American teachers are among the most dedicated I've encountered. School counselors show remarkable sensitivity. The individual care is impressive. And yet, something about the structure itself seems to work against children's mental health — not through anyone's failure, but through design.

I notice this as someone who recently moved to the United States with three children. What follows is not an indictment. It's a set of observations that accumulated into a question I couldn't ignore: why does supporting children's mental health feel so effortful here, even when everyone involved is clearly well-intentioned?

From middle school onward, American children don't belong to a "class" in any stable sense. They move continuously — subject to subject, room to room, teacher to teacher. There's extensive discourse around respect, equity, and inclusion. But there's remarkably little structured attention to the actual social life of any group.

Because there isn't really a group.

One recess. Little........

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