Dr. Jennifer Massey
Dropout Prevention Specialist, Rome GA.
“With the implementation of school-based mental health programs, school violence including school shootings, bullying, suicide and homicide, failure, dropout and poverty can be greatly reduced.”
To find solutions to school shootings, bullying, suicide, dropout, poverty, failure, and homicide, to barely touch the surface, we must look at the root causes. In recent years more and more information has come to light regarding students’ state of mental health, particularly since the pandemic which has left students depressed, isolated and anxious and unmotivated.
A major factor affecting students today is mental illness. One in four students will be diagnosed with a mental illness. Unfortunately, many children who live in poverty in rural areas of America do not receive proper treatment, go undiagnosed or are misdiagnosed. Students, offenders, and victims, often feel a strong disconnect from their peers and at times from school in general. When signs surface in the school setting such as drawings, journal entries, statements made online or to a close friend indicating imminent danger, they are often minimized and/or do not quite meet the standards for reporting to the appropriate officials.
Bullying, particularly cyberbullying, is one of the most prevalent types of school violence identified by students and parents. Cyberbullying, which includes many types of behaviors including sexual or psychological abuse, can consist of spreading false information about students. The inclusion or exclusion of students from certain online groups has been stated as a major cause for students who present with suicidal or homicidal ideation.
The main responsibility of school safety lies with the administration, whether local, state or federal leaders. By implementing strategies that promote school safety there is the potential to bring about change in the outcomes of what students face in society that bleeds over into schools. Teachers are leaving the profession at an alarming rate for many reasons, but lack of student discipline and a lack of parental involvement is often at the top of the list. Not only are teachers having to consider student mental health issues, but many are also on medications to treat their own mental illness such as depression and anxiety.
It would be neglectful not to mention parents’ responsibility and the role they play in ensuring students’ emotional well-being. Absent parents are a major problem resulting in many students being raised by their grandparents, other relatives or who have been placed in foster care.
Getting to the core issues of what causes student’s mental illness allows stakeholders to understand that when students mental health needs are met, schools will become safer for our children.
I feel privileged and honored to present this blog from my friend and colleague, Dr. Jennifer Massey.