Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4 — Friday, March 16, 2018
aMplify platform accommodates student safety
Healthy minds at school
SUJAY SHETTY AND MATTHEW WILLIAMS | LETTER TO THE EDITOR
ALI SAFAWI | COLUMN
E
arlier this semester I
wrote
about
mental
health care on college
campuses. But the truth is,
college might be too late. Half
of all mental health problems
begin by age 14.
In
public
health,
we
think of disease prevention
as
having
three
levels:
primary,
secondary
and
tertiary.
Helping
students
manage their mental illness
to improve their quality of
life is a classic example of
tertiary prevention and is a
worthy endeavor. However,
more needs to be done to
prevent mental illness from
developing in the first place
(primary
prevention)
and
to detect mental illness as
soon as possible (secondary
prevention). For both these
ventures, we should look to
schools.
School has gotten more
stressful
for
students.
A
report from the Counsel of the
Great City Schools found that
students take approximately
112
standardized
tests
between
pre-K
and
12th
grade.
The
same
report
also found that high school
juniors spend as much as 15
percent of the school year
taking
standardized
tests.
The
pressure
to
position
oneself for college is growing
and begins far too early.
Palo Alto, Calif., serves as
an example of the worst-case
scenario. According to the
Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, the city’s
youth suicide rate is 14.1 per
100,000 people. That is almost
triple the national rate of 5.4
deaths per 100,000. Extreme
expectations from parents in
Palo Alto are at least partially
responsible for this shocking
rate. As one parent put it so
simply but powerfully: “What
are we doing to our kids?”
The mental health risk
factors children and teens face
extend far beyond academics.
Twenty-eight
percent
of
students in sixth through 12th
grade report being bullied.
At home, children can also be
adversely affected by abuse
and poverty. In fact, research
out
of
Cornell
University
identified a host of mental
health problems for which
childhood
poverty
lead
to
increased
risk,
including
reduced short-term memory
and antisocial behavior.
It is no surprise that there
has been public discourse on
an epidemic of mental illness
in our schools, a topic that NPR
ran an excellent special series
on. Child and teen mental
illness have real consequences.
Thirty-seven
percent
of
students with a mental health
problem drop out of high
school, a rate higher than for
any other disability.
In
the
wake
of
the
mass shooting at Marjory
Stoneman
Douglas
High
School,
President
Donald
Trump and some Republican
lawmakers (including ones in
Michigan’s state legislature)
have
proposed
arming
teachers and other school
staff with firearms. Instead,
our governments would have
a much greater impact on the
lives of students by arming
schools with knowledge and
resources to promote good
mental health.
To
their
credit,
the
Michigan
House
of
Representatives just passed
a bill to create an optional
training program for teachers
on how to recognize and
respond to mental illness in
their students. This is a good
policy, yet the training is not
mandatory, nor does the bill
mandate suicide prevention
training for teachers as 27
other states have done. This
bill needs to be amended
to fix these flaws before it
reaches the governor’s desk.
Teachers
can
play
a
crucial
role
in
both
the
primary
and
secondary
prevention of mental health
problems in students. This
can be achieved by taking
measures to reduce stress in
their classrooms and by being
aware of and on the lookout for
the warning signs of mental
illness. That being said, a
teacher’s main focus should
be teaching, as they are not
mental health professionals.
School nurses, social workers
and psychologists must also
be involved in addressing the
epidemic.
Per
the
American
Academy of Pediatrics, an
estimated
80
percent
of
students seeking help turn
to schools for mental health
care. School nurses can play a
vital role by noticing patterns
of behavior in students that
may indicate a mental health
problem. But they often have
minimal training in mental
health
and
are
in
short
supply. In fact, Michigan has
a severe shortage of school
nurses with a school nurse
ratio of one nurse per 6,607
students in 2014, according
to Parent Action for Healthy
Kids. In contrast, the federal
government’s Healthy People
2020 goals aim for a ratio of
one nurse per 750 students.
The picture is equally
troubling
for
school
psychologists. The National
Association
of
School
Psychologists
estimates
a
shortage
of
15,000
school
psychologists
by
2020. In Michigan, school
psychologists are on the state
Department of Education’s
critical
shortage
list,
a
designation that incentivizes
retired
professionals
to
return to work.
If you are considering
becoming a school nurse or
psychologist: We desperately
need you.
