When students live with the fear of being victims of violence or intimidation at school, in their homes, or in their communities, they cannot properly focus on the task of learning. When students experience firsthand discrimination or disrespect due to economic circumstances, cultural background, gender, sexual orientation, religion, appearance, or handicap, their social and emotional health is threatened. When students are depressed or anxious, when they feel that they are powerless and uncared for, they cannot devote their full attention to learning. If students are to learn and if they are to become contributing members of our society, schools must attend to the social and emotional health of their students.

Classroom teachers have long recognized what research now tells us: the social and emotional health of students has a powerful effect on their academic learning. Research shows that schools with a systematic, coordinated, and integrated approach to student health have fewer incidences of behavioral problems, improved school attendance rates, enhanced interpersonal relationships, and higher student achievement.

According to a report released last winter by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the United States is facing a serious public crisis when it comes to the mental health of children and adolescents. At least one in five U.S. children may have an emotional or mental health problem. Alarmingly, however, many of these children have limited access to health care. In the United States, 10 million children under the age of 18 do not have health insurance. Access to quality health care is particularly problematic for African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans.

Although some might argue that schools cannot and should not be expected to meet every need of their students, when those needs have a direct effect on the capacity of a child to learn, schools must take action. And, while schools may be limited in their capacity to effect the social change necessary to guarantee that every child has access to quality health care, schools can take action to protect and enhance the emotional and social health of all their students.

We believe that every school, in collaboration with parents and community agencies, should have in place a comprehensive student health program to protect and foster the social and emotional well-being of its students. Such programs can raise student awareness about mental health, provide strategies for coping with stressors, and offer counseling or other support to build resiliency in children and adolescents.

We at ASCD have a history of working with national education and health organizations and federal agencies that address student health. ASCD's Health in Education Initiative, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, helps educators integrate public health issues into the curriculum and address barriers to learning by developing coordinated school health programs. This initiative provides grants to encourage partnerships between schools and community-based public health agencies. Through this initiative, students in schools across the United States work with teachers and public health professionals to educate themselves and their communities about public health issues.

All schools should have access to the financial resources they need to support the social and emotional health of their students. Those responsible for allocating funds to the schools must recognize that student academic achievement depends on the emotional and social health of our children. More importantly, they must recognize that the health of our children, indeed the health of our shared future, demands that all schools have the resources they need to produce stable, caring, and productive people.

Visit ASCD's Reading Room at /readingroom.html for more information about social and emotional health and learning.

Learn more about ASCD's Health in Education Initiative at http://webserver2.ascd.org/web/health_in_education/index.cfm/.