Editorial: Tackling the barriers that face children

Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2004 | 8:58 a.m.

Experienced teachers have seen it enough to know: A student who is hungry or consistently undernourished will have trouble learning. They also know the same to be true if a student is fearful or emotionally troubled, even to the point of being mentally ill. National studies, unfortunately, confirm that the number of students experiencing these barriers is on the rise.

The Nevada Board of Education is responding sensibly to the findings by creating the Center for Health and Learning. The center will work closely with parents and school districts to identify students whose physical or mental problems pose threats to their academic achievement and, in some cases, their lives. For the past 14 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide has been the nation's third-leading cause of death among people aged 10 to 24.

Gary Waters, president of the Nevada Board of Education, talked this week with Sun reporter Emily Richmond about why the center is being created. The state's consistent placement at or near the top of the nation's teen suicide rate was a main reason. "There's nothing more tragic than losing a young person to suicide and we all know Nevada's statistics are scary," he said. Waters is seeking grants to finance the center and we hope he receives them.

With the center in place, the state board can coordinate programs for all of Nevada's 17 school districts. Among the programs being planned is a partnership with Columbia University, which has devised a method for screening students for mental illnesses, suicide risk and drug and alcohol use. This voluntary screening method, known as TeenScreen, is already at work in the Clark County School District and in 29 other communities around the country. Funded by foundations, it was selected as a model last year by the national New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, whose 22 members included Nevada Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno. The university provides the screening for free, and schools and families provide any follow-up counseling or treatment.

A report on TeenScreen published by Columbia University is titled, "Catch them before they fall." The title matches our view exactly. Children are not always capable of understanding or even recognizing the negative factors in their lives that put their futures at risk. School districts, working closely with parents, can make all the difference, however. With sufficient support, the Center for Health and Learning can provide the forum for making that difference.