Children's Mental Health

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in mental health disorders in youth, including depression, anxiety, and thoughts of suicide.

Medical studies and U.S. Surgeon General advisories highlight that social media may be contributing to this student mental health crisis. In fact, one study found that spending more than three hours per day on social media doubled the risk of poor mental health outcomes, including symptoms of suicide and depression.

According to the CDC data, suicide is now the second leading cause of death among youth ages 15-24. Approximately 1 in 10 high school students report attempting suicide each year and nearly 1 in 3 teenage girls have seriously considered attempting suicide. Nearly 40% of all students reported persistent sadness or hopelessness.

I want to hear from you:

This week, I introduced nonpartisan legislation requiring the Center for Mental Health Services to develop a strategy that addresses the effects of new technologies, like social media, on our children's mental health.

It's important that the federal government work alongside families, teachers, and children to provide the tools necessary to promote positive mental health and keep our children safe. This bill is a step toward creating a strategy for parents to better understand how social media is affecting their children's mental health and begin to reverse the harmful effects we are seeing in society. 

Flooding Recovery Update

Earlier this month, portions of Southeast Wisconsin, including Milwaukee County and other parts of the First District, were hit with historic levels of rainfall. This led to flooding, utility outages, road closures, and a number of other severe challenges for Wisconsin families. I am committed to helping Wisconsin families affected by this disaster access available resources.

Immediately after flooding occurred, I reached out to the White House and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to request assistance in recovery efforts.

Later, the full Wisconsin Congressional Delegation joined me in writing to FEMA requesting an expedited Joint Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA) and also writing to the President, requesting that he declare a Major Disaster Declaration. These steps will help unlock federal assistance for recovery efforts in Wisconsin.

Yesterday, I joined our community in Hales Corners to see more of the damage from this disaster firsthand, as well as call attention to the continued need for strong assistance for Wisconsin families.

I will continue to advocate for our community as we rebuild from these recent floods.

Discussing Issues Impacting You

Today, I joined WNOV radio to discuss how recently passed legislation will impact Wisconsin families.

This includes important reforms that:

• Create a new senior tax credit of up to $6,000 for seniors 65+ making less than $175,000 annually
• Make tax cuts permanent, including expanding the Child Tax Credit to $2,200, to help lower costs for families
• Secure our border to make our communities safer
• Reduce waste, fraud, and abuse in program like Medicaid while protecting them for whom they were designed to serve: children, pregnant women, and disabled Americans

You can listen to our discussion yourself here.

On Wisconsin,

Bryan Steil
Member of Congress

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