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  • Mental Health Education Now Required In New York Schools

    Mental Health Education Now Required In New York Schools

    New York is the first state to require mental health education in all grades.

    This fall, New York schools became the first in the U.S. to teach mandatory mental health education to students of all ages.

    “All schools” across New York state are now required to teach mental health literacy in health class in elementary school, middle school, and high school.

    New York enacted the requirement in July—same as Virginia, which now requires mental health education to be taught in the 9th and 10th grade.

    There’s a growing movement to lessen the stigma of mental illness as suicide rates in the U.S. rise. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the national suicide rate increased by 30% since 1999. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among 15 to 24-year-olds, and is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S. overall, the agency has reported.

    According to the New York law, “90% of youth who die by suicide suffer from depression or other diagnosable and treatable mental illness at the time of their death.”

    It is “critical” to teach young people about mental health, said New York’s Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia. “When young people learn about mental health and that it is an important aspect of overall health and well-being, the likelihood increases they will be able to effectively recognize signs and symptoms in themselves and others and will know where to turn for help—and it will decrease the stigma that attaches to help-seeking,” said Elia.

    The purpose of teaching kids about mental health in schools is to “advance mental health literacy among young people statewide as schools prepare students with lifelong skills in mental health and wellness and increase their awareness of when and how to address treatment or support for themselves of others,” according to the New York State Center for School Health.

    CNN reported in July that the curriculum should cover “the multiple dimensions of health and include the relationship of physical and mental health.”

    In August 2017, the NYS Mental Health Education Advisory Council was established to provide guidance to educators. The new curriculum must teach nine key points, according to the Daily Mail. These include identifying the signs of mental health issues, finding resources for help and support, and addressing the negative stigma that surrounds mental illness.

    “We need to change attitudes around mental health. Starting to educate children in schools makes sense,” said Meredith Coles, PhD, professor of psychology at Binghamton University.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Students Allowed To Use Medical Cannabis In School Under New Illinois Law

    Students Allowed To Use Medical Cannabis In School Under New Illinois Law

    Both students and parents must first meet specific requirements in order to administer the product on campus.

    A bill that will allow parents or guardians to give medical cannabis to children in school was signed into law by Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner.

    HB 4870 was signed on August 1, 2018 after passing the Illinois House and Senate with near-unanimous support in May; the bill amends the state’s School Code to authorize parents or guardians to administer a “cannabis-infused product” to qualifying students on school property or a school bus.

    Both students and parents must first meet specific requirements, including double certification from registered physicians, in order to administer the product.

    The bill, sponsored by State Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D- Chicago), is also known as Ashley’s Law, after Ashley Surin, who filed a federal lawsuit against the state and the Schaumberg School District 54 in 2018 for the right to use medical marijuana in school to treat debilitating seizures.

    As High Times noted, HB 4870 parents and child cannot use medical marijuana on school property without first meeting several requirements.

    Both parties must enroll in the state’s Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act and receive a registry identification card.

    Parents or guardians must also have a registration card identifying them as a designated caregiver, while students must be qualifying patients as established by the Act, meaning that they have been diagnosed with one of a number of “severe, debilitating or life-threatening” medical conditions, including cancer, HIV/AIDS, muscular dystrophy, PTSD and seizures, including those related to epilepsy.

    The medical marijuana used by parents and children also cannot disturb the school’s environment or other students, which means that smokeable cannabis or vaping is prohibited.

    Students can use orally-ingested cannabis oil or tinctures, transdermal patches or topical ointments. The law also states that a school nurse or other staff is not required to administer medical cannabis to students.

    “This will open the door potentially for kids like Ashley and other kids in Illinois to have medical marijuana on school grounds that can be administered in a situation where it’ll regulate these type of illnesses,” said Ashley Surin’s father, Jim Surin, in conversation with WCIS, the ABC affiliate serving Springfield and Decatur.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • How US Public Schools Are Taking Action Against The Opioid Crisis

    How US Public Schools Are Taking Action Against The Opioid Crisis

    From drug searches to peer-support groups, schools across the nation are taking a number of approaches to combat the opioid epidemic.

    Some high schools aren’t wasting time and are confronting the opioid crisis head-on. 

    According to CBS 6 News, Shenendehowa High School in Clifton Park, New York is one such school. At the high school, drug searches with police K-9s take place about twice per month, says Saratoga County Deputy Sheriff Ken Cooper, who serves as the school resource and emergency liaison officer.

    “Kids start out with marijuana use, they don’t think that the next thing is heroin or another drug, but it is,” Cooper told CBS. 

    During the searches, trained K-9s locate any illegal items in a student’s locker. If the dog finds something, it scratches at a locker or barks. According to Cooper, students have reacted mostly positively to the searches. 

    “I think overall students, parents are OK with us coming in and searching. They don’t want drugs on campus,” he tells CBS. 

    Another step being taken at the high school is stationing school resource officers throughout, with the hope that students will feel comfortable talking to them if they have friends who may be using drugs. 

    “We want them to give us the good information, so we can actually help,” Cooper told CBS. 

    Additionally, CBS reports, the school has trained teachers, school nurses and other staff members about the signs of substance use disorders. The school also advertises a help hotline and students are even learning about opioids in their health classes. 

    Shenendehowa High School isn’t alone in taking an early approach to the crisis. 

    In Lakewood, Ohio, a peer-to-peer approach is being taken. High school students have partnered with a nonprofit called Recovery Resources of Cleveland and have created the Casey’s Kids program, according to Cleveland.com. In the program, high schoolers chosen by health teachers and counselors work to educate middle school students about substance use disorders. 

    “There’s a lot of research that says kids sort of have better outcomes in this program when it’s delivered by other kids. They’re more apt to listen and trust information that’s delivered by other kids,” said Lakewood City Schools’ Teaching and Learning Director Christine Palumbo. 

    Some states are even passing laws requiring schools to educate students about the opioid crisis, according to Education World.  

    In 2014, New York passed a law requiring schools to update their health curriculums to teach students about the opioid crisis.

    Recently, Maryland followed suit and passed the Start Talking Maryland Act, which mandates that public schools educate students about the dangers of opioid use, beginning in the third grade. The bill also mandates that nursing staff be trained to administer the opioid overdose antidote, naloxone. 

    “It’s a crisis that we need to identify and make educators as well as parents aware of it, and provide the resources to deal with it,” Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D), the bill’s lead sponsor, told The Baltimore Sun.

    View the original article at thefix.com