By Nakoda C. Jordan
In Washington, D.C., about one in five youth experience a mental health disorder each year. Yet schools continue to rely on suspensions and other disciplinary measures for behaviors that are often symptoms of unmet mental health needs, not intentional misconduct.
In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, Nakoda Jordan explores the urgent need for mental health/SEL education in K–12 schools, drawing from personal experience and research. Credit: Courtesy photo
Research shows that emotional well-being is directly tied to academic success. When students are overwhelmed or dysregulated, their ability to focus, retain information, and engage in learning is significantly reduced. According to psychiatrist and trauma expert Bessel van der Kolk, trauma and long-term stress disrupt the brain’s ability to process information, which can make learning in traditional classrooms more challenging for students.
At the same time, research supports this approach. As Fleary and colleagues (2018) explain, when young people are taught skills like health awareness, self-understanding, and decision making, they are more likely to develop positive behaviors and long-term well-being. This idea is echoed by Cooper (2023), who emphasizes that mental health literacy can begin as early as grade school, helping students better understand their emotions and navigate academic challenges.
Further, national research summarized by the Learning Policy Institute shows that Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) programs are consistently linked to improved academic outcomes, better emotional regulation, and healthier school environments. Greenberg (2023) found that
students in SEL programs demonstrate increased classroom engagement, stronger coping skills, and even higher academic performance compared to those without such support. Similarly, Kim and colleagues (2024) emphasize that SEL is most effective when it is intentionally implemented and supported by trained educators, noting that schools with structured SEL programs see more consistent emotional development and improved student behavior over time.
Yet too often, schools continue to discipline what they have not taught. As a parent of children with individualized learning plans, a psychology major, and a mental health advocate, I have seen firsthand how behaviors rooted in emotional distress are often misinterpreted as defiance. I remember a time when my child became overstimulated in class and needed a moment to step away and regulate. Instead of being supported, he was reprimanded and labeled as disrespectful and disruptive. In that moment, what he truly needed was understanding. Experiences like this highlight how easily emotional needs are overlooked in traditional classroom settings. Instead of being supported, students are punished for symptoms.
To be sure, some critics argue that social-emotional learning has become politicized or tied to broader ideological conversations in education. Concerns about implementation and scope, including how SEL is introduced in schools, remain an important part of the conversation
(Schwartz, 2025). Additionally, teaching a child how to manage stress, regulate emotions, and ask for help is not political, it is a critical part of child and adolescents’ development, shaping how they learn, behave, and respond to challenges.
If we are serious about improving student outcomes, then mental health education must be treated as policy, not preference. That means integrating emotional literacy into state education standards, expanding guidance through the U.S. Department of Education, allocating funding for school-based mental health programs, requiring trauma-informed training as part of teacher credentialing, and embedding mental health instruction into core curriculum mandates.
Because we cannot continue to hold students to academic standards without equipping them with the emotional tools required to meet them. If children are taught how to understand what they are feeling, rather than being labeled for how they behave, their educational experiences will be very different.
It’s time to debunk the stigmas of mental health and rid the “one-size-fit-all” ideology surrounding the education factors. Across classrooms in Washington, D.C. and beyond, children are being disciplined for symptoms of something deeper. We cannot keep asking children to succeed in environments that do not teach them how to navigate their own minds.
Mental health education is essential and it’s time we treat it that way.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the AFRO.
