Aug 18, 2017, Halifax (Nova Scotia) Chronicle Herald: OPINION: Local mental health guide a promising tool for teachers http://thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/1495662-opinion-local-mental-health-guide-a-promising-tool-for-teachers
Seeing some 400 teachers and school service providers flooding into the Halifax West High School auditorium in late July was an eye-opening experience. In the middle of the summer, they committed time to a two-day conference focusing on child and teen mental health.
Led by Dr. Stan Kutcher, the Mental Health Academy was filling a real need in the school system.
With the news full of stories warning of a “mental health crisis,” teachers in the K-12 system are feeling anxious and more conscious than ever of their role in the front lines of education. …
While the incidence of teen mental health problems is not appreciably different than it was 50 years ago, we are far better equipped to respond to the challenges in and around schools. The academy amply demonstrated how much more we know today about adolescent brain development, school staff self-care, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, substance addictions, and teen suicide.
Educating teachers about that research is the real purpose of the academy.…
About one in five people may experience a mental disorder during adolescence. If left unrecognized and untreated, such disorders can lead to substantial negative outcomes in physical and mental health, academic and vocational achievement, interpersonal relationships, and other life experiences. …
A recent Canadian study of some 10,000 educators, cited by IWK Health researcher Dr. Yifeng Wei at the academy, found that over 90 per cent of teachers lacked adequate preparation for responding to mental health issues.
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Childhood Lost
Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).
Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.
Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism
http://www.ageofautism.com/media/
(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)
CHECK OUT MY SUBSTACK:
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What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless.
John Stone,
UK media editor, Age of Autism
The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
It seemed to me that with rising autism prevalence, you’d also see rising autism costs to society, and it turns out, the costs are catastrophic.
They calculated that in 2015 autism cost the United States $268 billion and they projected that if autism continues at its current rate, we’re looking at one trillion dollars a year in autism costs by 2025, so within five years.
Toby Rogers, PhD, Political economist
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