CDC: 20% of kids have a mental health problem; 20% of kids have been traumatized at home

Feb 20, 2018, WBUR Boston: Don't Give Teachers Guns. Invest More In School-Based Mental Health Services http://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2018/02/20/parkland-school-shooting-erin-seaton The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) suggests that approximately 20 percent of U.S. students struggle with mental health issues ranging from anxiety and depression to substance abuse and suicidality. Further, the CDC-Keiser study of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) suggests that 1 in 5 school children have experienced three or more traumatic stressors, such as abuse, neglect, violence at home or exposure to parental drug use or mental illness. … If we, as a nation, want a preventative solution for the epidemic of school violence, we need to invest our resources in providing increased mental health services to children in crisis in our public schools. … Politicians who call for spending critical resources on “increased security” will, ironically, only diminish students’ feelings of safety in school. Instead, the best protection against future violence begins with increased funding for school-based mental health services that identify and support vulnerable children before a crisis occurs.