It took me four years
between
my
symptoms
developing and when I first
sought help for my mental
health
problem.
That
is
short
compared
to
the
average of eight to 10 years
between symptom onset and
intervention. Had a teacher
or school nurse noticed my
symptoms and referred me
to the school social worker
then I could have potentially
gotten better sooner. I would
have given anything to have
had that happen.
Students spend 900 to
1000 hours in school every
year. Imagine if parents and
schools
came
together
to
reduce
academic
pressure
and
if
students
were
surrounded by a system of
teachers, nurses and mental
health
professionals
well-
equipped to help them with
their problems. We could end
the epidemic of mental illness
in our schools.
At stake are the minds and
futures of our children.
M
y life largely exists
within my happy
liberal bubble. I am
a philosophy and international
studies student at one of
the world’s leading public
universities. I am politically
active within the Democratic
Party; nearly all of my friends
are
pro-choice,
liberal,
feminist
Democrats.
And
anytime you see me walking
on campus or running on a
treadmill, chances are high
that a podcast produced by
Vox, NPR or Crooked Media
is playing in my headphones.
For these reasons, I am
fluent in the way that liberals
speak. I know that when I’m
referring to women’s issues, I
cannot say female because that
refers to biological sex and not
chosen gender. I know that we
call Nazis white supremacists
and not their chosen name
“alt-right.” I know that we say
“survivors” and not “victims,”
and that when introducing
myself
I
should
always
provide my pronouns as well.
I have no qualms with living
and speaking in this way — I
want to be as inclusive and
intersectional as possible in
my activism and existence as
a whole. I have committed to
a life of feminism and social
justice advocacy. Therefore, it
should be the expectation that
I know how to eloquently and
correctly speak on the issues.
Most Americans have not
decided that they want to
spend their lives advocating
for these causes. I understand
that there is privilege in
not being super politically
engaged, but there is also
privilege in our activism and
our language. After 2016,
many
Americans
came
to
realize that it was past time
to step up and march, speak
out
and
hopefully,
come
November, vote. This meant
that many people who had
previously
abstained
from
any political affiliation or
activism were deciding to
let their voices be heard
by
publicly
opposing
our
predator-in-chief. There were
definitely problems with a lot
of the new-found Democrats,
such as the 2017 Women’s
March, which was marked
by pussy hats and bourgeois
white feminism, while women
of
color
and
transgender
women
were
marginalized
within
a
movement
they
founded. So, more seasoned
activists and SJWs rightly
resisted their entrance into
the territory.
It’s March 2018, and we
have less than eight months
until the midterms and two
years
until
presidential
primaries. I desperately want
Democrats back in charge of
all branches of government.
I
want
protections
for
Dreamers, for the phrases
“chain
migration,”
“repeal
and replace” and “defund
Planned Parenthood” to die
hard, for the State Department
to be funded and staffed, for
the White House to be free of
domestic and sexual abusers,
for the tax cuts and bank
de-regulations to end and
more. But we cannot get this
critical work done with the
votes and organizing of the
far-left activists alone. We
need to find a way to welcome
those who have been absent.
I believe the first step to
this is to be forgiving in our
language and customs. The
host of “Stuff Mom Never
Told You,” Bridget Todd, once
emphasized “calling in.” I
think this is a good place to
start. When someone says
something that feels a little
off, maybe even blatantly
problematic, we can start
with the assumption that
they were well-intentioned.
The
language
surrounding
social issues is legitimately
hard to learn and understand,
so
taking
30
seconds
to
softly explain why phrasing
something slightly differently
would
be
more
inclusive
might
be
a
useful
and
worthwhile approach. But too
often, the left attacks. There
is much to be mad about right
now, but attacking those who
are on our side feels entirely
unproductive.
For example, in early 2017,
Chimimanda Ngozi Adiche
(yes, the amazing Nigerian-
American
feminist
most
famous for her TED talk and
novel, “Americanah”), came
under
fire
for
comments
she made about transgender
women. She said, “‘Are trans
women women?’ My feeling
is trans women are trans
women.” To me and others,
this appeared as though she
meant trans women are not
“real” women. If that were
what she meant, that would
definitely be a transphobic
view
and
I
would
not
consider her a feminist icon
any longer. But in clarifying
her
comments,
she
said
that all she meant is that
trans women have different
experiences than ciswomen,
but that “cis” had never been
in her vocabulary before. She
claimed that the left is guilty
of “language orthodoxy,” and
that it is exclusionary.
