Experiencing racism in school may trigger mental distress, substance abuse in students, CDC survey says

On a Wednesday evening in a university classroom in Patchogue, about a dozen Long Island teachers were learning a lesson that could alter the course of their students' lives.

From choosing appropriate books in classrooms to handling off-the-cuff remarks, the class at St. Joseph's University, New York, talked about how racism can sometimes creep into learning environments and adversely impact the mental health of their students.

One teacher discussed an instance where one child called another one racist. Another teacher with Spanish-speaking students learning English said she introduced books with both languages to calm concerns about speaking the new tongue. 

At that point, the professor, Renee White, responded, saying: "That's the whole reason why we need diverse books in the classroom, because it has an impact on the children's mental health." 

"It builds their self-esteem," said White, who holds a doctorate in education. "It gives them a positive self-confidence." 

These weekly evening classes are aimed at giving teachers the cultural sensitivity to confront racism in schools, which can have grave consequences for the mental health of youth, researchers said.

Link with mental health

A recent study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that high schoolers who experienced racism at school were more likely to turn to substance abuse and/or develop mental distress.

The survey, drawn from more than 20,000 student questionnaires in 155 schools nationally, found that nearly a third of all high schoolers said in 2023 that they experienced racism in school. The survey covered a nationally representative group of ninth- to 12th-graders, the CDC said. 

Yet there were crucial differences when the survey was stratified for race. Black and Hispanic students who said they've dealt with racism tended to report a higher frequency of mental health distress and/or substance use, compared with people in those groups who hadn't experienced racism, the report said. 

For instance, roughly 57% of Asian American students reported experiencing racism in school — the highest rate among all racial/ethnic groups included in the survey. Of those teens, 43% reported having “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness." The rate was about 19% for those who had not had contact with racism. 

About 20% of Asian American students who reported being exposed to racism in school also said they seriously considered attempting suicide, the report found. For Asian American students without that exposure, the prevalence of suicidal ideation was about 6%.

The study reported that roughly 50% of multiracial students and about 46% of Black students experienced racism in school.

About 50% of Black students who encountered racism reported having "persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness," compared with around 30% of those who did not deal with prejudice.

Among mixed-raced students, the numbers were similar: Nearly 53% of those who experienced racism expressed the same sentiment, compared with roughly 31% of those who had not dealt with racism.

Mental health experts say students' experiences with racism can vary, ranging from statements from other students or school staff to possible disparities in how the administration disciplines students.

Developing cultural sensitivity

Even when discrimination is not expressed overtly, experts say, subtle statements, such as those telling a student they should or shouldn't achieve a certain level of success because of their racial background, can have a negative impact.

Wilfred Farquharson IV, a licensed psychologist and clinical associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral health at Stony Brook Medicine, said those subtler forms of racism can amount to "a death of 1,000 cuts."

“That additional stress, either of 'you should be doing this,' or 'you should not be doing that,' or 'you belong here' versus 'you do not belong here' — those things impact young people's mental health as they're trying to achieve and are trying to adjust,” he said.

Experts said the research points to the need for schools to offer more staff training to offset racism in schools and offer more support for youth.

Farquharson said schools also can make sure that educational materials discuss people of color in appropriate ways.

Teachers and mental health professionals, he said, can affirm the identities of all students through celebratory holidays and other aspects that serve as preventive measures against racism.

Gordon Zhang, president of the Long Island Chinese American Association, emphasized the need for better cultural education for students and staff, something he said has been improving in recent years. However, he noted that derogatory statements toward Asian American students often come from a lack of knowledge.

“You cannot know something if you don't know,” Zhang said. “There’s no way you can do the right thing.”

However, some experts note that such recommendations about inclusion come as some programs dealing with diversity in schools and cultural sensitivity are being rolled back and reconsidered. 

A 2023 study by the nonprofit Long Island Strong Schools Alliance found that half of Long Island school districts had made "little or no progress in implementing the state’s policy on diversity, equity, and inclusion," referring to the Board of Regent's 2021 policy on DEI.

Republicans in at least 20 states have put forward nearly 50 pieces of legislation that would limit diversity, equity and inclusion programs in schools and other places, The Associated Press reported earlier this year, citing its analysis using a bill-tracking software.

Conversely, Democratic lawmakers in about 10 states have proposed around 24 bills that encourage or require such initiatives, the AP reported. 

“How do you address this when you have many people who are seeking to pretend that racism doesn't exist and that anything talking about racism, acknowledging it or seeking to address it ... is a problem?” asked Laura Harding, president of ERASE Racism, a Syosset-based racial justice organization.

Ignoring mental health

Most racial groups that experienced racism also had higher numbers of abuse of substances, such as marijuana, opioids and tobacco, the CDC report said.

Sudha Sarker, a clinical supervisor of a North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center program for people dealing with substance abuse and mental health concerns, said not addressing the source of those concerns can lead a young person to self-medicate, get poor grades, or to be disruptive in school.

"And that is happening because their mental health ... is maybe being pushed off. It's not the first thing that comes to a teacher's mind or a parent's mind when" a child is not doing well, she said.

White, who teaches the course at St. Joseph's University, New York, said many teachers are unaware of their impact on a child's psyche.

"They just need to be more aware and more critical as to what practices they are implementing," said White, who is also founder of Renee's Way Inc., where she does education consulting and women's empowerment. 

Throughout her semester, though, she said she often saw her students move from hesitancy to understanding as they worked through analyzing curriculums and learning about sensitivities.

White said she has heard teachers make such remarks as: "I've lived an isolated life," or "I hope I haven't ruined a child."

By the end of the course, she tells students now that they have more knowledge of the impacts of racism in education, they have a responsibility to do better.

"What will you do differently now that you know?" she said. 

By Tiffany Cusaac-Smith

tiffany.cusaac-smith@newsday.com@T_Cusaac

Education: Howard University 

Tiffany Cusaac-Smith came to Newsday in 2023 after being a race and history reporter at USA TODAY, where she wrote enterprise and spot articles examining how the past shapes the present. Previously, she worked as the race and justice reporter at the USA TODAY Network of New York, covering issues such as criminal justice reform, housing, environmental justice, health care and politics. At The Journal News/lohud.com in Westchester County, she covered Yonkers, the state's third-largest city. She also worked at The Associated Press in Atlanta.

Honors and Awards: Criminal justice reporting fellowship with the National Press Foundation;  New York News Publishers Association award for distinguished investigative reporting;  Contributed reporting for Best of Gannett honor; Member of Table Stakes, a program funded by the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and managed by the American Press Institute to transform local news.