This article focuses on how parents and institutions can create a positive climate for children's emotional health. An increasing number of mental health professionals believe that parents and adults can dramatically reduce the amount of depression and suicide among children and teenagers by modeling and promoting learned optimism. Values also play a vital role in the building of a child's emotional health-- a role often overlooked. In this article, the author describes: how to recognize depressive behavior in teenage children; how a family can be at risk and how to model non-depressive thinking; how to, in effect, inoculate children against depression; recognize the role of integrity in emotional health; and focusing on a child's inner dignity rather than success. (GCP)