Opinion: California's schools can't afford to cut counselors who keep kids alive

"If you want a snapshot of how we are failing young people, especially boys, you can start there. To balance its budget, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District is considering eliminating the equivalent of 15 full-time counselors, all 13 mental health clinicians and dozens of intervention staff at its schools at a time when youth suicide is one of the leading causes of death for people ages 10 to 24."

"Men and boys make up nearly 80% of suicides in the United States. For LGBTQ youth, the picture is even more alarming. A national survey found nearly 39% seriously considered suicide in the past year, and 12% attempted it. This crisis is not abstract. It is here. It is now. And it is local. Young people rely most heavily on school-based support, so if you remove counselors and clinicians, you remove the adults best positioned to intervene when a student's silence becomes dangerous."

"And when we talk about violence, context matters. What we frame as school safety is often a reflection of untreated pain. When a boy explodes, we see a threat. When a boy shuts down, we assume he is fine. We rarely name what both can be symptoms of a system that teaches boys to swallow everything and then acts surprised when the pressure finally breaks."

After a stabbing at Watsonville High and four student arrests, Pajaro Valley Unified plans cuts that would eliminate 15 full-time counselors, all 13 mental health clinicians and dozens of intervention staff. Youth suicide ranks among the leading causes of death for people ages 10 to 24; men and boys account for nearly 80 percent of suicides. A national survey found nearly 39 percent of LGBTQ youth seriously considered suicide and 12 percent attempted it. Young people rely on school-based support, so removing counselors eliminates adults best positioned to intervene. School violence often reflects untreated pain and norms that teach boys to suppress emotions. Local youth ambassadors run a stigma-reduction campaign promoting help-seeking as strength.

Read at www.mercurynews.com