The Policy Greenhouse

Source: 7 Great Education Policy Ideas for Progressives in 2018 and NAMI and Mental Health for Students Act

The mental health of students in an incredibly important aspect of education. Maintaining the mental health of these students is even harder, due to the fact that one in 4 children experiences a mental health disorder annually, and half of those who will have a mental health disorder at some point in their life will first be diagnosed at age 14 or younger. The presence of these issues and events in a students life will affect not only that student’s learning, but the learning of those around them. According to a survey of a 12 month long period, only 20 percent of the students who had these issues received aid from resources that should be commonplace in schools. This is a very startling figure, considering that intercepting mental illness and addressing trauma early on is the one of the best ways to prevent a person from being further harmed by these things in the future.

Even though school is one of the most common places for a student to receive aid pertaining to these issues, there is a surprising lack of access to the appropriate resources in many schools. That is why the Mental Health Services for Students Act is so important. It pushes for better services regarding the mental health of students such as training staff to identify warning signs in students that might indicate a decline in mental health that might lead to self harming and also a focus on establishing mechanisms for children and adolescents to report incidents of violence or plans by other children, adolescents, or adults to commit violence. Overall, the massive discrepancy between how many students have mental health issues that need to be addressed and how much aid is available is slowly being addressed through the creation of policies such as the Mental Health for Students Act.