Two weeks ago, I wrote about the horrific stranger attacks that happened in Vancouver and mentioned that various voices were speaking up for involuntary care for people with severe mental illness and drug addiction. Since then, Premier David Eby announced the province will bring in secure care for people with long-term concurrent mental health and addiction challenges, as well as opening secure treatment facilities in correctional facilities.
One of the people who replied to my posts on X, said: “These leaders are not recognizing that inadequate care starts in (B.C.’s education system.) Growing decline in (the) number of educational assistants, educational assistant hours and school supports such as learning strategies and counselling is about to send a growing number of struggling students into adulthood.”
That is so true. Everything is connected. All systems work together – or not. When one part is broken, the other parts reflect that. For instance, health care in B.C. is under severe strain right now, the effects of which include more people with mental illness on the streets. The same goes for the housing crisis and the education system.
Just as I wished for the basic needs of everyone to be addressed before involuntary care was considered, I wish every student got the support they need in school to have the best possible chance for a successful life. Unfortunately, our education system is also under pressure. There’s a teacher shortage and, when surveyed, teachers report higher workloads every year.
“They say they are expected to do more with less and their most vulnerable students are the first to lose services,” B.C. Teachers’ Federation’s assistant director of media and public relations Amy Smart said in an email earlier this school year. “This has an impact not only on those students, but on the morale of the teachers who care for them — 15 per cent plan to leave the profession within two years.”
The survey, which included responses from more than 5,000 teachers and had a margin of error of 1.4 per cent, 19 times out of 20, found that fewer than one-quarter of teachers felt that students’ academic or social and emotional needs were being “completely” or “very much” met. As far as students with disabilities and diverse needs, only 13 per cent of those surveyed thought they were having their needs met to those degrees.
“B.C. families deserve better. Parents deserve to know that when they drop off their kids at school, they will receive the full support they need to succeed academically, socially and emotionally,” said Clint Johnston, president of the B.C. Teachers' Federation.
It’s those vulnerable kids who are more likely to grow up to be vulnerable adults. Ensuring they have the proper support at school might help them thrive in adulthood.
The B.C. Green Party picked up on this idea when they announced a plan to deal with B.C.’s opioid crisis as part of their election campaign.
The B.C. Greens would “ensure that there is comprehensive education and preventative programs in schools and enhanced mental health access to students in schools, as we’ve called for in the past – more school psychologists, more counsellors,” B.C. Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau said at a news conference. “It is shameful that school districts don’t have enough money to be able to provide everything that our kids need, whether that’s a universal food program, whether that is computers for Grade 6 or Grade 10 kids, whether that is counsellors and school psychologists or enough (education assistants) to meet the needs of all the kids.”
Lisa Lapointe, B.C.’s former chief coroner who retired at the end of last year, was at the news conference, speaking out against involuntary care.
“What would really help people is having access to the care they need much further upstream,” Lapointe said. “People can’t access family doctors; people cannot access mental health supports. There are wait lists for every type of substance use disorder treatment. If people can’t access the voluntary care they want to access, how can we then incarcerate them involuntarily when there is no evidence that would be successful?
“We are just setting ourselves up for disaster.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Tracy Sherlock is a freelance journalist who writes about education and social issues. Read her blog or email her [email protected].
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