|
 
MU hopes its new online
degree will help school officials promote mental health
in children and adolescents.
|
Addressing
Mental Health in Schools
One-of-a-kind program developed in response
to needs of educators, students
By Jeremy Diener
Each day in America, six youth under 20
commit suicide, according to the Children’s
Defense Fund, a leading independent children’s advocacy
group. Incidence rates of anxiety, depression, conduct problems
and related troubles among children are at an all-time high.
To help reverse these alarming trends, the University of Missouri-Columbia
is launching the country’s first online graduate degree
program to help teachers and other school-based personnel focus
on the prevention of mental health problems and promote positive
mental health in children and adolescents.
The online Master of Education and Education
Specialist degrees with an emphasis in mental health practices
in schools gives educators, who have the most daily contact
with children and adolescents, the tools to recognize mental
illness before it becomes a serious problem.
“Teachers often spend more time with
children than parents and are in key positions to prevent and
identify mental health problems, as well as promote positive
mental health among their students,” said Karen Weston,
assistant director of the MU
Center for the Advancement of Mental Health Practices in Schools.
“The days when all a teacher needed to know was the subject
matter being taught and a few good classroom management strategies
are gone.”
Today, Weston says, students exhibit a
wide range of problems associated with poverty, difficult family
situations, violent neighborhoods, substance abuse, attention
disorders and other issues that present obstacles to learning.
The poor academic performance that accompanies these problems
leads to further mental health difficulties creating a cycle
that is difficult to break.
Recognizing this breakdown, the MU Department
of Educational, School and Counseling Psychology, in close
association with the Missouri
Department of Mental Health, developed the online master’s
and specialist’s programs with direct input from educators.
It is available online so educators, administrators, nurses,
counselors and other school personnel can pursue the degree
without disrupting their careers. Courses from the programs
will also be offered individually for those who do not wish
to pursue the full degree.
“Our goal is to help address the mental
health needs of students but also to help educators avoid the
burnout that can occur when dealing with these issues along
with the day-to-day tasks of education,” said Linda Roebuck,
deputy director of the Missouri Department of Mental Health.
For more information about the online degree
programs and independent study courses, visit the Mental
Health Practices Center web site.
Archives
| Comments | Home SUBSCRIPTIONS
Subscribe
| Change Your
Address | Unsubscribe
Copyright © 2007 — Curators of the University of Missouri
DMCA and other copyright information.
All rights reserved.
An equal opportunity/ADA institution.
Published by the Mizzou Alumni Association
Questions? Comments? E-mail comments@mizzoualumni.org
Last Update:
November 15, 2007
|
