(The Center Square) – Pennsylvania lawmakers have struggled to get their arms around the ongoing mental health crisis in the state’s youth population.
Schools often stand as the first line of defense against violence and self-harm, leading some legislators to look for curriculum-based solutions.
The latest such solution is a proposal by Rep. Brian Munroe, D-Warminster, who Tuesday introduced the Student Safety and Violence Education, or SAVE, Act. The bill would require schools to include one hour of social isolation education annually for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Students grades 6th to 12th would be required to complete an additional hour of suicide prevention and violence prevention.
“Students and staff would learn to recognize warning signs of depression, suicide, and self-injury, understand proper reporting procedures, and identify behaviors that may indicate risk to oneself or others,” wrote Munroe of the bill.
Munroe highlighted statistics from the American Psychological Association reporting that one in five students experience anxiety. One study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found a 60% increase in clinically diagnosed depression in people aged five to 22 from 2017 to 2021 alone.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness Keystone Pennsylvania branch, one in six children aged six to 17 experience mental health disorders annually. Of the 98,000 living with depression in Pennsylvania, the majority, 57.1% didn’t receive care in the last year.
Nationally, rates of preteen suicide have increased 8% annually since 2008 according to the National Institute of Health. Black children had the highest rate with the number of girls increasing more quickly than boys. Most hang or suffocate themselves, while gun deaths are on the rise.
The SAVE Students Act is an initiative of Sandy Hook Promise, an advocacy group which lobbies for violence prevention and stricter gun control laws across the country. Similar bills have passed in Ohio, Louisiana, and Georgia.
The group was formed following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 which killed 26 people including 20 children between the ages six and seven. The shooter was 20-year-old Adam Lanza who himself suffered from mental health disorders.
Violence prevention laws like the SAVE Act approach the issue without touching on the controversial topic of gun rights, something that quickly kills bipartisanship in the Pennsylvania statehouse.
An effort led by Republican Sen. Jarrett Coleman of Allentown to require schools to notify parents of all weapons incidents that arise was signed into law by Gov. Josh Shapiro in November following bipartisan support.
“There is broad agreement from Republicans and Democrats that schools must be forthcoming when dangerous incidents take place,” Coleman added. “This legislation paves the way for empowering parents and helps rebuild the trust between our school districts and the families they are serving.
Past legislative efforts to address the crisis have included passing “mental health days” for students, an idea rejected by some who say the safest place for students who are experiencing a crisis is at school. While the majority of youth suicides occur at home, they often involve previous disciplinary action at school or social situations like bullying both online and in the classroom.
The state already offers a program in which students can anonymously report their concerns about self-harm or violence to the attorney general’s office. Calls to the Safe2Say program are quickly vetted and routed to the relevant adults who can help, including parents, the school system, and, when necessary, local police.
