May 3, 2018, ABC2, Green Bay, WI: Target 2: services needed as young kids face mental health crisis http://www.wbay.com/content/news/Target-2-services-needed-as-young-kids-face-mental-health-crisis-481656631.html "Some kids act out. Some kids withdraw. It's the kids we don't see that really are the scariest for all of us," says Lois Mischler, Family Services Vice President. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) estimates 20 percent of teens are living with some sort of mental health condition. Target 2 Investigates found children as young as five years old in need of mental health services. These services range from talking with a therapist for depression or anxiety to admission to a psychiatric facility. "I do see that changing a lot," says Lynn Schlag, school counselor, Howard-Suamico School District. "And then the more depression and anxiety and just sadness and worry and fears a lot more than I used to see." Lynn Schlag is a school counselor at Bayview Middle School in Howard. She sees the struggles typical in adolescents. "They're super happy one minute and they're bawling the next," Schlag says. "You know, that's how they are. And their hormones are starting." For some kids, it goes beyond coping with stress and self-esteem. Schlag also sees more children struggling with mental illness. NAMI says one-in-six adults struggle with mental illness. In adolescents, that number is one-in-five. A study from the American Academy of Pediatrics found a 30 percent increase in major depression between 2005 and 2014 (the most recent data available.) …

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.