News & Updates

As the pandemic drags on toward the end of its second year, many educators say they are facing an uptick in student misbehavior that appears to be associated with challenges related to the return to in-person learning after extended periods of remote or hybrid instruction.

Nearly half of all school and district leaders (44 percent) say they are receiving more threats of violence by students now than they did in the fall of 2019, according to the most recent EdWeek Research Center monthly survey.

Waiting six months to a year for a child to see a mental health professional for ADHD, anxiety, depression or suicidal thoughts in Ohio is “unacceptable for sure,” says the Director of Ohio’s Mental Health and Addiction Services Lori Criss.

Mental health professionals across Ohio and across the country say their profession is at a “breaking point.”

The number of children seeking help for depression, anxiety, and suicide is overwhelming the system because there are not enough therapists to treat them. That’s despite the fact that over the past three years Ohio has dedicated more than $1.2 billion for student wellness.

As Benito Luna-Herrera teaches his seventh-grade social studies classes, he is on alert for signs of inner turmoil. And there is so much of it these days.

One of his 12-year-old students felt her world was falling apart. Distance learning had upended her friendships. Things with her boyfriend were verging on violent. Her home life was stressful. “I’m just done with it,” the girl told Luna-Herrera during the pandemic, and shared a detailed plan to kill herself.

Another student was typically a big jokester and full of confidence. But one day she told him she didn’t want to live anymore. She, too, had a plan in place to end her life.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning of an accelerating mental health crisis among adolescents, with more than 4 in 10 teens reporting that they feel “persistently sad or hopeless,” and 1 in 5 saying they have contemplated suicide, according to the results of a survey published Thursday.

Six ways schools can prioritize students’ emotional well-being When my school resumed in-person classes this winter, I watched as a 5th-grade boy splayed on his stomach across the chair in class, his arms extended like Superman. He wasn’t trying to be funny; he was...

For months, experts have warned about the prospect of an entirely different threat unleashed by the coronavirus: a mental health crisis that could sweep the country. Their concerns are rooted in more than a year of social isolation, grief and loss, and economic and...