The phrase “mental health issues” has become a catch‑all excuse for everything, and it’s exhausting. Instead of addressing real problems with real solutions, schools and institutions lean on that label as a shield—an easy way to avoid accountability, standards, or even basic expectations. It dilutes the meaning of genuine mental health struggles and leaves parents feeling like every concern is being brushed aside with the same vague explanation.
Meanwhile, the fundamentals are slipping. Kids aren’t mastering reading, writing, math, or critical thinking because so much energy is spent pathologizing normal challenges instead of teaching students how to work through them. When every frustration, conflict, or moment of discomfort is labeled a “mental health issue,” we stop giving children the tools they actually need to grow. We replace skill‑building with soft diagnoses, and resilience with avoidance.
Parents see the consequences every day: students who are anxious because they were never taught competence, teens who crumble under pressure because they were never taught discipline, and classrooms where expectations are lowered instead of strengthened. The overuse of “mental health issues” doesn’t help kids—it sidelines them. What would help is a return to basics, a return to teaching, and a return to the idea that children are capable of far more than the system currently demands.
https://joehoft.com/ablechild-note-to-wyoming-lawmakers-behavioral-health-clinics-dont-teach-reading-writing-or-arithmetic/