In that regard, I believe
she is right. Ngozi Adiche
is
a
Nigerian-American,
and “cisgender” is a term
largely used in upper-class,
Western contexts. Most of
the language I have been
talking about is used in these
contexts. So, if we liberals
truly aim to de-Westernize
and to be advocates for the
lower classes, I don’t think we
can attack those who do not
enter liberal circles already
knowing the language.
I
n a recent op-ed, Charles
Callis
took
a
brave
stand
by
criticizing
this years’ Central Student
Government
campaigns
for
failing to address on-campus
acts of mass violence. He was
right to do so. If we are to be
serious candidates, our team
must have serious discussions
on this topic. It is true that
the University of Michigan
provides training for its staff
on addressing these kinds of
situations and that we have an
on-campus security presence
and alert system, but we can do
better. And we must do better.
In that vein, the aMplify
Party Policy Team has revised
its platform to address this
deficiency. We must continue
to
provide
support
for
programming that ensures all
entering freshmen can receive
active attacker training from
the Division of Public Safety
and Security. Furthermore, we
plan to create a partnership
with
the
Residence
Hall
Association
and
University
Housing
to
provide
active
attacker training workshops,
facilitated by DPSS, in every
residential
community
on
campus. These agenda items
will be the first discussions
with University officials and
other stakeholders that we
have. Additionally, we will
charge
the
Research
and
Polling Commission with the
task of collecting feedback
from the participants of these
workshops, separately from
DPSS or any other part of the
University. We will use this
feedback
to
communicate
potential
revisions
of
this
program with DPSS. Though
we cannot assure that all
of our residents will always
be able to escape the acts of
evil people, we also cannot
continue to ignore the risks
our community faces.
In a world where even
our campus buildings must
act to mitigate the damages
from acts of wanton violence,
it is foolish to assume we
are spared from the harsh
realities of this tragic trend.
We realize, too, that this
initial plan is not sufficient,
but in the future we pledge
continued
work
with
the
administration and students
to develop a full response to
campus violence.
Sujay Shetty is an LSA junior and
Matthew Williams is a first-year Law
student.
Margot Libertini can be reached at
mliberti@umich.edu.
Ali Safawi can be reached at
asafawi@umich.edu.
TRUE BLUE | LETTER TO THE EDITOR
O
n
the
morning
of
March
14th,
2018,
exactly
one
month
after
the
horrific
school
shooting that claimed 17 lives
at Marjory Stoneman Douglas
High School in Parkland, Fla.,
the Michigan Daily released
an Op-Ed addressing the lack
of attention Central Student
Government
campaigns
were giving to gun violence
prevention. The author, senior
Ford student Charlie Callis,
specifically named five CSG
campaigns, including True
Blue, which had failed to
discuss how they would help
ensure the safety of students
at the University of Michigan
should the tragedy of gun
violence ever touch campus.
True
Blue
would
like
to
thank
Mr.
Callis
for
calling on Central Student
Government
and
the
University to take action. It
is crucial that CSG step up
and advocate for policies
that will ensure the safety of
students.
This is why, last week,
True Blue added to their
platform
that
we
will
advocate
to
“establish
a
mandatory
active
shooter
training through UMPD for
all faculty on campus.” We
find it imperative that our
faculty be thoroughly trained
to protect themselves and
their students in the event of
an active shooter. We know
that this is not the definitive
solution to the issue of gun
violence
on
campus,
and
look forward to creating and
implementing
additional
solutions to improve student
safety on campus.
We
have
built
our
campaign on using the insight
of our students in order to
make
meaningful
impact.
We agree with Mr. Callis
that we must listen to our
students in order to make our
campus a safer place where
students can learn, thrive
and know that their Central
Student Government is taking
measures to protect them.
Our priority will always be
students and their safety:
physically,
mentally
and
emotionally.
True Blue responds to Charlie Callis
True Blue is a 2018 CSG party.
As one parent put
it so powerfully:
What are we
doing to our kids?
The left’s linguistic barrier
MARGOT LIBERTINI | COLUMN
We need to find a
way to welcome
those who have
been absent.
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