Forming an Opportunity

1.     Belief: Mental health is becoming a growing issue especially affecting the teenagers of today. Schools should do more to teach about and be more aware about mental health. What I thought would be a good idea was to integrate learning with dogs. Dogs are left at home all day waiting for the moment when someone opens the door. People would be given a schedule where once a week the students would be given 15 minutes to play with the dogs making both the student and the dog more happy. The dogs would have to be trained therapist dogs and be dog friendly to be in the program.

2.     Unmet needs: Not all schools require students to take a mental health class let alone even a health class.

Need: Students need this program the most as they are still young and developing. Families today do not eat dinner together like when they used to. Now a days the parents will eat at the table while the kids are on their phone or even sitting in the living room watching tv.

Originated: The need has always been a problem since we do not know how to understand brains fully yet. Since the 90’s after the first major school shooting in Columbine I feel that mental health has exponentially gotten worse.

What is in place now: The only things some school has are one or two therapy dogs that a teacher or staff needs. There is a long process for that to even occur. Some schools have talked about creating mental health classes but as a country nothing has been put in place. Some schools have a health class but does not go into much detail about mental health.

Does it exist: This opportunity exist but on a much smaller scale. Most schools do not have service dogs and if they do there have no more than a couple of dogs. There needs to be enough dogs that they are not scared of the thousands of students that would see them every day.

3.     Andrew Scout: High school student in Orlando, FL. I chose to use Andrew because he went to my high school where we have a therapist dog. He is also a high school student which is where I think these dogs should be placed.

4.     Nature of need: To improve mental wellbeing around school. To promote a welcoming and more safe environment. Many students skip school because there are scared of what is going to happen to them at school. Having these dogs can allow people to feel safe and bond with other classmates.

How often is this need needed: For this to be beneficial I think the dogs would need to be in school every weekday. With a school as big as ours not everyone will be able to see the dogs everyday so a schedule would need to be made as you (Daryl) said. The dogs would then be left home alone less.

How long has the need been needed: The idea has been needed for years now. Ever since suicide and killings have started to rise in numbers there should have been an idea to deal with mental issues. When the idea of letting dogs in school started they should have started with idea allowing multiple dogs getting visited by the students throughout the day.

When did they become aware of this need: I feel as if this need is still growing. Mental health has been a discussion on the news for years now. It is getting a lot more attention now and people are trying to come up with an idea on how to improve others mental health.

Why should we address this idea: We need to address this idea because so many people have died from mental health now a days. Whether it is from someone killing themselves or someone who is mentally ill and goes killing others.

How is it currently addressed: Within my school mental health is not addressed. As he stated earlier they have issues with getting students to show up to school. Students are choosing to stay home rather than go to school and face their bullies or deal with their issues.

How is the current solution working: Based on us having a service dog and everyone loves it, the idea works well. The problem with the idea is that there is not enough dogs. Many people struggle to visit or be allowed to pet the dog. He is golden retriever that runs around brightening everyone’s day.

5.    I learned that with how big schools are they would require a lot of dogs. Having too little of dogs could make the dogs scared and not want to be visited by that many people. If there are lots of dogs then people could take some on a bathroom walk while some others play fetch in the grass. People can do different things to be entertained by a dog but always have a smile when they see a friendly dog just wanting someone’s attention.

3.     Jennifer Garcia: Jennifer is a high school teacher who teaches freshman and sophomore English. She is relevant because she is a teacher who works within a high school, a perfect place to try out the idea.

4.     Nature of need: Since I have started teaching my student have seemed to grow more and more away from their families. I have students come in crying because they have no one to talk to. Some are hiding the abuse from their parents while some suffer from not seeing their parents because they work so much.

How often is the need needed: I feel that often times now I have to take days off of class just to talk to my students. We have a class called Peer Counseling where students get to speak about their life and the rest of the class supports them. The class has done many wonders and I feel that having dogs in school could also make an impact to improve mental health.

How long has the need been needed: Since about five years ago students have started to get out of control. It is as if their mind is making the decisions for them and it’s for a temporary fix that in the end hurts them even more. If families aren’t going to take the time to be together then their needs someone to deal with these students mental health.

When did they become aware of the need: I feel as if our school did not become aware of the need until recently. Three years ago we got our first dog. The dog was huge hit, he helped out of staff member get around while also being a mascot for the school.

Why is the need necessary: The need is necessary because if something does not change more and more teenagers mental health is going to get worse.

How is it currently addressed: Within our school we have a dog. We want to get more but don’t have the staff to have multiple dogs currently.

How is the current solution working: The currently solution we have works in a way. The idea is great and there, but there is a lack of dogs. With only one dog there is a limit on how many people can visit it at a time. If there were more dogs then more students needs could be met.

5.     I learned that there can’t just be a bunch of dogs brought into a school. There would have to be more staffing which means a schools would need to budget that into their money. Some schools may not be able to afford this process at first but if it is found effective then it could be mandatory in all schools one day.

3.   Sarah Heart: Sarah Heart is a mother of four and has two kids currently in high school. Kevin is in eleventh grade while his brother Cole is a freshman. She is relevant because she has children in school.

4.   Nature of need: The nature of this need honestly works on both sides. We have two dogs ourselves and I hate leaving them home alone. Not only does it give them time to break something, but if we come home late they may have gone to the bathroom in the house. Having my dogs at school with my kids could also brighten my kids day seeing his pet walk around school.

      How often is this need needed: This need should be used every day.

      How long has this need been needed: This hasn’t been needed until recently. In school we never talked about mental health but had normal conversations amongst our friends. Since phones have come out people have become a lot less connected.

      When did they become aware of this need: I did not become aware until my child came home one day crying. It was two weeks into high school and my son got laughed at because he spilt a drink as if he peed himself. Since then he has been self-conscious and not wanting to go to school.

      Why did they become aware: I am involved in my kids life and want them to succeed in any way possible. I know I cannot go to school with them but I still worry about them. Having the dogs at school could make my kids more comfortable and feeling at home.

      How is it addressed: I do not know of any program in my kids school that improves their mental health. There are counselors that students can visit but sometimes that can take weeks to schedule.

      How is the current solution working: The current solution does not work. My kids have waited almost two weeks to see a counselor. The only problem I see with the dogs would be they need a way to school.

5.   Reflect: The biggest take away I got from this conversation was at the end. The dogs would need a ride. For allergy reasons they cannot ride the bus. That being said the dogs would have to be driven to school with the student unless the teacher is bringing a dog. She also brought up the fact that dogs have feelings. Being home alone can make them sad and to cause accidents in the house.

       7.   Summary:

How much of the original idea remains? Most of the original idea remains. There were adjustments that needed to be made as well. Such as how the dogs are going to get to and from school and who would watch the dogs.

Is the opportunity more accurate then when started? In everything your opportunity should become more accurate. But yes during this project my opportunity became more define on how affective it could become.

Should entrepreneurs adapt to customers feedback or stay firm in their belief? I think that an entrepreneurs should also listen to their customers but not necessarily change everything they bring up. If the customer is not heard they will become unhappy with the product or service and ultimately give bad reviews.