ARLINGTON, Va., Dec. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — An overwhelming number of parents support mental health education in schools and “mental health days” for their children, according to a poll out today conducted by Ipsos on behalf of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). The same poll found that 44% of parents of children 17 and younger report being concerned about their children’s mental health, but far fewer (16%) looked for help for them.

The poll’s release comes in the wake of a Surgeon General Advisory aimed at addressing the youth mental health crisis.

“NAMI’s poll finds that parents are deeply concerned about their children’s mental health and, importantly, understand the value of mental health awareness and treatment,” said NAMI CEO Daniel H. Gillison Jr. “It’s encouraging to see such strong support for mental health education in schools and mental health days for students. That’s why NAMI has youth educational programming like NAMI Ending the Silence and advocates for better mental health resources in schools.”

“But despite parents’ confidence in their ability to recognize the signs of mental health conditions in their children, there is a worrying gap between those who have concerns and those who actually look for help,” Gillison said. “We encourage parents to seek help for their children if they see signs that concern them.”

While 84% of parents say their children showed a lot of resilience during the pandemic, more than a third of parents (35%) are thinking more about their children’s mental health than before. While most parents report few changes in their kids’ activities and behaviors since the pandemic began, many of the changes that were reported were negative: 41% spend more time on screens, 25% play or exercise less, 37% participate less in school activities, and 16% are getting less sleep.

As previously mentioned, there is broad support among parents for mental health education in schools. The poll revealed that 87% of parents somewhat or strongly support mental health education in schools. The poll also found that 70% of all parents voiced support for mental health days for students. Notably, 89% of parents say their child’s mental health matters more than their academic achievement.

For more resources on mental health and young people,visit nami.org/youth.

Methodology:This poll was conducted Nov. 9–17, 2021, by Ipsos, on behalf of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), using the KnowledgePanel^®. It is based on a representative sample of 1,010 U.S. adults (ages 18 and over), who are parents to children 0–17 years old. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and families affected by mental illness. Join the conversation at  nami.org | facebook.com/nami | instagram.com/namicommunicate | twitter.com/namicommunicate #Together4MH

SOURCE National Alliance on Mental Illness

The post NAMI Poll: Parents Want Mental Health Education in Schools, Mental Health Days Off for Students appeared first on Medika Life.

With so many voices and so much energy being pushed forth to reopen the schools and get the kids back into the classroom, we have to begin to ask several fundamental questions. And these do not concern the Covid-19 virus pandemic.

Question one, which would never have occurred to us in the past, is whether there is clean, lead-free, bacteria-free water in the fountains, the sinks, the toilets, and the showers in the schools.

We take it for granted that schools are safe places for our children and we assume that any water they will be drinking will be good for them. But that’s not necessarily the case.

In a low-income area on the West Coast of the United States, one of the teachers who has the youngest children in her classes was shocked to discover the water was not safe to drink. What could she do?

She did the only thing that teachers in low-income area schools have done and continued to do; she reached out for help. The help she sought was at a charity that provides materials, supplies, special seating, computers, and many other things to teachers in need. The teachers send in their requests, explaining why they need these things, and people worldwide contribute.

Before this charity came to being, the usual course was that teachers reached (and still do) into their own pockets to provide the supplies that our children need and which should have been supplied by their school systems. What are some of the supplies the teachers buy? How about chalk, pencils, and paper?

Why are teachers expected to pay for needed educational materials? They do not make sufficient salaries to meet their needs on anything but a marginal basis. It is discrimination without question. These are public schools, not private ones where everything is there for students, and teachers cannot carry the load for supplies.

The second question parents need to ask is about the safety of the water supplied to the students in the schools. It is assumed it’s healthy, but that is questionable.

Over the last decade, the drinking water at thousands of schools across the country has been found to contain unsafe levels of lead, pesticides and dozens of other toxins.

An Associated Press investigation found that contaminants have surfaced at public and private schools in all 50 states — in small towns and inner cities alike.

But the problem has gone largely unmonitored by the federal government, even as the number of water safety violations has multiplied.

Water in schools isn’t safe in only small towns across the United States but in places like Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Los Angeles, where dangerous lead levels were discovered. The major culprit? The plumbing system in the schools may be old and contaminated. Now it stands unused for months, without periodic flushing, and the dangers increase.

Empty Schools Increase the Health Problems

What plans have local schools devised to handle the potential threats present in the water of isolated schools? One hotel in Spain had a solution to their 27-stories hotel’s 1,400 pipe taps; flush every five days. How many schools have done anything near that type of protection during times when schools are closed?

The CDC emphasizes how to minimize the risk of Covid-19 infections, but what about the water systems? The lack of care in maintaining school facilities in lower-income neighborhoods is well-known, but this virus places an additional layer of danger on top of the existing ones.

In 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that 46% of public schools had conditions that contribute to poor indoor environmental quality, according to a Harvard University study. Asbestos, lead paint, unsafe drinking water, and insufficient heating and cooling are fixtures of public school districts nationwide.

But we needn’t go back eleven years to see that our schools are in dire need of changes, both in architecture and educational planning. There have been efforts to monitor water quality in schools, but when did you last hear of one?

Of course, the situation in Flint, Michigan, comes to mind, but that’s an entire town and the egregious actions of local politicians. But we’re talking about the entire United States and school water systems. Water pipes are the breeding grounds for more than Legionnaire’s Disease.

Who’s taking steps in your area to ensure the safe return of students to classes? What are they doing about the water well before the students return, and what are their plans for the future?

There are no Federal regulations related to adequate testing and maintenance of school water systems. School systems may decide to conduct water testing or not.

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