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Problem- reluctance to give up free time to go learn about mental illness
Solution- have the school set aside a few hours one day or work the project into a time when the students had class anyway, such as health class
Problem- people feeling like they are being forced into learning about mental illness
Solution- make the project fun and interesting, don't force the project to be a mandatory requirement for hours at a time, let students have some freedom with it

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Studies have shown that familiarity with mental illness makes people more likely to tell family, friends, or go to a professional if they start to experience mental health issues. This is a reason why everyone should be educated on mental illness,not ol=nly to be able to understand what peers around them with mental illness might be going through but also so if that person at any point feels like their mental health is declining they won’t feel bad about talking to someone about it.

https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/mental-health-activities-worksheets-books/

Because of the fear of being different and the stigmas associated with mental illness, 60% of people with a mental illness will not get the help they need. Lesson plans and projects can help make mental illness a more prominent subject on the minds of students and can help bring awareness to students at a young age.

http://canwetalk.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/COOR-79l-2016-03-CWT-lesson-plans.pdf
If many students are involved in the project they can address all different aspects of mental illness and the differences that can help with each specific mental health issue.

http://www.acmh-mi.org/get-help/navigating/problems-at-school/

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Kids with mental illness are suspended often because the administration and adults around them do not understand their struggles and what they are going through. The school systems and adults in them need to do a better job of recognizing when students have mental disorders and instead of punishing those kids, they need to address the situation and see how they can help them.

https://hechingerreport.org/opinion-we-must-stop-the-criminalization-of-mental-illness-in-schools/

Mental health is often not viewed as a real issue or in relation to other issues in schools it is neglected and seen as not as important to address. This can make the students who are effected by mental illness feel even worse about themselves and make them feel like they don’t need to be properly treated because they should “just suck it up.”

https://buffalonews.com/2018/07/08/editorial-lessons-in-mental-health/

Students suffering from these conditions face significant barriers to learning and are less likely to graduate from high school because the people around them are not educated enough on the personal battles they have to face and are not capable of helping them.
https://www.nassp.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Mental_Health.pdf

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The most significant issue regarding mental illness in schools is the lack of understanding of students with mental illness by both teachers and other students. Schools need to have a project that both teachers and students could participate in that would help them learn about mental illness in a way that would be interesting to them.

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The most significant issue regarding mental illness in schools is the lack of understanding of students with mental illness by both teachers and other students. Schools need to have a project that both teachers and students could participate in that would help them learn about mental illness in a way that would be interesting to them.

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All of the students could be split up into groups with one teacher per group to learn about a mental illness assigned to them. At the end of week, everyone would  come together and each group would present, in an interesting way, what they found about the mental illness assigned to them.

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Importance of Providing Help to Students with Mental Health Issues

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Importance of Providing Help to Students with Mental Health Issues

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The start of many mental health conditions most often occurs in adolescence. Half of individuals living with mental illness experience onset by the age of 14. This number jumps to 75% by the age of 24.

One in five youth live with a mental health condition, but less than half of these individuals receive needed services. Undiagnosed, untreated or inadequately treated mental health conditions can affect a student's ability to learn, grow and develop.

Schools provide a unique opportunity to identify and treat mental health conditions by serving students where they already are. School personnel play an important role in identifying the early warning signs of an emerging mental health condition and in linking students with effective services and supports.

Where NAMI Stands

NAMI advocates for the services and supports that schools need to provide school-based mental health services. These programs bring trained community mental health professionals into schools to provide mental health care or to link families to resources in the community. They provide access to services and supports and help reduce the confusion and isolation experienced by youth with mental health conditions and their families.

We also understand that schools are stretched very thin. We support increased funding to train school faculty and staff on the early warning signs of mental health conditions and how to link students to services. Funding would also allow school-based mental health professionals to coordinate services and supports between schools and the community mental health system.

What NAMI Is Doing

Supporting Federal and State Legislation

NAMI supports the Mental Health in Schools Act (H.R. 1211/S. 1588). This bill provides federal funding to train school staff on mental health related issues, to establish comprehensive school-based mental health services and to create links between schools and the community mental health system.

