The national survey Released on Wednesday from Effective School Solutions, an organization that implements mental health care in schools, finds that the country’s principals, parents and students continue to fight the youth mental health crisis. Almost all administrators (90%) and almost 60% of parents report that the crisis is increasing. Nearly 60% of administrators say young people’s mental health remains the same or has worsened compared to a year ago.
“Amidst the isolation and trauma of COVID-19, this decline has only worsened,” says Duncan Young, CEO of Effective School Solutions. “It is very likely that the reverberations and traumas of the pandemic will continue in young people’s mental health long after the pandemic itself is behind us, signaling the urgent need for better solutions for our children.”
The survey was conducted in the fall of 200 school principals and 1,000 parents with children in kindergarten through 12th grade.
The survey found that addressing early-stage mental health in schools is proving difficult, and teachers say they face challenges with staffing and financing. COVID relief funds have helped address mental health challenges in school districts, but will likely expire within the next two years, Young says. It draws attention to the need for more sustainable funding for school districts to continue to prioritize mental health care.
“The provinces will soon be largely left to their own devices to maintain the additional support that is still much needed,” Young says. We can’t afford to go back. Our children and their future depend on it.”
The survey also found that 40% of parents and 50% of teachers are concerned that schools do not have enough staff to meet students’ needs, including mental health. More than 80% of parents believe that schools should play a role in addressing the mental health of young people; Officials who say they do not have information on funding sources for mental health programs exceed 50%. 40% of administrators report a high level of confidence that their school adequately addresses young people’s mental health compared to 16% of parents.
Mental health care in schools takes the burden off parents to meet mental health challenges at home, Young says, especially given that children spend most of their time within the confines of the classroom. Effective mental health care includes different behavioral interventions for people with different needs. Individual, group, and family therapy can happen during a student’s school day, for example, Young says. Effective School Solutions partners with districts to integrate this programming directly into the school day.
“It’s like recurring mental health care, like the electives included in a student’s schedule,” he says.
Being aware of what to look for is the place to start. Young offers the acronym below, in his own words, to help parents and administrators know the signs and symptoms of a possible mental health problem: SIGECAPS
- S = Sleeps Disturbance, such as a student falling asleep in class, very tired.
- I = decrease benefit In previous interests or activities.
- G = excessive feelings Guilt and despair.
- E = increase or decrease energy Lethargy, which differs from feeling tired.
- C = decrease in Concentration and the ability to stay focused, which can often be reflected in lower grades.
- A = decrease or increase in appetitesuch as changing eating habits
- q = kinetic Retardation is the slowing down of your mental or physical activities. Students usually see this in the form of slowed thinking or slowed body movements.
- S = suicide Ideas, plans or intentions. Of course this is the deepest symptom where immediate action must be taken.
Any of these symptoms alone or combined with another is not uncommon for students to experience, but Young says to watch for when they persist over a long period of time. Effective School Solutions operates in 9 states serving over 90 districts, implementing mental health care within schools so that students do not need to be removed from class to receive care.
“The question is no longer whether our students need support, but rather what are the most effective mental health services and how districts can implement them better,” Young says. In short, the conversation in school districts has shifted from “Should we provide these services” to “How can I implement these services in an impactful way?” “
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