Oklahoma students are experiencing mental health challenges. The Legislature must do more to help.

Many Oklahoma students are experiencing mental health challenges. The tragic events in the wake of tornadoes hitting Oklahoma are a chilling reminder that just living in Oklahoma can cause trauma due to extreme weather patterns. Furthermore, Healthy Minds Policy reports that in a statewide survey of middle and high school students in Oklahoma during the 2019–20 school year, 60% of students experienced high or moderate psychological distress, 17.2% of students considered suicide and 9.8% of students made at least one suicide attempt.

Oklahoma City Public Schools cites that Oklahoma is ranked fifth in the nation with students suffering from trauma, with nearly half of students experiencing two or more adverse childhood experiences. Additionally, the school district reports the student-to-counselor ratio is 374-to-1, but the American School Counselor Association recommends a 250-to-1 ratio. To make matters worse, COVID relief funding will expire, and some of that funding supported hiring more counselors. This data shows that we need to provide our students with quality mental health care from trained professionals.

What can we do to support our students struggling with mental health? First, I encourage Oklahomans to get informed about the mental health challenges our students are currently facing. I would like to thank HealthyMindsPolicy.org for providing updated statistics on mental illness in Oklahoma and working to end untreated mental illness and addiction in Oklahoma.

Secondly, I encourage Oklahomans to reach out to our representatives and express their opinions. I would like to thank Rep. Meloyde Blancett, Sen. Dewayne Pemberton, Rep. Mark McBride, Rep. John Waldron, Rep. Ellyn Hefner, and Rep. Arturo Alonso Sandoval for authoring House Bill 2827. This bill would have created a grant program to employ school nurses, school counselors and mental health professionals. I would like to thank all the legislators who voted for this bill and similar bills, such as bills that would create a pipeline for more mental health professionals to be produced in the state of Oklahoma and provide our students with trained and qualified mental health professionals.

Mental health is an issue that affects many people, either directly or indirectly. Let's do more to help those struggling with mental health, especially our youth.

Priscilla Ramirez is an educator who was a pre-K teacher for 2 1/2 years in the Oklahoma City Public Schools district.