Understanding the Mental Health Crisis In Our Schools
Turn on the news and you will see, an increase in school shootings and childhood suicides. Mental health is a growing crisis. It seems that the only time we even look at the issue of mental health is in moments of crisis. Schools are designed to educate the whole child. The challenge is how do we go about tackling this issue? Mental health issues are real for all students, even in our youngest learners. The Child Mind Institute reports that half of all mental illness occurs before the age of 14. 1 and 5 students need treatment yet 70% of students with mental health disorders do not receive adequate treatment. http://neatoday.org/2018/09/13/mental-health-in-schools/ So, what is mental health and what does that look like for our students? According to the oxford dictionary, mental health is a person’s condition with regard to their psychological and emotional well-being. For our students, mental health issues are cen