Youth Mental Health and Safety Don’t Take a Summer Break
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Just because this school year is over doesn’t mean the crisis facing our nation’s youth is over.
In fact, the data suggests just the opposite.
In the 2022-23 school year, suicide skyrocketed to become the second leading cause of death among children ages 10 to 14 in the United States. Research shows that some young people are more affected than others. Nearly one in three high school girls said they had considered suicide. Black students were more likely than Asian, Hispanic, or white students to attempt suicide. And 1 in 3 LGBTQ+ students said they planned to.
Schools are feeling the pressure. Seventy percent of public schools nationwide reported an increase in the number of students seeking mental health services since 2020, but only 12 percent of educators strongly agreed that their school was in able to respond effectively to the need. Meanwhile, Our Nation’s Mental Health Report Card reported that only two states — Idaho and DC — are meeting the recommended ratio of one school psychologist per 500 students, with some states having only one school psychologist for more. of 4,000 students.
Are we surprised that students are slipping through the system? These are not “cracks” in school mental health supports — they are craters of thousands of students.
Certainly, the crisis facing our young people is not exclusively about their mental health. If you’re keeping score, you know that the number one cause of death among young people in the United States right now is guns.
Most gun violence that affects children and adolescents occurs outside of school. But any violence that takes place in a classroom or during an educational activity is unacceptable. In 2022, there were more school shootings than any year since 1999. In 2023, the K-12 School Shootings Database recorded 182 firearm-related incidents so far. in a school. That’s more than one for every school day this year. In June, a deadly shooting at a high school graduation ceremony left an 18-year-old graduate and his father dead and others injured and traumatized.
What will it take to make the health and safety of our nation’s youth a national priority? Avoidance may be a popular emotion-regulation strategy, but summer vacation won’t stop those challenges from lingering when schools reopen this fall.
Ban books either. Prohibiting students from talking about gender identities will not prohibit either. Neither will the suppression of social and emotional learning in schools. Stripping our school systems of teaching about the beautiful differences that define us while removing evidence-based curricula that teach the skills and strategies needed to speak beyond differences is not helping anyone.
Neither do active fire drills. Decades of science confirm that students don’t learn when they feel unsafe. It’s so simple. In an era marked by record student achievement, efforts to fortify our nation’s schools with physical protection measures and active-fire drills have backfired. Did you know that 95% of US public school students participate in active fire drills, although there is no credible evidence that they are effective in promoting safer school experiences? Oh sure, there’s growing evidence of how these interventions increase students’ stress, anxiety, depression, death concerns, and decrease student achievement in days and weeks following exercise.
What are we protecting our children from if it is not safe for them to learn in school?
Unsolvable problems require collective solutions. Each of us can play a part in improving the health and safety of all children next year. And we don’t have to wait for the first day of school to start:
Parents, find out from your children. How are they living this past school year? Don’t stop at “relieved, it’s over”. Emotions are information. Lean toward the source of their relief. What did your children wish they had in the last school year to support them? Can they identify a trusted adult in their school? Relationships are important to students’ experiences in school; trusting and supportive relationships promote academic success and the social and emotional development of students. Start with relationships. Reach out to an educator and thank them for making a difference or ask for their support for your child.
Educators, consider which five students in your class will need the school the most to work for them next year? What can you do to ensure that the educators who will be working with them have what they will need? Do you have what you need to support the next group of students arriving? Ask your administrators how you can secure these supports, such as training, staff, and time, for the next school year.
Administrators, consider which five educators in your school will need the school the most to work for them next year? How can you leverage your ESSER funding and state resources to create support systems for your school community? What initiatives are already underway that can be connected to promote mental health and safety at school? What policies would help you help your students and your school right now? Contact your local decision makers.
Policy Makers, investing in school-based mental health supports in the form of staff and universal programs pays off. It is more expensive to treat a problem than to prevent the symptoms. In fact, investments in social and emotional learning have been shown to have a return of $11 for every $1 invested. How are your investments benefiting the health and well-being of your school communities? Get back to your constituents.
The most irresponsible thing we can do as a nation right now is to expect that when we return for next school year, our children will be fine. Our students give us all the warning signs, and we need to see them before it’s too late. Let the 2023-2024 school year go down in history as the school year in which we restored our commitments to the youth of our nation and to each other and came together to improve the conditions for them. will allow everyone to flourish.
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