NAMI calls on states to pass legislation that would require school faculty and staff to be trained in the early warning signs of mental illness, provide funding and support for training and link community mental health services to schools.
Presentations for Students
NAMI Ending the Silence provides students with information on mental health conditions and how to ask for help if they see the signs in themselves or a friend. Through the free classroom presentation, students get to see the reality of living with a mental health condition.
Take Action Now

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The start of many mental health conditions most often occurs in adolescence. Half of individuals living with mental illness experience onset by the age of 14. This number jumps to 75% by the age of 24. One in five youth live with a mental health condition, but less than half of these individuals receive needed services.

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Importance of Educating Students about Mental Health

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Importance of Educating Students about Mental Health

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Millions of American students suffer from mental health problems, and only a fraction are receiving necessary treatment, warns a brief from the American Institutes for Research.

And the prevalence of mental health problems appears to be growing. Sixty-two percent of college students reported feeling "overwhelming anxiety" over the previous year in 2016, up from 50 percent just five years prior. More alarming still, hospitalizations for mood disorders among children ages 17 and under leaped by 68 percent between 1997 and 2011.

Building largely on government data, including a blockbuster 2013 analysis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the brief observes that up to 20 percent of Americans under the age of 18 suffer from mental, behavioral, or emotional disorders. (That translates to approximately 15 million children across the country, according to 2010 U.S. Census figures.) The most common disorders include ADHD, depression, conduct problems, autism, substance abuse, and Tourette's syndrome.

Yet estimates show that almost half of all children with those emotional or psychological conditions don't receive either medication or psychological services, and only 7.4 percent of adolescents report visiting with a mental health professional over the course of a year. Since the onset of these problems can be difficult to detect, and millions of families lack health insurance, children must often rely on mental health resources provided by their schools.

"Schools sometimes serve as the de facto mental health system for children in the United States," write authors Elizabeth Freeman and Kimberly Kendziora.

The report recommends that schools develop "multilevel, evidence-based interventions" to reverse the tide of young adults - particularly those living in poverty - struggling with depression, anxiety, and a host of other ailments.

Yet in-school supports are already overstretched. Although the National Association of School Psychologists recommend a ratio of no more than 700 students per school psychologist when comprehensive mental health services are being provided, the ratio across American schools in 2014-15 was estimated to be nearly twice that. Teachers, already responsible for academic achievement and classroom management, typically receive little training in dealing with mental health problems.

That's why schools need to lead the way in collecting mental health information among students and family and developing working relationships with local doctors, hospitals, and mental health agencies, according to the brief.

The authors recommend that school leaders use one of a number of free tools to develop surveys for both parents and school staff, inquiring about the most common mental health problems students experience and the availability of community-based services to address them. Next, leaders can develop school-level mental health plans that specify which interventions (support groups, youth mentoring, outpatient treatment) are most needed and how to target them.

"Partnerships between schools and community mental/behavioral health professionals offer students and families an extended network of services that are easily accessible," the authors write. "When programs are able to identify and address student mental and behavioral challenges early, students are more likely to gain resiliency skills and be successful in school and life while the threat of later harm is reduced."

That harm is both real and severe. Children with mental health problems are vastly more likely to develop substance abuse problems, become involved in criminal activity, and drop out of school. Among Americans ages 10 to 24, suicide is the third-leading cause of death.

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The Hidden Mental Health Crisis in America's Schools: Millions of Kids Not Receiving Services They Need

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Millions of American students suffer from mental health problems, and only a fraction are receiving necessary treatment, warns a brief from the American Institutes for Research. And the prevalence of mental health problems appears to be growing. Sixty-two percent of college students reported feeling "overwhelming anxiety" over the previous year in 2016, up from 50 [...]

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Importance of School Staff Working Together to Create a Safe Environment for Mental Health

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Importance of School Staff Working Together to Create a Safe Environment for Mental Health

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Our public schools are struggling to handle millions of students with mental health problems. Here's why.