January-February2021

NHEG New Heights Magazine Educational | January - Group February 2021
Why?
www.NewHeightsEducation.org
www.NewHeightsEducation.org
“It’s likely that private schools face stronger competitive pressures to provide a safer school environment and improve mental health if they
want to remain open,” Dills explained. “Public schools, on the other hand, are more likely to be burdened with government regulations that
make it difficult for them to control discipline policy and create strong school cultures.”
These results only supplement the evidence showing that school choice improves test scores and family satisfaction.
The lesson here goes beyond how school choice improves youth mental health, as important as that may be. This study offers yet another
demonstration that public policies that embrace competition and choice will always outperform those that force one-size-fits-all solutions.
This article has been republished with permission from the Washington Examiner.
Source: The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE)
https://fee.org/
School Choice Reduces Teen Suicide, New Study Finds
By Brad Polumbo
Sunday, December 20, 2020
When students who face bullying at
their public school can go elsewhere,
it literally saves lives.
Elijah Robinson attempted suicide as a teenager. Why? Well, as a queer and mixed-race student, he faced vicious bullying in his public school.
Thanks to a Florida program, he was able to switch schools and attend a private Christian school where he did not face bullying or discrimination.
Students at private schools are statistically less likely to have bullying problems. Robinson later concluded, “If I had stayed at my previous
school … I honestly think I would have lost my life.”
A new study confirms that Robinson’s experience is not an outlier. It shows that alongside reopening schools, which science shows are not
sources of significant coronavirus transmission, school choice policies can help heal the mental health crisis plaguing youth.
Happy Holidays & Happy New Year from The Stevie® Awards
Hi Pamela,
This is of crucial importance because adolescent suicide and mental health problems were already major issues before the coronavirus pandemic.
Suicides among those aged 10 to 24 spiked 56% from 2007 to 2017, becoming the second-highest cause of death among teenagers
and young adults.
Now, with lockdowns and school closures sapping away their social bonds and quality of life, we have witnessed a disturbing rise in suicide
and mental health issues among young people. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 1 in 4 young people contemplated
suicide during a one-month period over the summer amid the first pandemic peak and harsh lockdowns.
School choice programs can help alleviate this pain and suffering by allowing more young people the educational opportunities that best fit
their needs. These policies include the expansion of charter schools and tuition voucher programs that provide low-income families with money
to attend private schools.
From everyone at the Stevies, we’d like to take this opportunity to wish you a well-deserved rest this holiday season
and wish you a Happy New Year.
May your talents and success propel your business forward in 2021!
Stay safe and healthy,
The Stevie Awards
With those options, families don’t have to remain trapped into sending their child to the local public school by default. So, for students who
face bullying or are not at schools that suit their needs, they can go elsewhere. Families who like their public schools and students who are
succeeding there are, of course, free to choose to stay put.
The new study shows the benefit that choice brings to those who need it. Authored by the Reason Foundation’s Corey DeAngelis and economist
Angela Dills, it provides empirical backing to the intuitive conclusion that school choice can reduce suicide among teenagers.
It concludes that “the estimated effect of a charter school law translates to about a 10% decrease in the suicide rate among 15 to 19-yearolds.”
It also finds that 30-year-old adults who had attended private school were 2% less likely to report having a mental health condition.
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