As of This Week, Mental Health Now Has To Be Taught In Schools

New York has focused on mental health a lot recently, from setting standards for national guidelines for screening teens to designing a license plate for mental health awareness.  Now, a new law is taking effect in New York mandating that education on mental health be provided in New York schools.  According to CNY Central, a measure passed in 2016 requiring mental health to be a part of the curriculum in schools was put in to effect on July 1st.  That means this coming year, mental health education will be provided as part of the curriculum in phys-ed and health classes.  I think that this is a great idea as long as it’s done properly.  There’s so much risk with middle-school and high-school kids for substance abuse, anxiety, depression, and suicide, and being able to normalize and bring awareness to mental health can hopefully provide resources and enable kids to reach out for help.  Plus, of all the things that I remember being taught in school (that I never use anymore), at least this is something that is applicable and can ultimately save lives.  My classmates and I never knew of a suicide hotline, a crisis text line, or anything when I was in high school.  Unfortunatley, those services could have been used, which is sadly something many people can say.  Kudos to New York!