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School’s out for summer, and for many California parents, that means worrying a little extra about how kids will fare over the next few months. Will their new routines and activities be rewarding or will they add stress? Will they stay connected with the mentors who support them? 

Will they have setbacks without the structure and resources that many schools provide, like healthy lunches and guidance counselors? Will they spend more time than usual on their phone? Will they get enough sleep? Too much? 

Raising kids in these modern times means grappling with countless questions, many of which intensify around this time of year.

As parents, it’s our job to keep our kids safe and happy, and that can feel like a tall order at a time when the state of youth mental health is declining. The CDC’s 2023 Youth Behavior Risk Survey shows that two in five high school students reported feelings of persistent sadness or hopelessness, and one in five seriously considered attempting suicide. We must look at these somber numbers not as a data set, but as an urgent call to action. 

According to new research from the Coalition to Empower our Future –- an organization we help lead –- parents across the country are worried about the state of youth mental health. Nearly 60% consider it “very or somewhat poor,” and only one in four believe it will be better in the next six months.

In California, 62% of parents judged the state of youth mental health somewhat or very poor. About two thirds of Californians cited bullying and social media as having some or a major impact on mental health, with factors like drugs and alcohol abuse, loneliness or isolation, and instability at home not far behind.

 This is not the future that we should settle on for our kids.

Luckily, there’s a promising starting point for tackling the youth mental health challenge, and it begins with using a broad lens. To have a chance at improving things for our children, we need to consider the many factors that impact their mental health.

We know each child’s experience and situation is different. This is true even across different kids in the same households. Competitive sports may provide a healthy outlet for one but may overwhelm another. The child in rural Texas facing food and housing insecurity will have different anxieties than the child in Los Angeles being bullied at school. One teen may suffer from too much time on social media, while on those same platforms, his brother may find a meaningful community that makes him feel less alone. 

So, it makes sense that parents surveyed in our coalition’s research see youth mental health as a complex and multifaceted issue. As one parent in Texas put it, “Even if you find a solution, it may work for a little while or for some children, but then if anxiety or a new issue crops up, then you may have to find a different solution. [The approach] has to stay pretty fluid.” We surveyed 2,320 parents in April, including 600 each in California, Texas and New York.

Across the country, nearly eight in 10 people surveyed believe a comprehensive approach to tackling the youth mental health challenge is better than a narrow one focused on one singular cause, such as phones and similar devices. As former public servants, we know that overly narrow solutions can’t solve such complex problems effectively. And as parents, we also know that what may work for one child, family or community may not work for another. 

Parents aren’t the only ones who see a comprehensive approach as the best means of addressing youth mental health challenges. In a separate survey of more than 1,400 clinicians, the majority said there isn’t one simple solution to the youth mental health challenge and urged policymakers to make multiple investments and reforms to solve it.

We must meet this issue’s nuance with an equally nuanced mindset for problem-solving. That requires a serious dialogue about how we support parents and kids in navigating these challenges.

Despite a difficult environment, many parents are doing their best to serve as safe spaces and advocates for their kids. Our coalition’s research shows that they rely on a broad range of resources and people — mental health professionals, family members, friends, religious organizations and teachers — to help them support their children’s mental health. Schools are an essential part of this effort. We need increased collaboration among parents, community leaders, educators, and policymakers to better support our kids. 

Parents are understandably frustrated by how challenging it is to find the right tools and resources to support their kids, and they want youth mental health to be more affordable and accessible. Communities must identify ways to increase access to care through multiple avenues like telehealth, group sessions, community-based care, and more. We can’t solve this problem without every voice at the table.

As partners in a coalition working to convene a broad conversation about youth mental health, we see the power of bringing disparate perspectives together to discuss the challenge from a variety of angles. Our coalition includes organizations focused on afterschool programs, media literacy, mental and physical health conditions, homelessness, LGBTQ youth, Jewish families and child welfare, among others. 

As former public servants and parents ourselves, we know there is a widespread and bipartisan consensus around the urgency of solving this generational challenge.

We have a chance to make meaningful change – we should take it. Our kids deserve the very best. 

 The three authors serve on the board of directors of the Coalition to Empower our Future.