Students returning to Virginia and New York classrooms in the coming weeks will be required to participate in mental-health education as part of their health and physical education courses.
A new law in Virginia requires a mental-health curriculum for 9th and 10th graders.
A similar measure took effect in New York on July 1. The first-of-its-kind law requires schools to address mental health in health education programs for grades K-12.
Other states have responded to an increase in mental-illness rates with increased funding for school counseling and training teachers to recognize the symptoms of mental illness in order to better refer students to mental-health resources.
