17. Opinion (State, National, or International Issue)
My Opinion on How we can Help Improve the Mental Health of Students
Here in the United States it's no secret that our students need extra Mental Health support, this is apparent of the many instances of school shootings and the bullying problem many schools in our nation are facing.
"Rates of childhood mental health concerns and suicide rose steadily over the past decade, by 2018 suicide has become the second leading cause of death for young people age 10-24" - American Progress
There may be countless reasons why our children's mental health are declining, but in my opinion these are the top reasons for this occurring and ways we as a nation could address these issues:
Lack of Mental Health counseling over generations, in short the children are suffering because they are being raised in toxic and unhealthy households, this is something that we are unfortunately passing down to our kids especially in marginalized communities where therapy and counseling is not readily available. In solution, when schools recognize children demonstrating poor mental health it could be good to offer them and their immediate family, free and affordable resources.
The Increase of Technology, I think that technology can be both good and bad, but ultimately when it comes to social media I think it's affecting the young people in a negative way, this is because they are being exposed to a lot of mature content that they are not old enough to safely have access to. There are a lot of influencers who should not have influence over young people that do and this could lead to unrealistic values and esteem in children. The solution to the negative outcomes of technology is for more adult supervision and monitoring for what kids are seeing online.
Bullying is another big thing that is causing distress in young kids and teens. Bullying can be physical, socially and emotional and can occur in school and online as well. Stopping bullying should be a priority for schools across the nation. Through education to teachers and students to recognize the signs of bullying, students should know exactly what to do in instances of them being bullied or witnessing someone else being bullied. Also children and teens should receive more empathetic and mindfulness education.
As a parent to young children, I'm very concerned for their mental health and the mental health of the students who will be their peers. I'm hopeful that their will be some educational reform in the school systems and the government will allocate more money to mental health services for young people in the near future.
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