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Purpose
The purpose of this lesson is to survey the extent of the mental health challenges facing today's students and schools and to introduce the school's roles and responsibilities in meeting those challenges.
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When we consider our own personal experiences, we can begin to understand the magnitude of mental illness. If mental health issues are affecting our family and friends, does it not seem logical that the children and staff in our local schools are facing many of these same issues?
Today's schools are a reflection of American society. The issues that we face as adults and that affect our families also affect our children and are surfacing at an incredible rate in our schools. Couple these issues with the increased demands placed on schools and school staff, and you can start to understand the magnitude of the mental health issues found in our schools. Here are just some of the everyday mental health issues that the students in your schools are dealing with: aggression, poor social skills, limited problem-solving and decision-making skills, depression, anxiety, attention problems, apathy, learning disabilities, grief, family conflict, domestic violence, neglect, substance abuse, and sexual abuse. In truth, these are also the issues your coworkers are dealing with every day.
Let's take a closer look at the children in America's classrooms. Please review the Children's Defense Fund Web site to learn some interesting facts about the children you serve. Click on "Data" and then look under the heading "National Data." Specifically, review "Moments in America for Children" and "Each Day in America."
Millions of children in America have a diagnosed mental illness, and there are millions more who have mental health issues but have not received an "official" diagnosis. One in five children will experience symptoms of significant emotional problems in the course of a year. Some experts have estimated that one out of every two children is facing some significant social, emotional, or educational barrier that will have a negative impact on their functioning in the schools (Adelman, 1998). More alarming is the fact that the majority of these children are receiving few, if any, services to address these issues. Furthermore, it is likely that any services these children do receive will be provided at and by their schools.
What can we conclude? A significant number of children are facing mental health issues, but typically they do not receive counseling, therapy, or other services in the community. Furthermore, these children are in every classroom in your school. They are not the handful of "emotionally disabled" children found in your self-contained classroom.
As a professional educator, you have to ask: Is it the school's responsibility to address children's mental health challenges? It seems that this question has already been answered. Education journals, teacher preparation textbooks, and many school mission/vision statements describe the school's or teacher's role as including the following:
It seems clear that the institution of education expects schools and teachers to help meet the social and emotional needs of students, but why do professional educators need to spend more time learning about mental health issues in the schools?
First, as you can see from the above discussion, many, if not most, students who come through your schools will at some point in their academic careers face a significant mental health challenge that will negatively affect their ability to function in school. Therefore, this is a significant problem for all schools. As a professional educator, you will find that it is not a matter of if, but when, you will face these issues. At the very least, you will need to be aware of the common mental health problems and know how they affect students.
Second, as we will discuss in the next lesson, it is time to move towards prevention and early intervention and away from waiting until problems become so severe that we have to remove those students who are struggling with mental health issues from the regular classroom or from the school entirely. Professional educators must become agents of change in this movement, helping others in the system understand that early detection and intervention in student mental health issues will break a cycle that has costly and devastating consequences for everyone involved.
Third, it is clear that there are not enough mental health workers in the schools to meet the need. Even in schools that have a wealth of staff and resources, there usually is no more than 1 mental health professional for every 500 students, and in most schools the ratio is closer to 1 mental health professional for every 1,000–2,000 students (Carlson, Paavola, & Talley, 1995). Teachers, administrators, school nurses, and other education professionals will need to develop some knowledge and skills in meeting students' mental health needs because there are not enough psychologists, counselors, and social workers in the schools to address the problem.
Fourth, you need to learn more about mental health issues in the schools for your own well-being. Learning to identify and address student mental health issues effectively will help promote more effective, efficient, and positive classrooms and schools, which will likely promote your own job satisfaction and fulfillment. Furthermore, learning more about school mental health issues will allow you to monitor and promote your own mental health.
In the next lesson we will define mental health, discuss a strengths-based approach to mental health issues, and consider the mental health of the professional educator.
References
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