The Impact of Schools on Mental Health

Schools face big problems in coping with the mental health struggles of their students. That’s one of the important things we learned from Echo’s story. Sometimes, schools don’t spot the real problem. Sometimes, parents resist. Almost always –  schools lack resources. But the problem is big. And getting bigger.

Here’s what The National Education Association has reported – based on federal surveys.

• Almost three out of four parents say their children need mental health counseling.
• One in three parents say their child has symptoms – especially anxiety and depression.
• About 15% of teens suffer a major depressive episode each year.  But two-thirds got no treatment.
• During the pandemic, anxiety and depression among children rose by about 25 percent.
• And tragically — Half of gay and transgender kids say they’ve considered suicide in the past year.

So we have a big problem. As the NEA put it: The kids are not all right. And that poses a lot of challenges for schools.

Only about half of schools have the resources to diagnose mental health problems – much less help find treatment. That’s according to The National Center for Education Statistics.

• Just 55% of schools have anyone who can diagnose a disorder.
• And only 42% of schools provide any treatment services.
• Urban schools provide more services than rural schools.
• And big schools provide more services than small schools.
• But almost all say they lack funding – and the licensed mental health professional they need. So that leaves too many kids like Ecko struggling to find help. And that makes the mental health journey so much more difficult.

School Based Mental Health

• One third of school districts use district staff to provide mental health services.
• One-fourth of school districts rely on outside agencies to provide mental health services.
• Center for Mental Health in Schools estimates that 12 to 22% of school aged children have a diagnoseable mental health disorder.
• Most adolescents are more comfortable accessing mental health services through school-based settings than elsewhere, according to a survey by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

National Education Association: Mental Health in Schools – the kids are not all right

• 214,000 US School Children lost a parent to COVID
• 17 million US children struggle with hunger – an increase of 6 million since the pandemic.
• Three quarters of parents say their children would benefit from mental health counseling .
• One third of parents said their children have symptoms of a mental health disorder, including anxiety (19%) and depression (13%).
• Among children with learning and physical challenges, one third suffer from anxiety, according to their parents.
• An ongoing national survey found that in the past year 15% of teens suffered a major depressive episode. However, 60% did not get treatment, according to Mental Health America.
• Teens distress was increasing before the pandemic. Between 2016 and 2019, the share of children suffering from anxiety rose 27% and the share suffering from depression rose 24%.
• Half of gay, lesbian and trans young people say they have considered suicide in the past year, according to a survey of 34,000 young people by the Trevor Project. Gay, transgender and nonbinary youth account for half of the young people with suicidal ideas.

Mental health symptoms in students: Centers for Disease Control

• One in six students have enough behavior or emotional issues to be diagnosed with a childhood mental disorder, according to a study of mental health symptoms in school-age children in four school districts from 2014 to 2018 found. Subsequent surveys suggest the number has risen significantly since then. The study asked teachers to fill out a survey identifying children that might have an issue. The researchers then surveyed the parents of those children.  Here’s what the study found.
• One in six meet the criteria for one or more childhood disorders.
• Anxiety disorders were the most common, followed by oppositional defiant disorder and then attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
• Risk for one or more disorders varied significantly from one community to the next.
• The teacher survey identified between 1 in 6 and 1 in 3 students with issues, depending on what community they were in. Teachers identified potential issues most often in boys, non-Hispanic Black students and students receive free or reduced-price lunches. The parent reports didn’t show differences based on demographics.
• The researched suggested schools screen for mental health concerns and provide more preventative services. They also suggested communities work with schools to integrate referral and treatment services.

National Center for Education Statistics: Mental Health Services in Schools

The Center conducted a study on mental health services in schools during the 2019-20 school year. The survey was conducted before the big surge in reported mental health concerns among teens and the increase in federal grants to schools to provide services. Those grants are now dwindling. The description of the research noted that in 2016 17% of children younger than 18 had at least one mental health disorder, but only 49% received any professional treatment.  Here’s what the pre-pandemic study found concerning services provided by schools.

• 55% of schools reported they provide diagnostic services to evaluate potential mental health disorders in students.
• 42% of schools provided some treatment for students with diagnosed mental health disorders.
• The percentage of schools providing either diagnostic services included 65% of high schools, 64% of middle schools and 50% of middle schools.  Schools offering some treatments services included 47% of middle and high schools and 40% of elementary schools.
• Urban schools provided more services than rural schools and larger schools provided more services than small schools.
• Some 54% of schools said they had inadequate funding to provide services and 40% said they faced problems finding enough licensed professionals.