To combat this surging mental health crisis among children and teens, President Biden announced during his State of the Union Address in March that he would launch a national initiative to address declining youth mental health. Last month, his administration added to this plan by allocating the first $300 million toward school mental health programs. Some governors are following suit, with California Governor Gavin Newsom announcing last week his administration’s “Master Plan for Kids’ Mental Health,” that will cost taxpayers $4.5 billion.
Activating the government to solve a problem that the government was at least partially responsible for exacerbating will not fix the youth mental health crisis.
Let’s not forget that California closed their playgrounds in 2020 over fear of coronavirus spread, and filled skateboard parks with sand to prevent their use, even as Governor Newsom dined maskless with a gaggle of supporters at the upscale French Laundry restaurant. Children were prevented from playing and teenagers were prevented from interacting with their peers, negatively impacting normal child and adolescent development and contributing to worsening mental health disorders.
Additionally, using schools as a primary government tool for alleviating the youth mental health crisis, as the Biden Administration is doing, could make matters worse. As Boston College psychology professor Peter Gray has repeatedly said, schools are often the main source of youth anxiety and depression.
Many children and adolescents are ailing now, but more government is not the cure. Decentralized, bottom-up solutions are more likely to tackle the problem efficiently and successfully. One example of a bottom-up solution to restoring teen mental health and well-being is the work that Lainie Liberti does. An adolescent life coach, author, and longtime self-directed education advocate, Liberti works closely with teens to provide them with tools for self-inquiry and reflection that enable them to regain agency and independence, discover their passions and purpose, and feel more confident on their pathway toward adulthood.
Liberti was my guest on this week’s episode of the LiberatED podcast and we talked about the emotional struggles that many teens are confronting, as well as her new book, Seen, Heard & Understood: Parenting & Partnering with Teens for Greater Mental Health.
In terms of worsening teen mental health, “the big change was the restrictions due to the pandemic,” said Liberti. “I talk about the Covid trauma train, especially to a teen and those that are older teens that are physically, biologically, socially, and mentally preparing to launch in a time where the world doesn’t support that. Financially it’s very difficult because the economy has changed so much, and the restrictions of being able to get out and test their independence, it’s just made that virtually impossible.”
Helping teens regain greater control over their lives and learning can alleviate those “persistently sad or hopeless” feelings that so many teenagers have been experiencing. Liberti believes there are a lot of things we as parents can do to reinforce a message of youth empowerment and agency, beginning with recognizing that some of the adolescent qualities we may find difficult, such as defiance of authority and a proclivity toward risk-taking, can be strengths if we support and encourage our teens in meaningful ways.
Many children and teens are struggling now with poor mental health and they need help. Creative, personalized, bottom-up solutions, especially those focused on individual empowerment and agency, are likely to help them heal faster and better than top-down government programs.
