Policy Matters for Black Youth Mental Health

In a recent op-ed, we described the present challenges Black youth are facing regarding mental health. Sadly, these statistics continue to be alarming as rates remain high in comparison to their same-age white peers. These trends stubbornly persist, which points to the systemic nature of the issue. Dr. Lauren C. MimsDr. Lauren C. MimsWe focus, primarily, on systemic issues in K-12 schools as spaces where Black youth spend the majority of their days — an environment meant for their growth and development — academically and socio-emotionally. However, pervasive inequitable issues in education make K-12 schools the breeding ground for anti-Black racism across policy and practice. For example, schools very often engage in zero tolerance discipline policies and practices that thrust Black children into the school-to-prison nexus. This nexus robs Black youth of the innocence of childhood through adultification practices that see them as older than they are. Thus, thoughts of “they should know better” allow for the policing and surveillance of Black youth with said discipline policies. Further, if indeed there are policies around mental health (i.e., suicide prevention training policies; required social emotional learning for students), these are often done through a lens of color ambivalence that take no...