As schools across the country kick off a new academic year, they鈥檙e also preparing to help children navigate a historic increase in mental health challenges.
It鈥檚 a demanding situation for districts that were already not meeting recommended student-to-counselor ratios before the pandemic intensified students鈥� mental health needs.
Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released in May showed some improvement among adolescents and teenagers from earlier in the pandemic, at least in terms of the most severe mental health problems. Kids ages 12 to 17 visited hospital emergency departments for mental health conditions less often in the fall of 2022 than the previous fall.
But emergency department visits, particularly among girls, were still higher than they were before the pandemic. And the most recent available data still show that teens, and particularly girls and LGBTQ+ young people, reported record-high levels of sadness and hopelessness in 2021.
As for the improvements that have shown up in the available data, the CDC in May credited them in part to schools鈥� widespread increases in mental health supports, from providing more access to therapists and social workers to training teachers to support students with anxiety.
But most health and school leaders agree: There鈥檚 still a lot of work to do.
At a virtual event on Monday hosted by AASA, The School Superintendents鈥� Association, experts said the start of the new school year is an opportunity to set a tone of supporting and prioritizing students鈥� mental health.
Here are some of their tips.
Collect data about how students are doing
69传媒鈥� needs will vary greatly from community to community, so standard responses to overly broad generalizations鈥攍ike simply adding another counselor to the staff without basing the decision on a specific, local need鈥攍ikely won鈥檛 be particularly effective, participants said.
69传媒 should be administering routine surveys to gauge students鈥� well-being, said Tony Sanders, the state superintendent in Illinois. They should ask questions about things like students鈥� sense of belonging and whether they feel their teachers care about their feelings and goals.
But just collecting the data isn鈥檛 good enough, Sanders said.
School and district leaders must take the time to analyze the results and determine what services, programs, or other supports could make a difference.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e not collecting data on how your students are doing, you don鈥檛 really know how to address the concerns or problems that are happening in your schools,鈥� he said.
Avoid 鈥楤and-Aid鈥� solutions
It can be tempting to invest in mental health programs that are 鈥渜uick fixes鈥� or have an immediate impact, said actress Goldie Hawn, who in 2003 started a foundation focused on children鈥檚 well-being. But any positive effects on students鈥� mental health rarely last or fundamentally change how students process and cope with difficult situations.
Taking a more intentional approach and investing in longer-term holistic solutions鈥攍ike teaching them how to understand and regulate their emotions鈥攚ill be more effective, Hawn said.
That鈥檚 not to say bringing in a therapy dog to visit a classroom isn鈥檛 helpful, she said. It can be, but it should be complemented by and reinforced with other efforts.
The Oscar winner was moved to support children鈥檚 mental health following the 9/11 terrorist attacks and founded the Goldie Hawn Foundation. It created educational programming called MindUP, aimed at helping students 鈥渄evelop the knowledge and tools they need to manage stress, regulate emotions, and face the challenges of the 21st century with optimism, resilience, and compassion,鈥� the website says.
鈥淭hese are serious issues, but we don鈥檛 want to Band-Aid things. We really want to create change that is systemic,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e need to teach [children] more about their brain to give them agency over their own emotions, to recognize what they鈥檙e feeling, and then they can understand the various techniques to calm down and make a better decision or take a better test.鈥�
Collaborate with community partners
69传媒 don鈥檛 have to do all of this work on their own, said Gregg Behr, the executive director of the Grable Foundation, which helps schools in the Pittsburgh area find organizations to partner with to benefit children鈥檚 development.
Even if schools could magically hire all of the mental health professionals they feel they need, that wouldn鈥檛 be effective for every student. Some need more specialized support, and sometimes, that鈥檚 something schools simply cannot offer on their own. But they should still strive to meet each student鈥檚 individual needs, Behr said.
鈥淲e have a lot of community partnerships within our schools, within our states that we need to leverage to move this work forward,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o I would be asking local superintendents and principals, 鈥榃hat are you doing to bring in outside resources?鈥� 鈥�
Anne Brown, president of the Cook Center for Human Connection, a youth suicide prevention organization, added that schools could even provide resources to help parents learn about children鈥檚 development and how to support their unique needs.
That could include free, online courses available on demand. 69传媒 can place a 鈥渕edallion鈥� on their website鈥檚 homepage, which acts as a link to redirect visitors to those resources, she said.
鈥淲e work with the schools because that鈥檚 where the parents and the children are, but we know that there aren鈥檛 enough helps and supports in the schools themselves,鈥� Brown said. 鈥淪o by educating parents and helping them be the first line of support when they鈥檙e working with their children who are having anxiety, depression, or other needs 鈥� can really help those children so much more.鈥�
Teachers can鈥檛 support students without someone supporting them, too
Dan Bridges, the superintendent in Naperville, Ill., said part of the work to help children is making sure the adults are cared for first.
There鈥檚 a lot of focus鈥攔ightfully so鈥攐n the trauma children experienced during the pandemic, he said, but people sometimes lose track of the fact adults experienced trauma, too. And it鈥檚 difficult for adults to be a strong support for a child if they don鈥檛 feel mentally well.
鈥淲e have to care for the heart and the soul of everybody that we serve,鈥� he said.
Bridges said his district focuses on making sure staff members feel like they have a voice in decisionmaking and they feel heard when they give feedback, or ask for help. His district has also made sure to be responsive to current events and provide professional development opportunities when new concepts and problems arise, like when artificial intelligence tools surfaced or students came to school with more behavioral issues.
Treat every day as a new opportunity to help children
Asked if he had any advice for educators for the start of the school year, the Grable Foundation鈥檚 Behr encouraged them to 鈥渢reat it as the first of 200 opportunities to create change and have a miracle day,鈥� referring to the approximate number of days in the academic year.
鈥淭here are all sorts of 鈥榣ittle bets鈥� that are doable every day,鈥� he said, like having a community group bring in baby animals to assist with a lesson or using mindfulness breaks in math class. 鈥淐reating systems takes years to get right. 鈥� Tending to relationships is something we can do right now to bring out the potential, joy, and wonder of what鈥檚 possible.鈥�
Hawn suggested that districts even consider asking students what would make a day a 鈥渕iracle day鈥� to them. Then, they鈥檒l feel included and will be more likely to think their input matters.
