Attention is drawn to the New York State Council's legislation to allow teenagers to be absent for mental health treatment.
The S563, A1869 bills introduced to the state legislature on the 5th are aimed at establishing rules for allowing absenteeism to make it easier for teenagers to receive "mental or behavioral health" treatment.
The bill is modeled on the Oregon State Act enacted in 2018, and if New York State finalizes the bill, it will join 12 states currently implementing similar bills.
Representative Brad Hoyleman (Democratic 47th District), who introduced the bill, cited statistics from the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and pointed out that mental health problems such as depression are serious enough to rank second in the cause of death aged 10-34 in 2017.
In particular, 17.2% of high school students said they seriously considered suicide last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while 31.5% of high school students said they experienced continuous sadness and despair. This is an increase compared to 13.8% and 26.1% recorded in 2009, respectively.
Due to the prolonged pandemic, amplified stress such as isolation has led to an increase in youth suicide, self-harm, anxiety, and depression, making it urgent to prepare a system for mental or behavioral health treatment. It recognized the increase in suicide and self-harm attempts by teenagers as a public health crisis in New York State and actively responded to it.
"Mental health problems need to be treated just like physical health problems," Hoyle said. "We hope the bill will remove existing barriers to help teenagers talk to their parents, teachers and staff about their mental health problems."
Writer: Chelsie Song
(Picture from Unsplash)
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