1. There's a super important story we're not paying enough, or the right kind of, attention to. It's sort of related to last week's Facebook/Instagram disclosures but it goes well beyond that: A mental health crisis among America's youth, aged 10-24 inquirer.com/columnists/att…
2. I'm kind of shocked how little attention it's received, but all classes have been CANCELED today at one of America's most prestigious campuses, UNC-Chapel Hill -- replaced with a "Wellness Day" after one student suicide and a second attempt cnn.com/2021/10/11/us/…
3. Clearly, the added stress of COVID-19 is a huge factor, but it's wrong to see this as a new problem. Last week Penn opened a $14M center to study suicide prevention after 14 students took their own lives in a 4-year span, And it's not just college... thedp.com/article/2018/1…
4. Overall, the suicide rate -- a key barometer of mental health -- for American youth aged 10-24 rose by a whopping 60% from 2007 to 2018. In addition to rising teen gun violence and also "deaths of despair," including overdoses. So what's going on? health.ucdavis.edu/health-news/ne…
5. Young Americans are under all kinds of stress -- to look cool or be thin like the images on Instagram, to get into the right college, to pay back insane loans to attend the right college, or justify their self-worth if they lacked college access. I wrote in today's piece: 
6. So what can we do? In the short term, talk to the young people in your life. Ask them about stress -- and listen to what they are saying. Let them know that it's OK not to be OK, and if they need more serious help, make sure they find it. This is just so important
7. In the long run, I'd argue that America needs to radically rethink how our young people reach adulthood. Make public higher-ed free, to end the curse of student debt. New paradigms for the millions who never attend college. And...
8. a universal (but not mandatory, which will never pass) "gap year" of civilian national service for millions of 18-year-olds, to bring Americans out of their narrow silos and think for once about the moral values we hold in common inquirer.com/columnists/att…
9. We're rightfully obsessed about the rising threat to democracy or Biden's plan to rescue the middle class -- but it's all connected. We can't start putting America on the right track until we get our best asset, our kids, on the right track -30 - inquirer.com/columnists/att…
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