CORPUS CHRISTI, Tx — The start of a new school year can be an incredibly stressful time for students of any age, and navigating mental health challenges can be tricky. Thankfully, experts like Dr. Mandie Svatek are available to help concerned parents and guardians.
Dr. Svatek, a Professor of Pediatrics at UT Health - San Antonio, has been a pediatric professional for the past 15 years. Over that time, childhood mental health has become an increasingly prominent subject. According to the 2022 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report, nearly 20% of children and young people ages 3-17 in the United States have a mental, emotional, developmental, or behavioral disorder.
"We talk about students and going back to school and having this anxiety component, and that can be a spectrum," Dr. Svatek told KRIS 6. "The social anxiety component, in which a child has to go back to an environment where socializing may be difficult for that particular child, or if there are concerns that the child is generally anxious."
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the strain on children's mental well-being has only increased. From March to October 2020, emergency department visits for mental healthreasons rose 24% among kids aged 5-11 and 31% for teens aged 12-17, according to a declaration by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Children’s Hospital Association.
When it comes to addressing mental health, parents can find it challenging to approach the subject, and it can also be difficult for the child to open up. Dr. Svatek emphasizes that not every child feels comfortable or safe turning to their guardians for help.
A natural alternative might be seeking help from a professional at school, but that option may not always be available. Data from the Texas Education Agency (TEA) found that 593 school districts have no school psychologist on staff or offer telephone based services.
“What we have to remember is children spend the majority of their time once school starts at school," Dr. Svatek explained. "And so if they don't have that resource there, then sometimes it's dependent upon the teacher to recognize that this child may be going through something difficult.”
Despite these challenges, there are still simple ways to approach a child and offer help, even without being a professional. “Find out what is bothering that child, sit and talk with them about their concerns, and then think about the options for how they can get through that. What are the next steps if they're having these concerns, and how can they work through them?”
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