When I was a teenager, I attended K-12 school in a superb upper middle class public school district that was consistently ranked as a top-50 district in the USA. Competition among upper-level students like me definitely existed but was friendly. Out of a senior class of about 450, we had 10 National Merit Finalists (I was one) and several Rhodes scholars. I didn’t hear of a single student who had problems with anxiety, depression, or other mental disorders. We had no emotional hand holding from the schools, and our only “student advisers” were failed teachers who were pathetic jokes for any college-bound student. We just were told that any problems we had were normal and that we would grow out of them as we matured. We graduated with honors, went to university, and prospered. None of us committed suicide.

I look at MV’s middle and high schools, and I see something totally different and far more disturbing than my educational experience. MV has a far too many parasitic administrators and “counselors” intruding into the “mental health” of its students. In short, my schools worked just fine, and MV is really messing up its students' brains big time.

I could go on at great length, but I won’t because the conclusion is obvious to anyone with half a brain --- except public school administrators. If we get too politically correct and too touchy feely, we will hire far too many useless administrators and counselors. Once hired, this useless burden of dead weight has to justify its overpaid jobs by stirring up mental health issues by exploiting totally normal, but vulnerable, teenagers. I blame MV schools for creating this terribly unnecessary problem. Just let kids be kids and encourage them, don’t mess with their minds. Fire the destructive administrators and counselors and reduce our school budgets. That's another benefit. It's a win-win for our children and we who pay taxes to support excessive administrators.

Anyone stupid enough to respond, feel free. I'll just take it as justification of my thesis --- or even better, a treat against your useless administrative job.

I disagree heartily with the previous poster. I also came from a highly successful high school, etc. I am now forty, and I've worked as an educator (part-time now) for over twenty years, working with children and adults throughout their life cycles. Although I saw many troubled students during my own youth and personally felt a great deal of familial, social, and economic pressure myself, kids today experience a truly excessive quantity of pressure from specific changes in our educational system and the social structure surrounding it.
Competition to get into college is way more than when I was applying. I got into all three of the colleges to which I applied--Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Southern California. USC was my "safety school"--and I proudly attended it due to generous financial support from the school. I am not sure I would get in at either JHU or Georgetown now. There are simply too many qualified students applying. The number of afterschool activities expected on top of stellar grades and test scores means students have little-to-no "down" time in which to learn how to be functional adults and confident human beings.
Moreover, schools don't provide students sufficient opportunities to learn workplace skills. The lack of vocational schools is part of the active discouragement of bright students from pursuing skilled labor jobs in which they might find fulfillment and financial security not mortgaged with excessive student loan debt. Similarly, few students today do paid work. This is due to a variety of factors, many of which have to do with the number is entry-level service jobs now taken by adults due to he restructuring of the American workforce in recent years. Students like me who grew up working part-time during our teen years were often able to find a place for developing social skills, basic money management knowledge, and on-the-job basics. Plus, we gained a sense of contributing to our communities (and not because it would look good on our resumes) and families that builds character and confidence.

Family dynamics, lack of hope and respect and communication, outward appearances can be an outright lie.
As a teen, I was President of Interact Club, Graduated Magna Cum Laude into UCLA, Involved at school and church and had a part time job. Some say pretty, smart and popular.
On the inside, I contemplated suicide at 17.
At 31 with my own 5 year old, I KNOW Jesus is the ANSWER.
Praying for the M.V. children and all involved. In Jesus's Name amen.