High school classes can be daunting. Our next generation of parents, voters, teachers, entrepreneurs, and scientists contend with quadratic equations, analytic essays, lessons on constitutional rights and more.
When students are also burdened by the fear of losing a mother with cancer, the trauma of past sexual assault, the accumulated toxic stress of a chaotic childhood, or the weight of other mental health difficulties, those classes can quickly go from challenging to nearly impossible — if proper mental health support isn’t available.
As state legislators begin interim hearings in the House and Senate education committees and the House Select Committee on Mental Health, they should evaluate opportunities to ensure more students have the mental health support they need both to succeed in the classroom and to get a jump on emerging psychiatric concerns that could grow in adulthood. Policymakers can start by considering successful efforts in communities around the state.
[For more of this story, written by Josette Saxton, go to http://www.mystatesman.com/new...hould-tackle-/npzR4/]
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