Does focus on youth mental health do no harm? It’s debatable.
Social and emotional skills are essential to good health
there’s much to dispute in professor Chris Ferguson’s April 29 op-ed, “Is focusing too much on mental health making our kids more neurotic?” but the main rebuttal is this: Research shows that supporting young people in developing social and emotional skills is key to helping them have a positive future.
Dismissing evidence that led surgeon general Vivek murthy to announce a youth mental health crisis, and attributing this crisis to young people being “coddled and shielded from the slightest adversity,” is stunning coming from a licensed psychologist. but Ferguson already revealed himself to be out of touch with his field’s best practices in resigning from the American Psychological Association in 2021, citing the organization’s “capture by wokeness.”
In a more thorough review of the research, Ferguson might have found the recent, rigorous assessment of the evidence by Christina Cipriano and her Yale school of medicine colleagues, showing that students who participate in universal school-based social and emotional learning interventions, or sel, experienced significantly improved skills, attitudes, behaviors, school climate and safety, peer relationships, school functioning, and academic achievement.
Right now in massachusetts, our legislature is considering a bill that would require all educators to have training in sel.
If Ferguson had that type of training, he might have responded differently to the student who reported depression and panic attacks. Ferguson claimed to empathize with the student while apparently dismissing his concerns; we’re left to wonder whether he also offered to help strategize how to complete the assignment with less anxiety. his student might have left that interaction empowered and hopeful instead of ultimately dropping the class.
Rather than stoking partisan divides, let’s work together here in massachusetts to pass this important legislation and give our students the positive futures they deserve. kAmIlAh DRUmmOND-FORResteR
Boston JIm VetteR Somerville