una factura<\/a> he introduced in the Senate in September, which would give states $5 billion to hire more school counselors, psychologists and social workers. It’s called the Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Act.<\/p>\nStudents said the money is badly needed, but they told Merkley to be effective, new counselors in schools should be focused just on mental health, not academic advising.<\/p>\n
“If there’s an immediate need, they’ll see people, but for the most part, mental health is on the side,” said Eddy Binford-Ross, a South Salem student, of existing high school counselors.<\/p>\n
Merkley nodded along as other students echoed her statement.<\/p>\n
“There’s the counselors who will sit down with you when you’re in a fistfight or say, ‘Why the hell aren’t you in school,’ which is really different than mental health counseling,” Merkley said, to agreement from students.<\/p>\n
The idea for the bill came from meeting with teachers, administrators and parents across Oregon, Merkley said. But it’s also personal.<\/p>\n
Growing up in Portland, Merkley said he knew one high school classmate who took his own life.<\/p>\n
The boy was a star athlete, under pressure to succeed and win games, and widely admired by his peers.<\/p>\n
“I was on the tennis court playing tennis when I heard a shot,” he said. He offered the story as a contrast to the students’ experiences: six Salem-Keizer students killed themselves last school year.<\/p>\n
“Somehow, I think the world’s gotten a lot harder,” Merkley said.<\/p>\n
At times, the teens echoed concerns Merkley heard raised by parents and teachers. But on other issues, particularly the role of social media in teen anxiety, they disagreed.<\/p>\n
“No offense, but older generations kind of put the blame on cellphones and social media,” freshman Nevaeh Bullard, who attends Early College High School, told the senator. “There are so many factors.”<\/p>\n
North Salem student La’Maya Thielen said social media can be a positive, but it’s often used as a negative way, where people get competitive about how many likes or reactions they can get to a photo.<\/p>\n
She’s set up a peer counseling program at North and said the issues students come to her with often relate to life circumstances, like past sexual abuse, or struggling with homelessness.<\/p>\n
Martz said the negatives are real, but social media also lets young people, especially LGBTQ teens, meet people like them.<\/p>\n
“Some people find a lot of connection and can find people that they do not see represented in their own community,” he said.<\/p>\n
He also cautioned that adults shouldn’t ignore the role of mental illnesses, which often have a genetic component and no relation to life circumstances. Martz volunteers for Youthline, a Portland-based crisis hotline for teens, and said many teens who call in have tried to get help from parents only to be turned down.<\/p>\n
“The lack of parent support has been shocking to me,” he said. “Their parents say it’s not real what they’re going through.”<\/p>\n
Merkley’s bill is intended to help schools get closer to recommended student to counselor ratios: no more than 250 students per counselor.<\/p>\n
Currently, Washington Elementary is the only Salem-Keizer school under that threshold. Statewide, only five of Oregon’s 196 school districts have enough counselors to hit the mark, state data released this fall shows.<\/p>\n
Seven Senate Democrats and one Independent have co-sponsored the bill, but without a Republican co-sponsor, it’s unlikely to advance. Merkley is working to secure more co-sponsors, spokeswoman Sara Hottman said.<\/p>\n
Getting help<\/span><\/p>\nYouthLine gives Oregon teens an option to talk to other trained teenagers, via call or text, from 4-10 p.m. weekdays, with calls answered by adults during other hours. YouthLine is available at (877) 968-8491, or by text at 839863.<\/p>\n
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24 hours a day at 1-800-273-TALK(8255), and connects callers with a crisis center near them. For help in Spanish, call 1-888-628-9454.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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