Guest View: A toolkit for mental health in our schools
B. Grace Bullock
Oregonians are feeling high levels of stress as we face our second year of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is especially true for children and teens as we have shifted to distance learning. The Oregon Department of Education has just released a Mental Health Toolkit and updated its Mental Health Website to help schools meet the mental and emotional support needs of students, families, staff and leaders as they navigate these uncertain times.
Schools are on the front line of providing mental and emotional health supports to students. Before COVID-19, roughly 1 in 5 youths in the United States experienced some form of emotional, social or behavioral difficulty. Since approximately 70% of America’s students access mental health services in school settings, according to an ACLU report, there is a pressing need for simple and effective tools to help communities stay emotionally well.