On January 25th, 2024 Gov. Henry McMasters announced that Mental Health Counselors will double in the school system. There now will be 1209 counselors within the school system for children to seek out help with their mental health issues.
The real question is why are young people having so many mental health issues in South Carolina?
Within his statement, Gov. McMasters released this data:
Key Youth Behavioral Health Statistics
- According to a recent report from the Boston Consulting Group, 77% of youth in South Carolina with a major depressive episode do not receive any mental health treatment. This is well above the national average of 60%.
- According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, youth suicide has increased significantly from 2007 through 2021. Suicide rates for Americans ages 10 to 24 rose 62%.
- Nationally, the number of mental health visits in pediatric emergency departments increased from 7.7% of all encounters in 2011 to 13.1% in 2020.
- According to the South Carolina School Behavioral Health Academy, children are 21 times more likely to access mental health services in schools than in any other setting.
- In 2021, national data indicates 30% of female high school students seriously considered suicide, an increase from 24.1% in 2019, according to the CDC.
- In 2021, national data indicates 13.3% of female high school students attempted suicide, an increase from 11% in 2019, according to the CDC.
- High school students with depression are more than twice as likely to drop out than their peers.
- Suicide is the third leading cause of death for South Carolinians between ages 10-14.
- Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death for South Carolinians between ages 15-17.
One major cause of the high number of children needing mental health help could be that South Carolina ranks 33rd for divorce in 2021 according to Statista and was expected to rise.
Parents who seek divorce tend not to understand the full outcome for children in these cases. This is especially true when acts of Parental Alienation or other acts of estrangement from one parent take place.
South Carolina is known to be what is called a Mother State, where the mother is given custody nearly automatically. But this is not always the case, it is important to understand that many factors play into these cases, the largest one is the knowledge of the judge on all aspects of mental health for all individuals involved, especially the children. ( This statement could explain why Points 4 and 5 are contained in the Governor’s statement.)
In several past years large number of Non-Profit Groups and Grassroots Movements have begun shining a light on the failure of the Family Courts when it comes to children in these cases. By South Carolina law children have no say in what their future will be when their parents decide to separate from each other. Children become nothing more than assets that need to be divided.
It is this legal mentality that contributes to a large number of children having mental issues and thinking of suicide at such an early age. Many of these children are diagnosed with separation anxiety due to their separation from a loving parent.
We indeed live in a society today that exists in a social separation vacuum, but children who suffer a forceful separation from a loving parent do not have the mental development to deal with or express anguish in these matters.
Family Courts are not solely to blame for the mental health issues among children, they are simply a major link in the chain in today’s issues faced by our children. Another aspect of this issue is the fact that children are the mirror image of the adults around them. Children like sponges soak up the adult issues they see within their parents and surroundings.
We as a society have begun to overlook the needs of our children to simply be children. We have begun to expect perhaps unconsciously that our children understand things the same as we do. This is not the case!