The River Valley High School incident has put the mental well-being of students under the spotlight and brought attention to their needs and how society needs to band together to be more understanding and supportive. In an interview, SMU Dean of Students and Professor of Sociology (Practice) Paulin Straughan discussed amongst others the need to focus on the mental well-being of the youths, factors that contribute to the stress faced by students, gaps in intervention programmes and the role of the media in raising mental health awareness.