Mental illness including depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, substance abuse and more, go undetected in our children. We often screen them for speech and language, visual and auditory disorders, so why shouldn't we pay attention to their mental and emotional health so that they can get professional intervention when needed? Perhaps this is a part of the solution for school violence, bullying, teen suicide and substance abuse.
I propose standardized age-appropriate mental health screening once in elementary school followed by testing tailored to middle schoolers and then a third time tailored to high schoolers.
Let's help and protect our children. Sign and share so I can deliver this to national, state and local policy makers in education.
Image courtesy of Hudson Medical
