BSB/3/10
Sponsored by Riley Swinford, Rivky Strauss of Baylor School
This legislation was filed in the Education category
Presented as part of the YIG Volunteer 2024 conference
| 1 | BE IT ENACTED BY THE TENNESSEE YMCA YOUTH IN GOVERNMENT |
| 2 | |
| 3 | Section 1) Terms in this act shall be defined as follows. |
| 4 | Counselor: A person trained to give guidance on personal, social, or psychological problems. |
| 5 | Mental Health: A person’s condition with regard to their psychological and emotional well-being. |
| 6 | Mental Illness: A psychological disorder that affects the state of one’s mental health. |
| 7 | Student: A person enrolled at a public school. |
| 8 | Teacher: A person who teaches at a public school with a degree in education. |
| 9 | |
| 10 | Section 2) All teachers at public schools in Tennessee shall undergo a training program that allows |
| 11 | them to be aware of early signs of mental illnesses. |
| 12 | a. The training program. |
| 13 | i. It will be run by trained professionals. |
| 14 | a. The trained professionals are to have at least a bachelor's degree in psychology. |
| 15 | 1. The trained professionals will be chosen by the Tennessee Department of Education |
| 16 | ii. The course will be three sessions during the summer in-services. |
| 17 | A. Attendance is required. |
| 18 | B. The length of the sessions will be approximately 2-3 hours. |
| 19 | i. If teachers are unable to attend, there will be two makeup sessions. |
| 20 | iii. The content of the course will focus on early warning signs of mental illnesses including but not |
| 21 | limited to |
| 22 | a. Anxiety |
| 23 | b. Depression |
| 24 | c. Suicidal Thoughts |
| 25 | d. Eating Disorders |
| 26 | e. Bipolar Disorder |
| 27 | iv. The content of the program will be formulated by the trained professionals and reviewed by |
| 28 | members of the Tennessee Bureau of Education. |
| 29 | v. New teachers will have to take the program before their first school year. |
| 30 | b. Teachers will be held accountable to report early signs of mental illnesses. |
| 31 | i. If a student exhibits any signs of a mental illness, teachers are required to report it to a school |
| 32 | counselor. |
| 33 | A. Teachers will have repercussions in accordance with the severity of the mental disorder decided |
| 34 | by the county if they fail to report the signs. |
| 35 | |
| 36 | Section 3) A student to counselor ratio of 300:1 will be required by all public schools. |
| 37 | a. Meeting the ratio is the minimum amount, schools are still able and encouraged to have more |
| 38 | |
| 39 | b. This is so counselors are able to focus on a smaller number of students, therefore being able to |
| 40 | perform better, and so students can receive more attention from them. |
| 41 | c. Students are required to have one meeting with a counselor per semester. |
| 42 | i. Students are also required to have a meeting in addition to the semester one with a counselor if |
| 43 | reported by a teacher or faculty member. |
| 44 | d. If a school is unable to meet the ratio, then a counselor from another school in the county is to |
| 45 | work part time at both schools, which will be required. They will still count as one counselor. |
| 46 | However, the goal is for each counselor to be full time. |
| 47 | |
| 48 | Section 4) Student Training provided to all public-school students in order to help them recognize |
| 49 | the warning signs of mental illnesses in both themselves and their peers. |
| 50 | a. Training will be given to the required health or wellness classes. |
| 51 | b. Training will be given by counselors/guidance counselors. |
| 52 | c. The content of the training will mainly focus on causes and warning signs of mental illnesses |
| 53 | including but not limited to |
| 54 | i. Anxiety |
| 55 | ii. Depression |
| 56 | iii. Suicidal thoughts |
| 57 | iv. Eating disorder |
| 58 | v. Bipolar disorder |
| 59 | d. The causes will include: |
| 60 | i. Stress factors such as an unhealthy school environment, work overload, family situations. |
| 61 | ii. Being below par with society wealth-wise can make mental illness more common in lesser |
| 62 | income students. |
| 63 | iii. Bullying can cause behavioral issues and lessen cognitive ability. |
| 64 | iv. Childhood trauma, abuse, and neglect |
| 65 | v. Unhealthy family situations |
| 66 | e. The warning signs will include: |
| 67 | i. Changes in sleep, weight, and appetite. |
| 68 | ii. Mood changes. |
| 69 | iii. Drop in functioning and performance. |
| 70 | iv. Increased sensitivity. |
| 71 | v. Apathy. |
| 72 | vi. Sensitivity to noise. |
| 73 | vii. Feeling disconnected. |
| 74 | viii. Sudden decrease in grades. |
| 75 | ix. Substance abuse. |
| 76 | x. Struggling with concentration. |
| 77 | xi. Uncharacteristic anger. |
| 78 | |
| 79 | Section 5) A program where students and teachers are able to report students shall be introduced |
| 80 | to all public schools. |
| 81 | a. When students suspect a potential mental illness in one of their peers, they will be able to |
| 82 | report it. |
| 83 | i. Reports will be made to select teachers chosen by the students. |
| 84 | a. Reports will be not anonymous, but will be confidential between the student, counselors, and |
| 85 | teacher. |
| 86 | b. Parents will not be notified. |
| 87 | |
| 88 | Section 6) This act shall be funded by the Tennessee Department of Education. |
| 89 | |
| 90 | Section 7) All laws or parts of laws in conflict with this are hereby repealed. |
| 91 | Section 8) This act shall take effect on July 1st, 2024. |
| 92 |