July 7, 2018, Limerick Leader: Calls to immediately staff ‘underfunded’ Limerick mental health service https://www.limerickleader.ie/news/home/322618/calls-to-immediately-staff-underfunded-limerick-mental-health-service.html LIMERICK TD Maurice Quinlivan has said that more staffing and resources need to be immediately made available at an “overwhelmed and underfunded” mental health service for children in the city. This comes as parents were informed of extensive waiting times for cases. … … This newspaper also previously reported in April that 953 children were placed on a waiting list for either assessment or intervention, and that the service had been without an intervention child psychologist for 11 months. … “I have been in contact with the Senior Clinical Psychologist in the School Age Service who has worked in the service for nine years. She said when she started the caseload was 120 children, but now it is 410. …
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.