Mental health education is vital for empowering students to know when they need help, how to access help, and how to assist others with mental health issues.

The University System of Georgia has worked in the past to improve public health education for sexual violence prevention and alcohol and substance abuse. Per Policy 6.7, all universities are required to provide education and awareness programming to all students around sexual misconduct as part of an effort to fight and prevent sexual violence. USG also implemented an Alcohol and Substance Abuse Initiative in 2016, mainly comprised of an educational requirement for AOD Abuse education, often through AlcoholEdu. These modules are required education for incoming first years or transfer students.

Mental health issues are systemic on many campuses, yet there is no requirement for a Mental Health Education Module for incoming first years or transfer students. Mandatory training on this matter would assist students in knowing where to start with accessing help, both for themselves and peers. Many of the students who have lost their lives to suicide were not able to access mental healthcare, so bridging the information gap around campus mental health services is vital to reaching more students to prevent crises. Additionally, this education, especially if it incorporated elements of QPR Training, could make big strides in improving campus cultures around mental health issues and reducing stigma. Almost no other, if any, university systems in the nation have implemented such a requirement, so this could provide meaningful data on collegiate suicide prevention as well.

Please consider making such a life-saving program a requirement for all schools within USG.