RICHMOND, Va. (WVEC) -- When high school students return to school this fall, there will be a new lesson for them to learn: how to deal with mental-health issues.
A new state law requires school districts to provide mental-health education as part of its physical education and health courses for ninth and 10th-grade students.
New York passed a similar law that covers kindergarten through 12th grade.
Advocates said these laws are the first of their kind in the nation and will help students better understand mental health, how to recognize problems they or others are facing, and how to get treatment.
“The public is finally coming around to the notion that to properly address mental health issues, we must first acknowledge and openly discuss them,” said New York state education commissioner MaryEllen Elia in a statement provided by the Mental Health Association.
One in five adults in the U.S. are believed to be afflicted with mental illness, and about half of the cases start during a person's teenage years, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
Pew Charitable Trusts reports that in Virginia, a bill was proposed that would create a statewide educational program that would explain the brain science behind mental illness, help students learn how to improve their own mental well-being, and reduce the stigma around mental health.
The legislation -- which was first advocated by a group of Albemarle County high school students -- was sponsored in the House by Republican Delegate Rob Bell and in the Senate by Democratic state Senator Creigh Deeds. The bill resonated with Deeds in particular, who in 2013 was stabbed by his mentally ill son. His son then killed himself.
The bill quickly made its way through the General Assembly and was signed into law by Gov. Ralph Northam back in March. It will go into effect at the start of the new school year this fall.
Contributing: Joseph Spector, Democrat & Chronicle
