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The COVID-19 pandemic had devastating effects on young people’s mental health. While teens’ feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and suicidal thoughts had been increasing prior to the pandemic, many experts say that isolation, online schooling, and increased social media use during the pandemic accelerated that decline. As we mark Mental Health Awareness Month and Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day, we believe it’s important to make sure communities prioritize funding for youth mental health services. Those services can include personal and group therapy to mentoring and after-school opportunities that support kids' overall well-being. Voters agree. According to our public opinion poll taken during the pandemic, 79% of voters consider using tax dollars to “provide youth mental health services to all children in their communities” a high or very high priority.
To help fund these services, many voters support taxing big tech companies, whose products often are targeted to children as young as 6 years old. According to our poll, nearly 70% of voters support a tax on the sales of digital advertising to raise revenue for children and youth services.
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