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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