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"Imagine a world where people can talk about emotions & mental health."

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"Imagine a world where people can talk about emotions & mental health."

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New York State is the second state after Virginia to require mental health along with physical education. This is a big step in the right path. Yet, we still need more states to be on the same page. This is an issue almost every human being faces and it is important we continue to be advocates for mental health.

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An innovative New York law is now mandating that all public schools include mental health education as a fundamental part of their school curriculum. New York's bill went into effect on July 1, making it the second state (following Virginia) to require mental health education alongside physical health education. Many mental health experts think that this legislative reform marks an important moment for behavioral health awareness and prevention.

Mental and behavioral health conditions are prominent and often begin in childhood. In the United States, 13 percent of adolescents have experienced a major depressive episode in the past year, and nearly one in three has experienced some type of anxiety disorder in their lifetime. Researchers have estimated that 50 percent of mental illness begins by age 14, and 75 percent begins by age 24.

Unfortunately, research also shows that many children and adolescents with mental health difficulties do not receive treatment. Architects of the New York law hope it will ensure young people learn about mental health to "increase the likelihood that they will be able to more effectively recognize signs" and seek treatment earlier. Ultimately, this new policy could help halt development of these conditions and reduce the number of youth who are affected as adults later in life.

This law represents an important way that systems-such as the school and health care systems-can collaborate to produce effective policy changes. Together, the New York State Education Department and mental health advisory committees laid out key principles that guide schools on how to integrate this new curricula. The law gives latitude to individual districts, schools and classrooms to decide how to design curricula and lesson plans within certain parameters to meet the needs of their student population. Previously, the education guidelines included information on: alcohol, drug and tobacco abuse; and prevention and detection of certain cancers. With the implementation of this new law, educators and administrators added to their curriculum signs of mental health problems and appropriate resources to access help in the time of crisis, as well as materials to address the negative stigma associated with mental illness.

Mental health education in schools also has the potential for numerous other benefits to youth. For instance, open conversations can help to reduce the stigma and negative attitudes toward mental illness that can prevent those who are suffering from reaching out for help. Further, in addition to supporting students' health, this type of curriculum could have a positive impact on their academic achievement. Over 50 percent of students with behavioral disorders drop out of high school and of those who do remain in school, only 42 percent graduate. Also, as we've previously written, more than 80 percent of students struggling with emotional or behavioral disorders scored below the general population in reading, writing and math.

The bottom line: the New York legislature and education system are taking an important step to reduce disparities in educational attainment among those with mental health conditions and the general population.

We at PolicyLab are excited to see what happens as a result of this law. In bringing the conversation to the forefront, New York recognizes the importance of mental health prevention for students' social, emotional and academic functioning. We should continue to consider how novel, evidence-based policies can better support the integration of behavioral health services into various systems that touch children and adolescent's lives.

Georgia Reilly is PolicyLab's communications intern. She is also an undergraduate student at the University of Pennsylvania studying health and societies and health services management.

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New York State Implements New Law Mandating Mental Health Education

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An innovative New York law is now mandating that all public schools include mental health education as a fundamental part of their school curriculum. New York's bill went into effect on July 1, making it the second state (following Virginia) to require mental health education alongside physical health education.

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How can we improve Mental health in  schools today?

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How can we improve Mental health in  schools today?

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- Educate staff, parents, and students on symptoms of and help for mental health problems
- Promote social and emotional competency and build resilience
-Help ensure a positive, safe school environment
- Encourage good physical health
- Daily check ins with your student
- Help your students build their self-confidence
- Create an open-door policy
- Make Mental health known
- Have Wellness Week (Once or Twice a month to shed light on the issue)
- Reduce the number of exams and homework
- Ask students and peers how they are doing
- Encourage families to get involved on the journey of awareness of mental health
- Borden the access of support in schools buildings
- Encourage students to joins clubs to meet others
-  Teach and reinforce positive behaviors and decision-making

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" Children want to talk but no one asked.........."

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" Children want to talk but no one asked.........."

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“Emotion is a strength, don’t be afraid to use it”

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“Emotion is a strength, don’t be afraid to use it”

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School-Based Mental Health Services in Urban Communities

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School-Based Mental Health Services in Urban Communities

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Students of urban communities are faced with many different types of adversities. "Inner-City children's exposure to violence predicted increases in aggression and depression at a 1-year follow-up, even after controlling for prior levels of these problems (Gorman-Smith & Tolan, 1998)." This article strongly supports the idea of children coming from violent backgrounds needing to receive the service of mental health support.

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Part of the Issues in Clinical Child Psychology book series (ICCP)

The large gap between efficacy and effectiveness research has resulted in a new consensus regarding the need for research that will inform practice (National Institute of Mental Health, 1999; Weisz, 2000). Epidemiological studies indicate that fewer than 20% of children who need mental health care actually receive any services (Goodman et al., 1997). Earlier studies indicated that of those children who did receive services, fewer than 50% received the appropriate service relative to their need (Kazdin, 1996). These realities have led to two important movements in child mental health services: efforts to increase the effectiveness of services prin cipally by advocating evidence-based treatments (Hibbs & Jensen, 1997; Weisz s 2000) and calls for alternative models for mental health services (Burns, 1999; National Institute of Mental Health, 1999)

