Integrating Psychological Health into School Curriculum

As we are faced with yet another school shooting, this time Saugus High school near Los Angeles, we again must face the realities of the ongoing gun epidemic in our country and, most importantly, the impact these shootings have on our children. Our children are dying and these incidents affect not only those directly present, but result in terrifying all students across our nation. We must stop reacting to violence and instead provide the necessary educational services for preventing violence from happening in the first place. Having a psychologist within every school building focused on creating healthy relationships; teaching coping strategies on how to reach out when feeling angry, frustrated, hurt, or disappointed; and recognizing the warning signs of danger; would be meaningful steps towards that goal.

Students who are struggling need to be identified and receive help before they reach the level of wanting to hurt or kill others and/or themselves. Integrating psychological health into the school curriculum would not only reduce the likelihood of violence but also of suicide, school dropouts, substance abuse, and the other scourges that harm our youth. The National Plan to End Interpersonal Violence outlines changes that could be made in our educational system to improve the welfare of all children, adolescents, and adults (NPEIV, 2017) and make interpersonal violence a rare event in just three generations.

The National Partnership to End Interpersonal Violence (NPEIV) is an overarching group of individuals, organizations, agencies, coalitions, and groups that embrace a national, multidisciplinary and multicultural commitment to violence prevention across the lifespan. NPEIV is committed to reducing interpersonal violence and its consequences through scientific research and application of empirical findings. It is our mission to make the prevention of interpersonal violence a national and international priority and to encourage healthy relationships by linking science, practice, policy and advocacy. Through our many partnerships and collaborations, it is our vision to end all types of interpersonal violence, for all people, in all communities, at all stages of life.