Brown Hosts Virtual Roundtable with Ohio Educators, Discusses Mental Health Issues Impacting Students

CLEVELAND, OH - Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) hosted a virtual roundtable with educators and leaders representing the Ohio Federation of Teachers and the Ohio Education Association to gain insight into the mental health challenges impacting students, school faculty and staff. Today's roundtable follows Brown's discussion with Dr. Arielle Sheftall, who recently published a study through the Center for Suicide Prevention and Research at the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital. It found an increase in suicide rates among young Black children, and among young Black girls in particular. In October, Brown introduced his Child Suicide Prevention and Lethal Means Safety Act to bring increased funding and attention to suicide prevention for children and young adults.

"This pandemic is hurting the mental health of our students. The isolation, the fear, the disruption to routines, and in too many cases, the death of a caregiver or a loved one - it all builds up. As teachers, school counselors, and nurses, each of you play a significant role in the lives of our children, and in many cases, you are the first person they go to for help," said Brown at the roundtable. "It's important that schools have the resources and tools they need to help students. And it's important that we take mental health into consideration when we make decisions about our schools."

Brown was joined at the virtual roundtable by educators and mental health professionals.

"Our school district is facing the toughest of challenges with providing mental health services due to our provider needing to pull out of our district due to lack of professionals to serve in these roles. Our intent is to listen to what others are doing to combat this serious issue of providing quality mental health services for students," said Brian Rau, Superintendent for Manchester Local School District.

"After two years of navigating pandemic learning, anxiety is still extremely high among our students and staff. There is still so much fear - of being exposed to the virus, of unknowingly spreading it to our vulnerable friends and family members, and just fear of the unknown - and it has taken a tremendous toll on the mental health of our school community. Our teachers are stressed out and burnt-out; our students are grieving over all they've lost, whether that's their loved ones who have passed away or just the typical high school experiences like a normal graduation or sports season that they have missed. We are resilient, and we will get through this, but it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and we all need more resources to help us cope," said Dave Pryer, School Nurse for Allen East schools.

According to CDC data, the number of emergency department visits for suspected suicide attempts by people aged 12-25 started to rise by May 2020, and children's hospitals around the country have seen those numbers continue to increase.

In October 2021, the Children's Hospital Association declared a national state of emergency in child and adolescent mental health. Between March and October 2020, the percentage of emergency department visits for children with mental health emergencies rose by 24% for children ages 5-11 and 31% for children ages 12-17. There was also a more than 50% increase in suspected suicide attempt emergency department visits among girls ages 12-17 in early 2021 as compared to the same period in 2019.

Additionally, many young people have been impacted by loss of a loved one. Recent data show that more than 140,000 U.S. children have experienced the death of a primary or secondary caregiver during the COVID-19 pandemic, with children of color disproportionately impacted.

Brown's Child Suicide Prevention and Lethal Means Safety Act, authored in the House of Representatives by Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL), will bring increased funding and attention to suicide prevention for children and young adults.

It would:

Full text of the legislation can be found here. It has been endorsed by more than 40 leading health care, suicide prevention, and gun violence prevention organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Hospital Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the National Association for Rural Mental Health and Sandy Hook Promise. A full list of endorsing organizations can be found here.