Nowhere are these efforts more needed than in urban, low-income communities where the unprecedented rise in community violence, poverty, and substance abuse places children at high risk of becoming perpetrators and/or victims of aggressive conduct (Attar, Guerra, & Tolan, 1995; Hess & Atkins, 1999). In fact, children in low-income, urban settings are exposed to violent crime rates that exceed the national average by 4 to 10 times (Gorman-Smith, Tolan, & Henry, 1999). For example, a recent survey in Baltimore indicated that 90% of students knew at least one victim of violence, 77% witnessed violence, and 47% reported victimization by violence (Weist, Acosta, & Youngstrom, 2001). The effects of increasing community violence, gang activity, drug use, and poverty place urban, minority children at substantial risk for mental health difficulties (Gorman-Smith et al., 1999)

The effects of community violence on parents may also mediate the impact of community violence on children. Violence and poverty affect parents' ability to monitor and discipline their children consistently and to provide needed support and nurturance (Gorman-Smith et al., 2000). Inner-City children's exposure to violence predicted increases in aggression and depression at a 1-year follow-up, even after controlling for prior levels of these problems (Gorman-Smith & Tolan, 1998). However, family support moderated the effect of community violence, such that in families with high levels of parent-child conflict, high-witnessed violence had no additional influence on antisocial outcome (Miller et al., 1999)

With the advent of welfare reform, urban families have been facing these extraordinary pressures with the added strain of diminishing mental health services and community-based resources (Knitzer et al., 2001). A decade ago, a nationwide survey of parents found that those living in urban, low-income communities reported less than half the access to after-school programs as compared either to parents (either poor or nonpoor) living in nonurban communities or to nonpoor families living in urban communities (National Commission on Children, 1991). More recently, Halpern (1999) surveyed after-school programs in low-income communities and found that there were only enough programs to provide for fewer than one-third of families in need of services. The lack of community resources exacerbates the already pernicious effect of poverty by increasing parental burdens to provide for their children's safety (Jarrett, 1995). Not surprisingly, prevalence rates for children's disruptive behavior in low-income communities are almost three times the national estimates (Tolan et al., 1997), placing it among the most significant mental health problems in these communities (Bell, 1997)

The urgent and unique needs of low-income, urban families demand a response from the mental health community in the form of accessible, effective, culturally sensitive, and ecologically meaningful services. In this chapter we will present the case for how school-based services can overcome obstacles to services for urban communities and the rationale for a school-based services model focused on keeping children, parents, teachers, and community members invested in services that promote healthy outcomes. As we will describe, given the enormous mental health needs of children and families living In these communities, It Is important that school-based services are integrated with more traditional social and clinical services to form a coordinated mental health services system

Keywords

Mental Health Service Community Violence Mental Health Difficulty Violent Crime Rate Urban Family

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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School-Based Mental Health Services in Urban Communities

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Part of the Issues in Clinical Child Psychology book series (ICCP) The large gap between efficacy and effectiveness research has resulted in a new consensus regarding the need for research that will inform practice (National Institute of Mental Health, 1999; Weisz, 2000).

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Why is it not acknowledged very often in schools? 

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Why is it not acknowledged very often in schools? 

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- Lack of funding
-Lack of knowledge
-Not a priority
- Students don't feel comfortable discussing their emotions
- There is no mandated IEP for students that suffer from depression or bi-polar disorder.

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These zones were created by an occupational therapist and an autism resource therapist. This is helps students self-regulate their needs, emotions and impulses to meet the demands of the environment and for them to be successful excel academically and socially. This method can be incorporated into schools curriculum as a step in the right direction.

- The Red Zone is used to describe extremely heightened states of alertness and intense emotions.  A person may be elated or experiencing anger, rage, devastation, or terror when in the Red Zone.

-The Yellow Zone is also used to describe a heightened state of alertness and elevated emotions, however one has more control when they are in the Yellow Zone.  A person may be experiencing stress, frustration, anxiety, excitement, silliness, the wiggles, or nervousness when in the Yellow Zone.

-The Green Zone is used to describe a calm state of alertness. A person may be described as happy, focused, content, or ready to learn when in the Green Zone.  This is the zone where optimal learning occurs.

-The Blue Zone is used to describe low states of alertness and down feelings such as when one feels sad, tired, sick, or bored.

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Jordan Wells is a student at Boston Latin Academy. She is one of many that struggled with mental illness. It wasn't until she had to do a research paper on the lack of mental health support in schools, that she knew she uses her voice. She mentions what she wishes was done differently in her school and schools all over. This ted talk is so moving because these are the wise words of students dealing with this illness first hand. Furthermore, she mentions this issue isn't supported due to the lack of funds and knowledge, it is not made a priority and the students just don't feel comfortable enough to discuss how they feel.

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How Can We Improve School-Based Mental Health Support? | Jordan Wells | TEDxYouth@BeaconStreet

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Mental health support is important to acknowledge in schools. From Pre-kindergarten into college students experience changes in their lives both in school and at home. Many components are affected by one struggling mentally. For example, poor attendance, graduation and dropout rates increase poor/low test scores, an increase in negative behaviors, and difficulties interacting/communicating with others. Furthermore, suicide rates, eating disorders, mood swings, substance abuse and more.

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Problems at School | Association for Children’s Mental Health

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Learn how to navigate problems at school

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Health conditions involving changes in emotion, thinking or behavior (or a combination of these) This illness is associated with distress and/or problems functioning in social, work or family activities.