While not much is being said on this topic, mental health is something many children/teens struggle with. In this day and age, a lot of risks come with growing up without getting the care that you might need regarding your mental health and so bills like this are always going to be popping up.
Recently a Texas bill has been brought into the spotlight that would require schools to set up some kind of threat assessment team in order to identify children/students in general who might be at risk of committing suicide or other things of the sort. Those students would then be turned in to those who would be able to help them within reason and of course, depending on the situation. This, however, is something that many people are opposing for a number of reasons.
Constitutional Attorney John W. Whitehead from the Rutherford Insitute told WND as follows in regards to this bill and others like it:
“Even the most well-intentioned government law or program can be and has been perverted, corrupted, and used to advance illegitimate purposes once profit and power are added to the equation, which is the concern with these school safety laws.”
“This program is part of a nationwide push to empower non-medically trained individuals to ‘identify’, label and refer students for treatment who they believe may exhibit suicidal or mentally ill behaviors. Worse, these threat assessments no matter how inaccurate or subjective could stigmatize a child for the rest of his or her life.”
In opposition to this bill, Whitehead and many others have come together to write a letter that they hope will do something to change the minds of those in decision-making positions. You can click here to read their full letter. That being said, I as someone from an outside perspective can see both sides of things. If laws are to be put in place regarding mental health and children/schools they need to be done very specifically and cannot be as broad as it seems this one is intended to be.
Considering the number of shootings we’ve had it was only a matter of time before bills like this one began to surface. What do you think, should this kind of thing be occurring or should we simply leave mental health and care in that sense up to the parents? Is there some kind of common ground that would benefit everyone?
For more information on children, school, and mental health, in general, please check out the video below. We all go through different things, and we all face struggles. We even at a young age have to deal with mental issues and that is something that no one should ever forget or overlook.
Whether this bill goes into law or not there is never a bad time to start talking to your children about mental health and to work to reach out to them properly. Perhaps they’re going through more than you are aware of right now? Just letting them know you’re there for them can sometimes be the step in the right direction that they’ve been looking for.