The Social Problem Of Children

Children that are born into poverty and less than desirable conditions are more times than not, destined to become involved in the juvenile justice system. This may be due the child’s destructive behaviors or for placement out of concern for the child’s safety and well-being. Neglect and abuse is more prevalent in disadvantaged environments and causes sometimes-irreversible emotional problems. For whatever reason the child enters the system, we know that it is not a place for youth to grow, be nurtured and become productive members of society.

“Nearly 5 million children in the U.S. have some type of mental illness” (Goldberg). It is agreeable that there are many young children that deal with mental illness every day. Schools should be concerned for every student’s well being. Moreover, mental health is a part of a person’s overall “well being.” Therefore, schools need to make the mental health of students a stronger focus and implement plans to keep students mentally well and educated. To help create a positive, mental health aware environment where students feel open to seek help, high school students should be educated on how to be mentally healthy, be given a safe place to seek help, and be encouraged to monitor and maintain their mental health. Mental illness and mental health care need to be a more eminent priority in our society, starting with high schools.

There is a general consensus that a life course approach to preventing mental disorders is the most effective policy that recognizes that there are key developmental stages and transition points, healthy start in the early years is of foundational importance. The following sub-sections deal with evidence-based early childhood programs widely practiced in countries.

Being the child of a parent who has a mental illness involves considerable risk to the child’s secure attachment and long-term mental health. Parental mental health concerns place children at a significantly greater risk of lower social, psychological and physical health than children in families not affected by mental illness. (Mayberry et al, 2005).

Gender is a concept constructed entirely by society. We base gender off of what we perceive and what others perceive of us. Until fairly recently, it has been categorized as one of two things: male or female. When we watched the documentary in class, we saw evidence of society 's socialization of young children. Commercials for Nerf Guns, action figures, and cars and trucks were all depicted with young boys as their users. Never did we see a girl playing with GI Joes or with Hot Wheels, only boys played with those. Meanwhile, dolls, baking sets, and make up kits were only advertised to girls, and no boys were shown playing with Barbies or Bratz. Society begins to shape gender notions from a very early age, where people are shown that they are one or the other, either male or female.

(Puzzanchera, Adams, and Sickmund, 2011) While mental health issues are not always indicative that a juvenile will act out, a much higher percentage of juveniles involved in the juvenile justice system, an estimated 50-75% (based on conflicting data from multiple sources) of youth in juvenile detention facilities, have diagnosable, untreated mental disorders.

When describing an adequate system of care for children in the behavioral mental health field, the first thing I think of is good access to care, care that is not expensive and care that is valuable and need. However, today, this is still not the case; we are currently, still transitioning into trying to achieve these. In fact, children 's needs for mental health services are not being met by the current delivery system and minority children are particularly likely to lack appropriate care (Mennen & Trickett, 2007). However, although managed behavioral health care under parity is expected to narrow the gap between need for and use of services, some fear that the

In the course of proper identification, evaluation, and treatment, children and adolescents suffering with mental illness can conduct positive, normal lives. Nevertheless, the devastating majority of children with mental illnesses are unsuccessfully identified and the lack of treatment or support services have led to a subordinate worth of life and violence. The Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act of 2013 (S. 689) is an inclusive bill proposed to address the extensive issue of mental health. By strongly considering the United States’ struggle against mental illness and school violence, as well as utilizing theoretical constructs to examine the Senate’s bill, a social worker can develop a more holistic perspective that can productively integrate practical insights reached from a variety of different points of view.

These services are mainly psychotherapy and biomedical therapy. Psychotherapy is understanding your mind and illness, helping cope with feelings and symptoms, and changing behavior patterns that cause symptoms of the illness. When children don’t use the proper mental health services, they are at a greater risk for difficulties later in life such as substance abuse, suicide, or involvement with the correctional system (Turner). Therefore it is, important to not only attend psychotherapy but to also be on the proper medication when dealing any mental illness. In the American Psychiatric Association’s new DSM-5, fifteen new disorders are listed. Some mental health professionals fear that medication will now be given to those who would have earlier been seen as the “worried well” (Rubinstein, 2013). The key is to distinguish when one is mentally ill and needs assistance and when they are just going through a tough situation. Many psychologists have been through the same situation, and could help guide past that tough time in

The juvenile justice system can be dated back to the late 18th and early 19th century. Youths were confined to jails with mentally ill and hardened criminals because there were no other alternatives for them. Many of these youths were in these institutions for non-violent offenses. During this same time, many American cities had to find a solution to the overwhelming rate of child neglect. Today, there is still much debate about the well-being of youths in the criminal justice system. The juvenile justice system plays an important role in society because it allows youths the opportunity to change their behavior. The current system is effective in providing programs for juveniles in an effort to

The study demonstrated that mental health problems differentiate amongst race, gender and age (Whitted et al. 2012, p.193). The knowledge gained from this study, more research is needed to fill the gap between the lack awareness that the three categories (age, race, and gender) play a big role in the assessment of the child's mental health. The author states that a focus on treatments that are 'developmentally appropriate, culturally sensitive and gender specific' would really aid the children affected by being placed in the child welfare or the juvenile justice system (Whitted et al. 2012, p. 193). It was also stated that using a multisystems approach would be key (Whitted et al. 2012, p. 191). These children have a voice and it needs to start being heard. As a society, we are aware of the problems abuse and neglect have on a child and it is time we begin to help our future generations. The mental health of our future generations needs to be a

While Reading the book, Lost at School, written by Ross W. Greene, one can appreciate the clear focus and overall direction for teaching different students with maladaptive behaviors. For teachers, those children present the greatest obstacle in education. A student’s mental health problems allude to the challenges in teaching. It’s hard enough to keep a large group of adolescents on task in the first place, let alone when there may be one or more children with maladaptive behaviors in a single class, who have a hard time regulating their focus levels like the typical student. The number of disruptive students has seemingly increased through the years. Now studies show that, “About 10 percent of the school population—9 to 13 million children—struggle with mental health problems. In a typical classroom of 20, chances are good that one or two students are dealing with serious psychosocial stressors relating to poverty, domestic violence, abuse and neglect, trauma, or a psychiatric disorder. These children represent the most challenging students in our classrooms today.” (Rappaport and Minahan) To combat those alarming statistics, Ross Greene’s informational book talks about how to improve a child’s behavior, while embracing the patience it takes to effectively communicate with such children.

Many of these children are developmental delayed, delinquents, and have mental health problems (Chow, Mettrick, Stephan, & Von Waldner, 2014). They may also suffer from emotional and behavioral problems and often have problems with aggression and controlling their temper

Have you ever wondered why states spend roughly one billion dollars a year on children (20 and under) who are attempting suicide or have attempted suicide (Nami, 2010)? That is due to the thousands of children who live their daily lives with an undiagnosed mental disorder. What is children’s mental health? Children’s mental health is defined as growing emotionally while developing healthful social skills and learning how to deal with problems (CDC, 2013). Some mental disorders found in children include: mood and anxiety disorders, behavior disorders, Autism spectrum disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), schizophrenia, and substance use disorder. ADHD, a neurodevelopmental disorder, is the most common disorder of children

Pre-adolescence is a crucial stage in a child’s life because it is during this stage that kids can learn the coping mechanism that can prevent complications later on in life (Britton et al., 2014). Some children and adolescents may not have the opportunity to seek proper mental health care during their childhood. This may be due to parents overworking or simply not being able to afford quality mental health care services (Bucci et al., 2016). However, schools can serve children and adolescents as a