SUMMARY:
High school senior Mendy Mendez Ventura’s powerful op-ed about the shortage of social workers in schools reminds us that unresolved trauma and mental health concerns impeding learning are education issues.
According to the CDC, 1 in 5 young Americans has a diagnosable mental, emotional or behavioral health issue every year and less than a third of these are diagnosed and treated. That means more than 10 million young people aren’t receiving treatment.
Mendez Ventura is just 17 years old and tells the story of how often he and his friends have had no choice but to be one another’s support system through mental health battles.