New York State Requires Mental Health Education For All Students

Congratulations to New York State’s MHANYS Dept. for making the state the first in the US to require MH education in schools for all students, grades K-12.

I remember my 5th grade gym class & learning about the muscles in the body & all their formal names. When we did our Jump Rope For Heart program we were taught that we were jumping up & down using the strength of our “gastrocnemius” muscles. I couldn’t have been prouder at this new “big” word I’d learned at the time. No disrespect meant to Mr. Slavin wherever you may be now, but looking back I wish I’d have learned about PTSD, Anxiety, & Depression, & what feelings I should have been looking out for, as opposed to a word that I have replaced w/ the simple term “calf muscle” for approximately the past 3 decades.

Thanks to NYS for being the first to notice that every student at every age needs to be armed w MH education, & to learn more about themselves & others, & what signs to look out for that may represent poor MH. This is so long overdue.

I’m thrilled “Crazy’s” Global Mental Health Alliance (Dr’s & educators) has already made significant progress on our four-pronged “SameHere Schools” program centered around: 1) a launch assembly w/Alliance Members telling their stories, to help lay the groundwork for a school’s culture to be a safe place to ask for help, 2) a daily MH school-wide practice for all students, 3) in-class MH lesson plans for all grades, & 4) Global Alliance Community Members acting as volunteer mentors assigned to each #SameHere School for the year. If you work at a school in NY, now looking for MH curriculum w the new law in place, you may fill out the form on the footer of each page of this site to inquire about our #SameHere School Program(s).