Children’s Mental Health Crisis

Children’s mental health is in a crisis, we are often told, particularly among poor, homeless, BIPOC, and immigrant kids. Systemic racism, discrimination, inequitable educational systems (private vs public), and COVID stress/ trauma are the main causes.

One issue is infectious diseases/ public health leaders have been siloed, focusing on COVID transmission, along with tests, treatments, vaccine uptake, etc, and they have neglected mental health. Tradeoffs are real. We could stop COVID transmission entirely by a strict lockdown but that would destroy what we have left of our sanity.

Instead, we need a nuanced, balanced approach focused on rebuilding mental health among everyone, and particularly the most marginalized communities. That means having much better public schools; adequate green space to play; sports, arts, and music programs; and rebuilding our crumbling democracy. Without voting rights and equitable health care we will find ourselves in a bad place very quickly.

Our kids must be our top priority. Here in Boston, we wrote a petition a few months ago asking for a CDC Epi-Aid to the Boston Public Schools after a COVID outbreak. We published an op-ed in the Boston Globe and got 92 signatures on the petition, but no Epi-Aid was never done. As far as I know, there hasn’t been a published or disseminated outbreak investigation. And we certainly don’t have a strategy for helping restore children’s mental health, despite an engaging new mayor who has kids in the Boston Public Schools.

What can be done? How can we organize to help our kids, and our families heal? Soon it will be spring, and then summer. Now is the time, now is the opportunity. We cannot fail.