Student mental health was declining long before the pandemic, but accelerated when COVID forced the closure of school campuses and increased social isolation.
Three years after California required colleges to put suicide prevention phone numbers on all student ID cards, a group of students wants to take the push for student wellness a step further: By adding a 24-hour mental health hotline.
“Mental health is often overlooked until it’s too late – students start suffering from extreme burnout, disengagement, dropping grades. There’s so much schools can do to help students before they reach that point,” said Leo Corzo-Clark, a recent graduate of Albany High School in the East Bay who helped write the bill with his colleagues at Generation Up, a California student advocacy group. Assemblyman Steven Choi, R-Irvine, sponsored the bill.
Student mental health was declining long before the pandemic, due to economic uncertainty, social injustice, an uptick in community violence, climate change and other issues, but accelerated when Covid forced the closure of school campuses and increased social isolation.
Assemblyman Choi, vice chair of the Assembly Higher Education Committee and a former Irvine Unified school board member, said student mental health is among his priorities. Three bills relate to K-12 schools: SB 955 would require schools to excuse students for absences related to political or civic engagement, such as attending a protest, voting or volunteering as a poll worker. SB 997 would boost student representation on governing committees. SB 1236 would give full voting rights to student members of school boards.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Authorities ID San Ysidro woman killed in I-5 rollover crashLeticia Gutierrez de Ordaz was thrown from Ford Ranger, fatally injured April 12 in crash that also seriously injured her husband, the pickup's driver
Read more »
Indiana State Police plead for help to ID boy's body found by mushroom hunter in woodsAuthorities in Indiana are asking for the public's help in identifying the body of a young boy found by a mushroom hunter in a wooded area in the southern part of the state.
Read more »
Lynnwood police track down driver of stolen car; recover drugs, shaved keys, IDInside the stolen car were golf clubs and stereo equipment, all of which police said were stolen.
Read more »
California’s employee protection law could soon be gutted - The San Francisco ExaminerThe specific question the court is expected to decide by June: whether workers who have signed job contracts that bar them from suing their employer can still bring a case to court under the law.
Read more »
100 homeless L.A. community college students to get shelter, food and Wi-FiThe $1.5-million yearlong community college program will also provide students with mental health support.
Read more »
San Francisco plans to purchase 200 units to house homeless families - The San Francisco ExaminerA sparkling seven-story building on 12th Street could soon play a key role in not only getting homeless families into housing, but helping them avoid displacement outside of San Francisco.
Read more »