerful experience for people who listen to your music and see you love him.

I mean, I think like most of that comes from Stephanie, having been in bands with, like Willow, we're both kind of timid performers, and Stephanie has never been that.

And I think she definitely elevates things for me.

And, and she's the one who really kind of like bridges from the stage to the audience, you know, and kind of gets everybody like, like in the middle there.

I think that, like, this has been ten years in the making of like getting this like confidence together, though, and having to build that trust to it's like people that like if things go wrong or anything like that, that you can kind of like, you know, bounce off of each other.

And it's so fun because it's punk rock.

But I think it's a lot of trust.

And then, yeah.

Yeah, I mean, a lot of that is, is time.

And just like knowing each other and and feeling comfortable playing the songs, but also like knowing if something goes wrong, we kind of are now at a mindset where we can improvise rather than just kind of everyone shuts down, you know?

So I think way, way more comfortable the last like 3 or 4 years on the band as far as just, you know, like if you mess up, it's okay.

We're going to keep going and everyone's going to get it done.

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