On #WorldMentalHealthDay, we must bring attention to the mental health crisis that disproportionately impacts black youth. In the past 25 years, suicide rates have gone up for black children ages 5 to 11. As a mother, this is deeply personal to me.
I’m part of an emergency task force that’s working to address this crisis. We need funding and policies that support schools as sites of intervention. Schools should have enough mental health professionals and services for their students.
Disciplinary practices disproportionately affect black students and students struggling with their mental health. We need to look at the role suspensions and expulsions play in this crisis.
It’s important to pass #MedicareForAll to make sure families have guaranteed access to mental healthcare and medications outside of schools as well. We must start repairing the harm that our inequitable society has caused black children.
