Help teens; bring back Grade 13

Watching my almost-18-year-old grandson stressing over exams and college and university applications really strengthened my conviction that we need to bring back Grade 13.

I have long thought that the rise in teen mental health issues can be traced back to abolishing this year, which gave our teens more time to mature, more time to increase their self-confidence, more time to save for post-secondary education and more time to be kids.

With the ever-increasing demand for post-secondary degrees to secure employment, I think it would be highly beneficial to reinstate Grade 13.

The additional costs of doing this are far outweighed by the cost to the health-care system currently trying to treat our troubled teens through low funding and inadequate facilities.

Studies show that teen mental health issues are growing year after year, whether through addiction to drugs and alcohol, homelessness, chronic depression, etc. You pay now or you pay later.

I would rather pay now and add one more year to high school, than pay later by watching grief-stricken parents bury their children — children who just might have been saved if we had given them more time to be kids and allowed them just one more year of high school.

If the government feels a need to abolish something, then abolish four-year-old kindergarten and bring back Grade 13.

Judy Warren Ottawa