New York State has just brought into force legislation that adds mental health education to the curriculum in all schools, starting this fall.
This is vitally important. It's estimated that around 50 percent of adolescents will have had a diagnosable mental health problem, while around 20 percent will suffer a serious mental illness.
Meanwhile, suicide is one of the leading preventable causes of death today, particularly among young men but with a growing proportion of young women too. In fact, every 5 days, a child between the ages of 5 and 13 years old will attempt suicide. And child suicide rates get higher with age.
This can be stopped, and it is up to our politicians to take the lead. Congress must step up for our children and create federal legislation that supports schools in creating mental health education for all ages. That means better research, better funding and better resources.
Together we can make sure that not a single child will have to suffer in silence, and it starts with us demanding that Congress makes this critical change in school policy.
