Mental Health

Mental health in children used rarely be discussed
If any suffered from it, then few were too much fussed;
A few had nervous breakdowns, which kept them out of school,
But children with mental problems formed an insignificant pool,
And usually they weren't off for long, and back within the year,,
Their problems fully sorted out and once more in the clear.
There were of course a few who seemed a little strange of fey,
With minor problems all assumed in time would go away.
Much of this was due to stress and problems that arise,
When children live in poverty that nothing can disguise.
But now we're in an age where there is so much greater wealth,
Children seem to suffer from diminished mental health,
With one in ten or one in five, depending who you ask,
Displaying obvious symptoms that they're not up to the task
Of coping with life's stress and strains, unless they can receive
Trained counselling and other help which experts now believe
All children should have access to if they are to survive
The ups and downs of growing up, ensuring they arrive
At adulthood, where still they may need help to carry on,
Sorting out new problems now the childhood ones are gone,
For mental health's subjective, and most people in the past,
Rode out the problems that they met and would have looked aghast
At any thought of therapists intruding in their lives -
An outlook which in many minds no longer now survives.