Every Child’s Mental Health

Supporting student mental health remains one of NYS PTA’s highest priorities.  We are thrilled to announce expansion of our work to support student and youth mental health, in partnership with the NYS Office of Mental Health.  We continue to partner with MHANYS, the State Education Department, NAMI NY, the NYS School Counselors Association, educational stakeholders, and other policy makers and state agencies to support student, youth, and educator mental health.  NYS PTA has also empaneled our own NYS PTA Mental Health Task Force, and our Executive Director Kyle Belokopitsky sits on the School Mental Health Advisory Committee – but we cannot do this work alone.

We are committed to this work, and supporting youth, educators and families.

Did you know:

• 50% of chronic mental illnesses begin by age 14
• 50% of lifetime cases of anxiety disorders begin as early as 8 years old
• 22% of youth experience serious mental illness each year 

According to the NYS Office of Mental Health and NYS Office of Children and Family Services, in their June 2023 report on Youth Mental Health, “from 2011 to 2021, the rates of youth who persistently felt sad or hopeless increased from 21 percent to 29 percent for teen boys, and from 36 percent to 57 percent for teen girls. Those who reported that they seriously considered attempting suicide increased from 16 percent to 22 percent over the same period.”

Further, the mental health concerns have grown exponentially for LGBTQIA+ youth and youth of color, and according to the Trevor Project, “young black people have experienced an increase in suicide attempts, with suicide rates among young black people increasing 37% between 2018 and 2021. Black transgender and nonbinary young people also reported higher rates of all indicators of poor mental health compared to their Black cisgender LGBTQ peers.”

But our schools still struggle with the necessary funds to provide meaningful mental health services and school counseling services to our children. A recent NYS Comptroller Audit found that 50% of NYS schools “do not meet the recommended ratio of one school psychologist for every 500 students.”  While our school counselor to student ratio IS improving at 333 to 1, we still fall far short of the recommendation of 250 to 1 sadly.

Parents and families are asking for help. In Fall 2023, NYS PTA issued its second Mental Health Survey for parents, families and educators.  More than 2,000 responded (up from 1,000 in 2022), where respondents were asked which youth mental health issues were most important facing our students today. The results showed alarming trends (top results listed, respondents could offer more than one concern):

• Anxiety – 87.6% of respondents felt anxiety was the most important mental health issue facing our students today (up from 81.7% in Fall 2022)
• Social Media – 82.1% (not a unique choice in 2022)    
• Depression – 71.2% (74.5% in 2022)
• Bullying – 65.7% (up from 62.6%)
• Suicide or Suicidal Thoughts/Ideation – 33.4% (down from 54.4%)
• Cyberbullying – 56.7% (up from 50.3%)
• Substance Use – 34.1% (35.7% in 2022)
• Youth Violence – 23.9% (34% in 2022)