Youth mental health crisis shows no sign of improvement

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Axios
14 Dec 2022 23:02
1 Shares

According to a survey carried out by Effective School Solutions, only 40% of administrators said they had a high level of confidence in their ability to deal with the mental health crisis in their schools, compared to 16% of parents.

Poll finds youth mental health crisis is not getting better

A survey carried out by Effective School Solutions revealed that the youth's mental health crisis is showing no signs of improvement as results indicate that more than half of every school administrator says conditions either worsened or haven't improved in the past year, Axios reported on Wednesday.

Nearly all of the 200 school administrators that were interviewed in the survey reported that the health challenges students are facing range from moderate to severe.

An additional 1000 parents with children in K-12 who also partook in the study showed to be less confident than administrators in the school's ability to assist students with their mental health issues, though the majority of administrators and parents agree that schools should play a pivotal role in assisting students with their mental health needs.

The study reported that 40% of administrators stated that they had a high level of confidence in their ability to deal with the mental health crisis in their schools, compared to 16% of parents.

About 1 in 10 administrators said they were not confident at all in comparison to a third of parents.

The most pressing concern that both administrators and parents have raised was identifying needs and having a sufficient number of qualified staffers to support students.

Effective School Solutions Releases New National Polling of
Administrators & Parents on Mental Health Care in Schoolshttps://t.co/6G5DMNQAUh pic.twitter.com/TZqA823L6b
— Piet Vervaecke (@pietvervaecke) December 14, 2022

"This report only reinforces what we see every day around the challenges and what is needed to help our students and staff," said Carrie Martin, director of special education and student services at Susquehanna Township School District in Pennsylvania.

But according to Duncan Young, CEO of Effective School Solutions, the reported level of confidence to handle the crisis is higher than it would have been three to five years ago.

During the 1980s, schools and parents were reluctant to discuss matters related to mental health and their responsibility in addressing the issue, said pollster John Zogby.

But now, "there’s a recognition that it is growing and that much more work has to be done," added Zogby.

According to Young, the question remains how this is going to be implemented on both a federal and state level when the COVID relief money runs out.

Over half of administrators told surveyors that they need more funding sources to support mental health assistance programs in their schools.

Young added that this was "the defining education and public health issue of our time."

"Over the past 15 years, there’s been a transition in terms of how schools see themselves", Young said, "and I think this is accelerated and will be one of the long-lasting legacies of COVID."