What would you recommend doing to improve the mental health of the US as a whole?

"As an educator, I think that the student-counselor ratio should be smaller- meaning that there should be more counselors in schools, more counselors available for mental health counseling for every student in the country. It should be mandatory that schools have enough counselors dedicated to students' mental health."

• "I would seriously change or ban social media access for kids under the age of 18. I believe the constant comparison, social pressures, and cruel anonymity are harming our kids. Perhaps putting safety features or limits or just not allowing youth to use it would be a game changer. Middle school kids should not have it—period—as their brains just can’t handle the constant distraction and social tool. Sounds extreme, but I think we are ruining creativity, health and true happiness by allowing free access to such a dangerous tool."

"Include counseling for mental health in health care. Have more physical education to give kids more cardio to counter the stress, get their bodies moving, and have focus on individual goals and team goals. Switch school hours to start later to help each child get a better nights rest."

• "We must reconsider what we consider "essential learning." Social and emotional wellness must be prioritized as a primary purpose of K12 education. It is much more critical that students understand how their brain functions, how to respond to stress, sexual health and consent, the impact of social media, addiction, etc. than it is to understand the slope of a line in algebra, or plate tectonics in geography, or marginal utility in economics. So far educators are more interested in sorting and ranking students by assessing things that average person does not know than teaching skills that directly impact current and future well-being."

"I think it would benefit everyone if they had a little LESS self-esteem. The idea that you have to be “great, awesome, you can do it” can lead many to feel frustrated when they aren’t great, awesome, and fall short of their goals. We need to start teaching the reality that human beings are complicated and sometimes we do things we wish we wouldn’t do, instead of acting like there’s some perfect goal we’re supposed to attain in ourselves. Schools keep telling kids they can achieve their dreams and do anything they want, which sounds positive. But, it’s a false truth: it might be better to just teach hard work ethics with the reality that we make mistakes or teach and (at least suggest) have conversations about the very real possibility that humans don’t always do good."

• "I can't speak for the adults, but we need to keep the kids more unplugged in schools. I won't say it caused it, but the rise of technology is absolutely contributing to the rise in mental health issues in kids and young adults. Schools have control over how kids are learning concepts and completing & submitting assignments, and they don't need to be doing everything on a Chromebook or iPad in middle school. This was happening pre-pandemic and has only gotten worse, but we're largely past the pandemic now - it's no longer an excuse."

"As a student, I would have to say the biggest mental health crisis is assignment related stress. Young people are always stressed about what the future holds and what they need to do to get the best possible outcome since getting into a good college is so competitive today. The best way to help relieve that stress is to make a plan, because when there is a plan a lot of that uncertainty related stress vanishes. School counselors should have meetings with incoming freshmen to discuss their future goals and what they want to do with their life. Then they should make a rough schedule for their whole 4 years of high school so that they are on track to have the best chance at the future that they want."