In Case You Haven't Heard…

The unprecedented mental health crisis for children in the United States often surfaces where they spend much of their days: at school, ABC News reported. With that in mind, Google's philanthropic arm is directly financing high school well‐being projects on a classroom crowdfunding platform. On Aug. 12, Google.org flash funded all mental health‐related listings on DonorsChoose, an online charity where members help purchase classroom supplies requested by public school teachers. With $10 million in new gifts from Google and the help of actress Selena Gomez, the Silicon Valley giant hopes to bring mindfulness as an educational goal at the start of the academic calendar. School districts have turned to teachers for psychological help after the COVID‐19 pandemic brought alarming levels of childhood depression, anxiety and fights. But experts have said that increased attention has not translated to more philanthropic money donated overall toward mental health. Google's backing for DonorsChoose listings on Aug. 12, in addition to a voucher program in which Google will also provide $500 to eligible mental health high school projects on DonorsChoose campaigns in the near future, boosts the technology company's pledge to support mental health‐related initiatives as high as $25 million, ABC News reported. The move comes amid widespread criticism and lawsuits that claim Google‐owned YouTube and other social media sites have fueled the childhood mental health crisis by deliberately designing addictive features.