Student Well-Being

Children, Teens Are in a ‘Mental Health State of Emergency,’ Child Health-Care Groups Warn

By Alyson Klein — October 19, 2021 2 min read
Conceptual image of teens feeling isolated.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

There’s been a quieter, parallel pandemic happening alongside COVID-19: a spike in significant mental health problems among young people, spurred by isolation, uncertainty, fear, and grief.

Mental health emergency visits among children are on the rise. Between March and October of 2020, they increased 24 percent for children ages 5 to 11, and 31 percent for kids ages 12-17. There was also a more than 50 percent spike in visits for suspected suicide attempts among girls ages 12 to 17 in early 2021, compared to the same period in 2019.

That boils down to a “mental health state of emergency” for children and adolescents, according to an Oct. 19 statement from three organizations that represent child health-practitioners: the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children’s Hospital Association.

“We really have been raising the alarm about this throughout the pandemic and for many years before as we’ve been seeing increasing rates of mental health concerns in children and adolescents,” said Dr. Lee Savio Beers, the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a professor of pediatrics at the Children’s National Hospital. “Part of the reason why we came together now is that we’re continuing to see real increases in mental health concerns, and tremendous increases in visits to pediatricians’ offices, [as well as] in child and adolescent psychiatry offices and in hospital emergency departments. And at the same time, we’re not seeing good movement around increasing the access to the services that students need.”

The health-care organizations are calling on policymakers to take steps including increasing federal funding for mental health services, bolstering access to telemedicine, supporting school-based mental health care, stepping up integration of mental health in primary care pediatrics, and intensifying efforts to reduce the risk of suicide in children and adults.

State policymakers have already taken modest steps toward addressing the crisis, with respect to the spike in teen suicide attempts.

For instance, in 2020 and 2021, at least nine states passed legislation requiring suicide hotline numbers to appear on student identification cards for K-12 and in some cases, college, including Arkansas, Arizona, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, South Carolina, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin, according to an analysis by the Education Commission of the States. Some of those measures also call for the information to be included on school district websites.

What’s more, at least three states approved broader pieces of legislation aimed at teen mental health and suicide prevention, ECS found. For instance, Arizona approved a measure calling for social workers and school counselors to receive training in suicide awareness and prevention. Washington passed legislation approving a grant program to support suicide prevention. Wisconsin also approved grants for peer-to-peer suicide prevention programs in high schools.

“I think the conversations that are happening around student mental health have increased a little bit in this last year,” said Meghan McCann, a senior policy analyst at ECS. That could be because “we’re seeing more emphasis in some states around students as whole [people] who come into the classroom with various experiences,” including trauma at home.

Related Tags:

Arianna Prothero, Assistant Editor contributed to this article.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Professional Development Webinar
Inside PLCs: Proven Strategies from K-12 Leaders
Join an expert panel to explore strategies for building collaborative PLCs, overcoming common challenges, and using data effectively.
Content provided by Otus
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Science Webinar
Making Science Stick: The Engaging Power of Hands-On Learning
How can you make science class the highlight of your students’ day while
achieving learning outcomes? Find out in this session.
Content provided by LEGO Education
Teaching Profession Key Insights to Elevate and Inspire Today’s Teachers
Join this free half day virtual event to energize your teaching and cultivate a positive learning experience for students.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Student Well-Being Q&A This School Counselor Has a Four-Legged Trick for Getting Tweens to Open Up
The 2025 School Counselor of the Year supports hundreds of middle schoolers with help from her therapy dog, Winston.
5 min read
Carmen Larson, 2025 School Counselor of the Year.
Carmen Larson, 2025 School Counselor of the Year.
Courtesy of the American School Counselor Association
Student Well-Being Opinion Generation Alpha Is Defined by Tragedy
Rising teens have direct digital access to unending pain, violence, and loss, writes Bettina L. Love.
3 min read
Digital art painting of girl looking at a glowing screen, acrylic on canvas texture, storytelling illustration
iStock/Getty Images + Education Week
Student Well-Being From Our Research Center Are Students Vaping More? Educators Think So
Teachers, principals, and district leaders are reporting an increase despite previous federal data showing teen vaping is declining.
3 min read
Student Well-Being Boys Want a Strong Relationship With Their Teachers. That Doesn't Always Happen
The key to inspiring boys in the classroom is a strong student-teacher relationship, experts say. Here's how to make it work.
7 min read
Jon Becker, upper school history and English teacher, has 9th grader Demetrios Karavedas stand on a chair and apologize for forgetting his book during their 9th grade English class at Boys’ Latin School of Maryland on Oct. 24, 2024 in Baltimore, Md.
Jon Becker, a history and English teacher at Boys' Latin School of Maryland in Baltimore, has 9th grader Demetrios Karavedas stand on a chair and apologize for forgetting his book on Oct. 24, 2024. Positive relationships with teachers matter for boys' academic motivation and success.
Jaclyn Borowski/Education Week