Addressing the mental health crisis in schools

If you or someone you know needs help, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or live chat at  988Lifeline.org

ERLANGER, Ky. — At a recent Boone County school board meeting, Jaimee Seitz, who lost her 13-year-old daughter to suicide, found the strength to speak.

“I had to listen to everything, but I have no child,” Seitz said as she fought tears. “She’s gone.” 

She said along with her daughter, three other children who attended Boone County Public Schools took their lives on Dec. 2. Since then, the district has confirmed additional suicides.

Seitz told the board she’s willing to do anything to help.

“If I have to go to a gymnasium and tell kids, ‘I know everything seems so bad, but it gets better,’ … I’m willing to help,” she said. “And I know the moms I am talking to are also willing to help.” 

Jason Staats, CEO of SUN Behavioral Health Kentucky, said several factors contribute to the mental health crisis plaguing students, but one immediately came to mind for him.

Karly Stone, SUN Behavioral Health Kentucky director of quality performance, improvement and risk management (left) and Jason Staats, CEO of Behavioral Health Kentucky (right). Staats said establishing rapport and gaining trust with children are key when it comes to addressing the mental health crisis. (Spectrum News 1/Sam Knef)

“Things are changing, probably more at a speed now more so than they have in the past because of social media,” Staats said. “They’re experiencing this sense of turmoil, or the pressures of their life, that is not always outwardly visible to us or apparent. It’s harder to gauge or keep up with what a kid is feeling now than back when before social media was a thing as heavy as it is now.”

“Those things were experienced out loud. There were social interactions that you could see; oh, that didn’t go well in the hallway between these two kids. Sometimes those things are happening silently to where the adult in their life doesn’t even know what’s happening.”

When children or adults start considering life-altering options, such as contemplating suicide, that’s when SUN steps in. Staats said establishing rapport and gaining trust are key.

“Never underestimate how significant something is to that adolescent or that kid because to them it’s their whole world,” he said.

The SUN facility is built around establishing comfortability. Staats said one of the best therapy techniques they have is allowing children to co-guide conversations.

“We’re never going to get to a space of having no mental illness,” he said. “It’s a matter of managing their ongoing crisis. It’s about how they learn from our services to manage the things they experience and not get rid of the things they experience.”

He said SUN has a strong working relationship with local school districts, such as Boone County, where Seitz said more needs to be done.

“We don’t want anybody else to suffer,” she said. “It is so hard because she was my best friend, and she just turned 13.”

“It was sad for me to not have anybody reach out, even for her Chromebook. It was like I was forgotten, as if she was forgotten.”

The district put out a statement saying it prioritizes health, wellness and safety by implementing comprehensive prevention strategies supported by clear policies and procedure.

The Boone County School District said any student who feels bullied, abused, sad or depressed or who has experienced threats of violence or concerning behavior can reach out to a school administrator, counselor or trusted teacher for help. 

Anyone can also make an anonymous report on the Kentucky Center for School Safety’s S.T.O.P. Tipline on Boone County Schools’ website or by calling or texting 1-866-EYE-ON-KY.