Volume 1: December 11, 2022
Written/Edited by: Fidha Chowdhury
The Role of Mental Health in Education
Mental health has been an increasingly important issue for school boards across the United States in the past decade as students struggle with balancing academics, job(s), and extracurriculars. In fact, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, 1 in 5 students in the United States have a diagnosable mental health disorder, however only 21% receive treatment.
A study done by Sutherland[1] in 2018 showed that there was a heavy correlation between decreasing academic performance and increasing risk of a student having a mental health disorder. This study was done primarily on students in San Bernardino, California. In her work, Sutherland found that, "...data indicate[s]...current mental health resources are being stretched too thin, risking staff availability for students in need," and, "emotional wellness or lack thereof impacted student learning."
Solutions: What Can We Change?
Schools have shown that they have started to implement systems and methods of mental health awareness, however, the issue lies in the matter of resources; teachers cannot be simply be expected to have the means to provide students with mental health advice, and counselors and social workers in public schools across the U.S. are severely under-resourced.
As such, there are not enough resources to properly aid all students. Although the nature of the public school system in the United States is flawed, and as easy it would make life if the system could simply be changed over night, this is not a realistic outcome currently.
Perhaps one of the most dangerous parts of our school system is the lack of education on emotional intelligence and mental health awareness. By researching more on mental health and learning more about emotional regulation may help students improve their mental health. Additionally, as cliche as it may be, learning to let go of negative emotions, getting enough sleep, and eating the proper amount of times may help much more than people commonly think. This is a lot for high school students to manage on top of all the other things we do, however, through simple and slow implementation, we may be able to better ourselves as well.
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[1] Sutherland, Patricia L. “The Impact of Mental Health Issues on Academic Achievement in High School Students.” California State University, San Bernardino, CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2018, pp. 1–60.
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