It’s a question of where you think resource belong. In our old public school district ( very wealthy) there were very many mental health folks and counselors. In fact, if a kid was having an issue with learning another mental health person would often step in and suggest “helping” This happened several times to friends of mine, who had kids with issues other than mental health. It was hard to get rid of these folks and still retain the other services ( OT, PT and tutoring). I think this is unusual, however. Most schools have less funding than they need. The old school district didn’t have gifted/talented courses ( partly due to thinking and partly because the other groups who needed help were helped and there was no money left).
My belief is, mental health should be nominal in the public school but resources should be there to send kids out for help at the local hospital, or mental health services unit. When schools try to do the job of mental health professionals in a school setting, I don’t think anyone wins. The school mental health folks should be on the lookout for kids and should be a first line resource, not THE resource.
Also, groups need to be identified. For example, a child who is suicidal is definitely in a different category from one who is having a hard time socially.
Mental health resources seem to be available through health care. I am not sure why there is such a big need in the schools. But I honestly don’t know all of the issues. There must be a reason. The local high school has about 20% of kids in some special program or another. Why is this number so high?
Kids started talking to my kids about anxiety, suicidal thoughts and more in middle school. I don’t recall this being my experience as a child.