Monthly Archives: March 2018

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Mental Health Services in Schools

Mental health programs offered in schools could offer much needed help for our children.

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One in five children has a diagnosable mental health problem, but nearly two-thirds get little or no help. An estimated 13% of children and adolescents worldwide have significant mentalmental health programs in schools health problems, such as anxiety or depression. Over 15% of high school students have seriously considered attempting suicide. These statistics, plus the many school shootings make it clear that our children and adolescents have mental health needs. Since most children spend much of their time at school, it offers an excellent opportunity to reach many of them with mental health education, prevention and treatment.

 

There have been attempts to provide mental health services in the schools. For many years, schools have had school counselors on-site. Unfortunately, they have often been given administrative duties that limited their time to do actual counseling. At times, schools have contracted with clinical mental health professionals so that students with identified diagnoses could be seen on the school campus during the school day. This service does increase the availability of treatment, but many students can slip through the cracks, and insurance or Medicaid has to be billed for the treatment.

 

There have been several examples of more comprehensive school-based mental health programs. A recent review in the Harvard Review of Psychiatry evaluated the effectiveness of eight such programs. The research linked those programs to benefits such as reducing anxiety, improving reading scores, reducing bullying in school, and lowering rates of substance abuse in young adults. Altogether, the programs reached over 27 million students over the last ten years.

 

These comprehensive programs provide a combination of mental health education, social skills building, small-group activities and when needed, individual therapy. The education components are sometimes taught by specially trained teachers, and sometimes by mental health professionals. Services are made available to all students, regardless of insurance coverage.

 

The Harvard Review authors concluded that school-based programs continue to be one of the most promising types of preventive mental health interventions for children. Of course, such programs will cost money, but considering the prevalence of mental health programs in our children and adolescents, and the recent incidents of school violence, we may not have a choice.

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The Anatomy of a Bully

Bullying behaviors should not be tolerated at any age.

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We’ve always had them with us. Every child in every school has felt the pain of being bullied.bullying behavior Every child has also watched as the bully tortures another victim. About one-in-four students in the US are bullied on a regular basis.

 

Bullying is a form of aggressive behavior, in which someone repeatedly and intentionally causes another person discomfort or injury. Bullying can take the form of verbal attacks, subtle gestures or physical aggression. The victim usually does nothing to cause the bullying and can do nothing to defend himself or herself.

 

The bully often performs the aggressive actions in front of others in order to create a “mob” mentality. Others will sometimes join in on the bullying to boost their own social position or at least divert any attacks from themselves. Bullying behaviors can often boost popularity. In fact, research shows that bullies are often perceived as the “cool kids.”

 

About 77 percent of bullying is verbal. It can take the form of spreading rumors, making derogatory remarks, calling names or teasing. About 14 percent of victims have more severe reactions to being bullied, including lowered self-esteem, depression, anxiety about going to school, and suicidal thoughts. Bullying victims are 2 to 9 times more likely to consider suicide than non-victims. A British study found that at least half of suicides among young people were related to having been bullied.

 

So, why do some people become bullies? For years, the prevailing belief was that bullies really suffered from a low self-esteem. More recent research concludes that most bullies actually have a high self-esteem, seeing themselves as superior to their victims. They do, however, seem to have a higher vulnerability to feeling shame, or being shame-prone. A person can have problems with shame and still have a high self-esteem, and this is what makes the person act like a bully. These kids disown their own shame and try to place that shame on other kids. These kids are also skilled at triggering the emotion of shame in others.

 

Research shows that the frequency of bullying behaviors decreases as children grow up, with most bullying incidents occurring between sixth and tenth grades. As we mature, most of us learn more healthy ways to interact, and finally realize the destructive power of bullying.

 

Unfortunately, not all bullies grow out of the behavior. We see, all too often, bullying behaviors in adults. We see adults spreading rumors, making derogatory remarks, name calling or teasing. We see adults exhibiting aggressive behaviors toward people who have lesser power, and have trouble defending themselves. We see adults exhibiting bullying behaviors in public, apparently trying to generate the mob mentality noted above.

 

Regardless of age, bullying is wrong. It is destructive and damaging and has no redeeming value. It reflects our most primitive nature. When we ignore, tolerate, or worse, praise the bully, we risk sinking to the same level. When bullying behaviors are recognized for what they are and are no longer tolerated, they lose their power. In schools, as in adult life, we need to demonstrate an attitude of intolerance for all forms of bullying behavior.

 

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Missing Walter Cronkite

I believe our nation's divisions have been worsened by 24-hour news channels.

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I’ve written before about my concerns that the divisions between conservatives and liberals,

Walter Cronkite

Republicans and Democrats have become extreme. I, and others, have noted that we have lost the ability to have civil disagreement and to find middle ground. Unfortunately, my concerns have not lessened, but I do have a theory about one contributing factor. I think our perceptions have been altered by the existence of 24-hour news networks.

 

When I was growing up, we had three television channels. Each had their own news program, which lasted one hour or less. In that hour, they had time to report the events of the day, but little else. They did occasionally express their views, but commentary was minimal. You heard the facts and formulated your own opinions.

 

I’ve shared before that on occasion, I will flip channels between CNN and Fox News to compare their coverage of a day’s events. The difference is amazing. In fact, I’ve concluded that they are actually reporting on alternative universes. It couldn’t be the same country.

 

A 24-hour news network has to fill up, well … 24 hours of programing. There aren’t enough events in a day to do that. Thus, they bring in commentators, analysts and panels of “experts.” They discuss each day’s events at length. They state opinions, and they state them with vigor.

 

Each 24-hour news network knows its viewer base. They cater to that base in their choice of which stories to cover, which angle to present, and which opinions to express. Every program is carefully crafted to pull their viewers in and say what they want to hear.

 

We have to remember that news programs, like situation comedies, game and reality shows, are designed to sell advertising. They aren’t donating their resources for free just to keep us informed. They sell advertising minutes, and the more viewers they have, the more they can charge for those minutes. They also know that people pay attention to negative stories more than positive, and that agitated people will stay glued to the screen for longer periods of time.

 

The more we hear stories that reinforce our pre-existing opinions, the more extreme our opinions become. The opposing side becomes our enemy. We focus on the differences between “us” and “them,” and ignore the similarities. We don’t trust, like or respect the other side. We don’t talk to the other side. We just argue, and we certainly don’t listen. Our divisions deepen. Conservatives become more conservative, and liberals become more liberal.

 

So, the next time you find yourself ranting about the correctness of your own opinion, and the foolishness or evil of the other side, consider the possibility that you may have been influenced or inflamed by programming actually created simply to sell stuff. Neither side has all the answers. All our perceptions are influenced by our own bias. As Walter Cronkite used to say, “And that’s the way it is.”