Written by: GiAnna Biondi
Edited by: Benjamin Hewitt
Public educational settings are the places where students spend most of their time up until adulthood. They are imperative to prepare students for their future lives, teaching a variety of different subjects, aiming for career readiness, and helping to establish a permanent sense of identity. A key part of reaching this goal is positive mental health, which describes the overall emotional well-being of the student. It is integral to the way a student thinks, behaves, feels, and learns (Rossen et al). However, how do public schools approach the topic of mental health and its surrounding factors?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 4 in 10 (42%) students struggled with depression, where 1 in 5 students (22%) contemplated suicide, and 1 in 10 (10%) have attempted suicide. These are astonishingly high numbers amongst those enrolled in the public school system, where there are about 49 million students enrolled as of Fall 2023 (CDC, 2023).
Sadie W., a senior at a local high school, is one of those students. When asked to describe her experience with the mental health system in education, she states, “In seventh grade, I was in a meeting with the school psychologist when I was explaining how I don’t feel understood by certain teachers, and that I don’t feel accommodated by the school in general. I was in the middle of talking when the school psychologist cut me off and started speaking for me. She tells everyone what she thinks I mean. She also begins jumping to conclusions about things I was going through that weren’t even true. She believed that because I was only twelve I couldn’t speak for myself. That year, I never ended up being understood for what I needed which then led me to rebel and make a bad choice at the end of the year.”
Unfortunately, this is a major epidemic within public schools making it near impossible for students to seek help. A recent study has shown that there are some barriers that could play a vital role separating between the student’s needs and the school’s resources such as institutional, sociocultural, and personal obstacles (Punley et al). However, it is significant for public schools to become malleable for their students. Not only does it promote the importance of mental health amongst students, but it also fosters destigmatization of the mental health topic itself (Ekornes et al).
An important factor that plays into the foundation of building the broken mental health system within public schools is teachers. It is important for teachers to learn the importance of the provision of mental health resources for students, and to be a ‘guide’ into leading students towards the best path. This provides validation, promotes a positive reinforcement for, and helps students feel secure in themself and establish a better self-identity (Ekornes et al). As stated before, students spend a significant amount of their time within some sort of educational system up until adulthood. Having a sort of building block between the student and their teacher could increase self-importance, and could make them feel safe about themself. Students are not just a grade. According to prior research, students who establish a positive connection with an outside source (ie. teachers, employers, etc.,) could help minimize the effects of childhood trauma. This connection could build resilience within a student, and decrease the chances of other risks in their future (Fisher et al).
To conclude, the mental health system within public schools is still in need of fixing. Many students struggle daily with both their academics and mental health, and often struggle to seek help. It is a necessity for schools to become interchangeable for their students, and provide the proper resources for them. It is also imperative for the establishment of positive connections between teachers and students, which ultimately could help minimize the effects of trauma, and other factors surrounding it.
Students are society’s future, so it is up to us to help them, and get what they need and deserve.
References:
Rossen, E., & Cowan, K. C. (2014). Improving mental health in schools. Phi Delta Kappan, 96(4), 8-13. https://doi.org/10.1177/0031721714561438
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023, December 6). Mental health. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/mental-health/index.htm Dunley, P., Papadopoulos, A. Why Is It So Hard to Get Help? Barriers to Help-Seeking in Postsecondary Students Struggling with Mental Health Issues: a Scoping Review. Int J Ment Health Addiction 17, 699–715 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-018-0029-zStine Ekornes, Trond Eiliv Hauge & Ingrid Lund (2012) Teachers as mental health promoters: a study of teachers' understanding of the concept of mental health, International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 14:5, 289-310, DOI: 10.1080/14623730.2013.798534
Fisher PA, Gunnar MR, Dozier M, Bruce J, Pears KC. Effects of therapeutic interventions for foster children on behavioral problems, caregiver attachment, and stress regulatory neural systems. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2006 Dec;1094:215-25. doi: 10.1196/annals.1376.023. PMID: 17347353.
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