To the editor: Stress from college applications, anxiety from substance-abuse disorders, or simply a lack of sleep – within the past decades, youth mental health has been declining nationwide.
As a rising junior at Washington-Liberty High School, mental health has been an issue that I’ve struggled with and seen countless times. I led a group of Virginia Department of Health Youth Advisory Council members in an initiative advocating for legislation, patroned by Del. Cia Price (D-Newport News), that was signed into law by Gov. Youngkin.
This measure focuses on mandating mental-health education in public elementary and secondary programs, which can significantly lower mental-health issues in youth.
Supporters believe that students can learn better about mental health by reading engaging books that shed light on mental-health awareness instead of sitting through boring lectures.
“Books can help youth cope with and understand their emotions,” said Dr. Felicia Gallucci, a psychiatrist who teaches at the University of Miami, in an interview I conducted. “[Reading mental-health-related books] can help children and adolescents cope with mental illness.”
So far, we have worked with Voices for Virginia’s Children and picked books related to substance-abuse alongside the Arlington Addiction Recovery Initiative. We have written and published op-eds about youth literature and mental-health education to inform youth about the importance of reading for mental-health awareness.
I have also read our selected book for elementary-school students, “Balloons for Papa,” to children at my local elementary school, Arlington Science Focus, and partnered with the Arlington Public Library and Virginia Department of Health to distribute fliers and infographics that we have made for our initiative and for Mental Health Awareness Month back in May.
We hope to continue these endeavors in the following school years and educate youth and adults about the importance of reading in youth mental-health education.
Nadia Lach-Hab, Arlington
