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“What’s
on your mind young man,” an elderly program director of a
central city park probed an absorbed young male participant
of a summer youth program.
“I’m just trying to figure out how I can break into that
building,” he shamelessly answered. “How old are you? Where
is your mother,” asked Bill Griffin, longtime local youth
advisor and boxing trainer of international prominence.
“I’m nine,” the child answered. “And I ain’t seen my mama.
Don’t know where she is.”
Indeed as we see younger and younger children, either as
victims or the perpetrators of crime and violence, the cry
of those from previous generations is no longer “Ain’t the
baby cute (or fat)” but has become “These kids are
terrible!”
“These kids today are BAD,” bemoans a public school teacher.
“They just get up out of their desks, call me a bald-headed
so and so, walk out the room and slam the door on the way
out! They are just BAD!”
The public has been quick to offer up a plethora of
popularized cliches as social commentary. “It’s the lack of
parenting!” The “absence of the black male” and the
“breakdown of the family” have been put forth as gospel.
Others repeat the famous words of late comedienne Moms
Mabley, “Ain’t nothing wrong with these kids today that a
good a**-kicking won’t handle.”
But as the details of more and more tragic outcomes manifest
themselves, we are forced to admit that this issue is not so
simplistic. And that we have known it for a long time.
We have, for years, known that one in 10 children and
adolescents suffer from a major mental illness that
significantly impairs them at home, school and with peers
(U.S. Surgeon General’s Report, 1999).
It is also widely agreed that more than half of these
suffering children receive inappropriate services or no
treatment at all, and that “failure to adequately treat such
problems leads to later difficulties.”
Yet, while there has been great technological advancement in
treating illnesses of the body, illness of the mind and
human behavior has not been a priority – resulting in human
and financial outcomes more costly than that to provide
effective treatment.
If we know better, and there is widespread agreement as to
the magnitude and scope of the problem, including an
understanding of its complex risk factors, why haven’t we
done better in terms of developing a more effective system
to treat the unmet needs of children concerning their mental
health?
The lack of a coordinated service system often leaves
families trying to navigate a complex system of various
fragmented agencies that provide services to children while
trying to deal with the “personal, family, and financial
stress brought on by the child’s condition.” Many children,
as a result, fall through the cracks.
Schools, with the pressure to focus on achievement and teach
to tests, often don’t adequately understand stressors such
as generational poverty or genetic pre-dispositions and thus
misinterpret mental illness as a behavioral issue. Or they
are often indifferent, ill-equipped and sometimes outright
hostile to the plight of mentally-ill children.
“The structure in the school system does not work for these
kids,” lamented a local mental health specialist. “They
(public school systems) are not comprehending the 21st
Century urban population where 20 percent of the district’s
children suffer from mild mental disorders and another five
to nine percent have severe emotional impairments.”
“The school system’s response has been to ship them into the
juvenile justice system where 75 to 80 percent of the
population has mental health issues or suspend them. But
what do you do, if their mom or caregiver is also mentally
ill,” the frustrated mental health professional asks?
Warehousing mentally ill children in juvenile detention
centers or utilizing suspensions and out- of-school
expulsion (24 percent of black and nine percent of white
students in Toledo) rather than providing proper diagnosis,
treatment and intervention is often the precursor to future
tragic and “unthinkable” outcomes both for youth and a
vulnerable public.
While the attitude of many in the public school system has
been “I didn’t sign up to work in a psyche ward,” or “I’ve
already got my quota of crazies, and I’m not taking any more
of them,” the culture of charters such as Knight Academy or
Maritime, has been more welcoming as they appear to be more
competent in addressing mental health issues, according to
sources.
It is obvious that more options are needed than expulsion,
suspension or criminalization.
What is the solution?
Studies have shown that some childhood mental illnesses can
be prevented and long-term damage thwarted from others if
there is “early, prompt and appropriate intervention.”
This requires a major paradigm shift including changing how
we fund mental health, providing larger investments and
implementing widespread developmental and behavioral
screening.
However, schools, representing the first line of defense,
are the key. They must learn to deal with students that “we
didn’t see a generation or two ago, acknowledge that it’s a
new day and change antiquated school structures” or develop
alternative schools where comprehensive, quality care and
support are available. In addition to the 3 Rs, the
curriculum or services should also include “counseling from
psychologists and social workers; medication management and
occupational therapy; handwriting and keyboarding, speech
and language therapy.”
And when psychological or episodes occur, doctors or other
professionals should be on hand and available ensuring that
these students get not only cognitive but the social and
emotional development they need to thrive and survive.
We have seen the root of the problem. We have also
experienced its shocking consequences. Now we just have to
acknowledge the problem and act on it.
Contact
Rev. Dr. Donald Perryman at
drdlperryman@centerofhopebaptist.org
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