A surge in student mental health needs, staff shortages, and widespread episodes of misbehavior and violence have put extraordinary strain on school counselors and psychologists
FILE - Children walk hand-in-hand near the scene of a shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y., May 15, 2022. The shooting rampage at a Buffalo supermarket, carried out by an 18-year-old who was flagged for making a threatening comment at his high school the year before, highlights concerns over whether schools are adequately supporting and screening students. Every school, it seems, has a moment that crystallizes the crisis facing America’s youth and the pressure it is putting on educators.
A surge in student mental health needs, combined with staff shortages and widespread episodes of misbehavior and violence, has put extraordinary strain on school counselors and psychologists. The Buffalo shooting highlights their concerns over their ability to support students and adequately screen those who might show potential for violence.
“The tagline I would go with is the kids are not all right,” said Erich Merkle, a psychologist for Akron Public Schools in Ohio, a district of about 21,000 students that he said is dealing with an increase in student depression, anxiety, suicidality and substance use, as well as aggression and violence, among other behavioral problems. “I can tell you that therapists are struggling.”
“This year I got 200 kids, which is a quarter of our student population,” she said. “That is such a huge number. I can’t see 200 kids every week. That is just impossible.”Quickly, school staffers made changes, holding as many one-on-one sessions as they could, providing more group lessons on mental health, and putting flyers in every classroom with the suicide prevention hotline number.
“It’s a huge strain right now,” she said. Many students in her school are the children of farmworkers in a community that was hit hard by COVID-19 infections and deaths. She worries about missing something important. According to that tally, there were 249 shootings in K-12 schools in 2021, more than twice the number in any year since 2018, when Riedman began the database. So far this year, there have been 122 shootings.
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