@Creekland is right. There isn’t enough help for kids with issues. Psychiatrists, psychologists and counselors who specialize in kids and teens are hard to find and even harder to get an appointment with. When I was looking for my son, at least 2/3rds had a “no new patients accepted” message on their voice mail recordings. It’s even harder if you can’t afford to pay and need insurance to cover the costs. Guess what?! A lot of psychiatrists don’t take insurance (for a variety of reasons.) I always tell med students: want to make a TON of money? Go into psychiatry and specialize in kids and teens.
I also agree that schools shouldn’t be put in the role of having to diagnose problems, much less having to deal with them. Teachers and administrators lack the proper education and background.
My own kid was failed by his schools - his issues were dismissed as laziness and lack of maturity. Which definitely played a role, don’t get me wrong. But his deeper issues - atypical ADHD, executive function disorder, depression and anxiety - needed a professional’s eye, not a principal’s or a teacher’s assessment.
My son wasn’t diagnosed until after his total nervous breakdown as a freshman in college. I don’t blame the schools, though - I blame myself. The onus was on ME to get him the help he clearly needed. Oh, and by the way, it took me ABOUT A YEAR to finally find the people and the medication that did help him.
These aren’t easy issues. Pretending they are only compounds the problem.