As children and adolescents go back to school across the country this month, they face escalating mental health challenges. Clinical anxiety and depression among youth has doubled during the pandemic. Gun violence in the U.S. has reached an unprecedented level, and according to a June 2022 report by the National Center for Education Statistics, school shootings during the 2020–21 school year reached the highest number in two decades. The rights of LGBTQ+ youth and their families are diminishing in many states, including alarming restrictions in Texas and Florida, eroding school safety and creating chronic stress that has long-term consequences.