School-based mental health programs don't improve mental health or academic outcomes, concludes an analysis of the research by Carolyn D. Gorman, a policy analyst at the Manhattan Institute. No "high-quality evidence" supports "universal mental health literacy, awareness, prevention, and screening" or many social-emotional learning programs, she writes.
"Universal" programs that provide service to all students, not just those with problems, can cause harm due to "poor-quality care, overdiagnosis and misallocated spending." Class time may be wasted.
Students with real mental disorders, who need quality care, may be lost in the shuffle.
"Federal policy should make clear that the core goal of the public education system is to provide academic learning in preparation for productive participation in society, while the core responsibility of the public mental health system is to address untreated serious mental illnesses and serious emotional disturbances in youth," writes Gorman. Trying to improve everyone's "wellness" is counterproductive.
The report suggests schools deal with students' social and emotional problems by "setting school-wide guidance on behavior expectations and attendance, maintaining full in-person school days, and keeping doors open after school."
You know what's great for kids' mental health and social skills? Time to play, preferably unstructured and unsupervised.
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