Oregon and Utah have become the latest states to push for the change in light of increasing rates of anxiety and depression among young people.
In October 2019, the CDC reported that the suicide rate for people ages 10 to 24 increased by 56 percent from 2007-17. The suicide rate for children ages 10 to 14 tripled from 2007-17, according to data cited by The Washington Post.
One of the first states to pass a bill saying excused absences could include mental health conditions was Minnesota in 2009. Since then, lawmakers in Oregon passed a student-championed law in 2019 that allowed them to have five mental health days during a three-month period. The year before, Utah lawmakers decided to change the definition of an excused absence to include mental illness, and other states are mulling similar changes.
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