Children with mental illnesses struggle in school. One out of every five children have an emotional, behavioral, or mental health disorder that is diagnosable, and one out of every ten children have a mental illness so severe that it greatly affects how they function in society, whether it may be at home, in the community, or how they learn in school. These numbers mainly include kids between the ages of 6 – 17. Unfortunately, around 80% of these kids never receive the mental help that they need to succeed. The kids with these disabilities have the lowest graduation rate out of anyone else with a different disease or disorder, with 40% receiving their GED in America. There are approximately 74.5 million children living in the United States. Out of that 74.5 million, 17.1 million are estimated to have a psychiatric disorder (children with cancer, diabetes, and AIDS combined are still less than those with psychiatric disorders). Out of the 17.1 million kids, only 6.84 million receive a complete education.
Not only do the children who drop out have academic failure, but they are also more likely to do drugs and get caught up in the juvenile justice system, none of which helps the disorders. 70.4% of the youth in the juvenile justice system have a diagnosed mental disorder, but few actually receive treatment. If these kids were to receive the proper treatment when they are young, a majority of the mental disabilities found in adults would vanish. Half of all mental illnesses are already present by the age of 14, and 75% by 24. However, the average amount of time between when someone shows obvious symptoms of a mental illness and when they finally take action is eight to ten years. In many cases, it is too late to provide the patients with medication and treatment options, with the result of a full recovery.
Many schools lack psychologists to help mentally disabled children. There are approximately 28,500 psychologists for schools in the United States, yet there is still a shortage for them of about 9,000. For every one psychologist, there are 1,482 students. As stated by Mohamed Jemni, “The disability is not the problem. The accessibility is the problem.” Due to the lack of help and support offered in the country’s education system, many students eventually just give up. An estimated 4,600 kids commit suicide every year in America (and this number continues to increase), 90% of which are due to mental illnesses. 4,140 of these children’s lives could have been saved if they were treated properly. This is currently the third leading cause of death in children aged 10-24. Many children who attend school with disabilities often find themselves getting into trouble, rather than receiving the extra help they need. Suspension and detentions are quite common for them, but the punishments only make the situation worse. These children don’t need to “be taught a lesson” or told that they are “dead end kids”, but they do need help. “We have no special needs children. Just children…with special needs”- Uwe Maurer.