One of the critical challenges facing our children today is mental health. This was one of the key messages from Dr. Bill Daggett’s speech at the 2019 National Conference on Education in Los Angeles, Calif. sponsored by AASA, The Superintendent Association. Daggett is the founder and chairman of the International Center for Leadership in Education in Rexford, NY. The following is an excerpt of his speech:

According to Daggett, we have to pay more attention to our children; they are coming to our schools emotionally fragile. One out of seven children ages two to eight have been diagnosed with mental health and behavioral disorders; and 16 percent of high school students have thought seriously about suicide. Recently, two of my superintendents’ colleagues had to leave their meetings because an 11 year old and high school student committed suicide due to mental illness, said Daggett.

Realizing the social and emotional state of our children, the critical question to be asked is: Is it time for a mental health curriculum in our schools? How can a mental health curriculum be implemented in our schools? According Daggett, we have to provide an instructional approach on mental health to meet the needs of students in our schools. This approach must be in addition to addressing mental health with treatment and interventions such as hiring more social workers and support staff at the schools.

We have to place more attention on our children and provide stakeholders at our schools with training on mental health. We must take a core responsibility to address this mental health crisis looking at professional learning differently. We have to determine what are the cognitive skills, emotional skills and social and interpersonal skills we need to incorporate in our teaching. We have to change our instructional program on how we organize and deliver instruction for professional learning in our schools, noted Daggett.

As an intervention for professional learning to address mental health in our schools, The Holmes Education Post and Einestine Technology Services have developed an online mental health awareness curriculum with emphasis on bipolar disorder. The curriculum provides training for college students learning to become teachers, employees, and managers of organizations. This curriculum is useful to educational institutions, businesses, law enforcement, and health care.  By clicking on this link, you can review a two minutes video of our Online Curriculum on Mental Health.

In addition, The Holmes Education Post has written a book on “Your Answers to Bipolar Disorder: A Guide for Every Individual and Organization.” The book serves as a reference guide to the online mental health awareness curriculum with emphasis on bipolar disorder.

The book also provides answers on how to assist individuals living with bipolar disorder and includes useful and resourceful information for organizations working with individuals diagnosed with the brain disorder and other mental illnesses.

Dr. Ronald Holmes is the author of 18 books and publisher of “The Holmes Education Post,” an education focused Internet newspaper.  Holmes is a former teacher, school administrator, test developer and district superintendent.