In early February, representatives of school counselors and mental health professionals from across Kansas testified in Topeka before the House Education Committee on the mental health challenges that students and staff are dealing with in our classrooms.
One of the presenters to that committee shared that they were working with a second-grade teacher who had four students attempt suicide this school year. Four students. Second grade. A single school year. Stop reading now, and sit with that for a while . . .
When educators and public school advocates talk about the changing and deepening crises that students are bringing to our classrooms, this heart-wrenching testimony is an example of what we are sharing.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the suicide rate among children ages 10-14 has tripled in recent years. Death by suicide is now the second leading cause of death for Kansas youth. Adding to these stats, a newly released report from research and consulting firm EAB concludes that 35 percent of 14- to 18-year-olds have a mental health crisis each year, which includes self-injury, suicide ideation, or attempted suicide.[1]
Consider the implications of this testimony and supporting state and national data for staffing, funding, and other needs in our classrooms. Schools have to address all of society’s issues coming through the school door every morning. We have to teach kids reading and math while also making sure they don’t hurt themselves and are safe.
At times, it feels like we are trying to do all these things with one hand tied behind our backs. In part because of a lost decade of funding to Kansas public schools, the current ratio of counselors to students in Kansas is 1:450 (the recommended ratio is 1:250). And, according to testimony at last month’s hearing, the shortage of school psychologists has reached crisis levels, with approximately 40 openings across the state and districts that have had openings for four to five years that they have been unable to fill.
Public schools are working diligently to build capacity and expand partnerships to meet these profound needs. Teacher and staff training on trauma-informed practices, expanded partnerships with community mental health centers, and efforts by higher education institutions to better prepare students for careers to fill these needs are all important, ongoing steps.
I suggest, however, that these efforts must be accompanied by an expanded conversation in our communities about the why and the what. Why are our students living these experiences? What are our communities at large doing, or not doing, to address these issues outside of our classrooms? To truly support our students, we have to push for these difficult discussions within our communities and we have to relate these challenges to our advocacy efforts in support of our students.
Public schools are, right now, the most common place in which students receive support for their mental health and social/emotional needs. Preparing students for successful futures requires our communities to stand in partnership with public schools to address these needs.
[1] “Are Districts the Nation’s Adolescent Mental Health Care Providers? A Mandate to Support Seven Million Students in Crisis,” available at eab.com/research/district-leadership/whitepaper/are-districts-the-nations-adolescent-mental-health-care-providers
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