Dear Future President,

As you start to think about the many, many problems in America, one of the biggest problems in many Americans lives is mental illnesses, including many children. Many people are afraid to bring up their mental illnesses, as they feel they will be told liars, or attention seekers.I feel that if we are more educated in school about mental illnesses, people wouldn't feel so afraid to tell people about their problems.

Did you know that 20% percent of youth ages 13-18 live with a mental health condition, and 50% of them end up dropping out of high school. Many states don't even require schools to teach about mental illnesses, so how are these kids supposed to feel normal, or how to even tell the warning signs?

I feel that if men can be taught how to tell if there cancer is our body, or how to tell if we are sick enough to go to the doctor, we should be able to be taught about the warning signs in school. When I took health my freshman year of high school, we only spent a day on mental health, and all the teacher did was show us a video about a girl who had depression. We had no worksheet on it, and half the class wasn't even paying attention. But we spend a week on how drugs are bad for you(which they are).

I just feel that if we were more informed on mental illnesses in school, the dropout rate would decrease, and more people would be getting the proper help that they need, and they wouldn't feel so scared to tell people about it. I feel that with the proper education, we could b the generation that changes how people view mental illnesses.

Sincerely, an informed student