PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – The first day of school is just around the corner, and a mental health crisis is still affecting children and teens across the country.
The American Psychiatric Association told KDKA-TV that a free resource is currently available to all school employees – from coaches to cafeteria workers to nurses and teachers – but that it is not yet being used in Pennsylvania schools.
Kids are packing backpacks and school supplies, but do they have everything they need when they’re struggling with mental health issues? A new poll from the American Psychiatric Association Foundation shows that 84% of Americans believe school personnel can play a critical role in recognizing signs of mental health problems in students.
APA Foundation Executive Director Rawle Andrews Jr. said the poll returned a negative result.
“Only 45 percent of respondents believe that our school staff receive the appropriate training to do this job,” he said.
Andrews said about two-thirds of all teachers have access to mental health training.
“But that doesn’t include all the coaches, the cafeteria staff, the janitors, the school offices and so on,” Andrews said.
The American Psychiatric Association offers free training for school staff. The program is called Notice. Talk. Act. at School. Andrews said it’s like “Stop Drop and Roll” for mental health, equipping all school staff with the right tools to get attention.
“You can tell by looking for signs and symptoms when something seems strange or unusual to a student,” Andrews said.
Then talk.
“How can we as educators become better active listeners so that when we see something, we know we can have a comfortable, courageous conversation? As opposed to a difficult conversation with a student,” he said.
Then act.
“I’m just adding a few tools, tips and resources that may not be available to anyone other than the school nurse or the school counselor, so when they see something, they want to help and know how to meet our students where they’re at,” Andrews said.
Andrews said this training has not been done in Pennsylvania schools until now, but they want to change that.
“We need to implement this in Western Pennsylvania and across the state. … Anyone who comes into contact with our students in any way in an eight- to 10-hour period needs to be equipped with the resources, the tools and the tips to help,” Andrews said.
This training is funded by a federal grant and is available free of charge to schools, staff and parents.
Jessica Guay
