What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, and more unashamed conversion.
~ Glenn Close
According to CT Insider, “sadness, hopelessness and suicidal thoughts have increased among Connecticut high school students, yet the number of students who say they’re able to get the support they need has decreased.” But should schools care about mental health? Schools need to put more focus on mental health because doing so could save lives and lower the suicides rates. Schools need to put more resources and staff toward mental health support.
This may shock some people, but suicide in 2021 was among the the top 9 leading causes of death for individuals between the ages 10-64. Suicide was the second leading cause of death for people in the ages of 10-14 meaning kids who are still in 5th grade to middle school. Some people may wonder why this statistic is so high, and some already know the answer: mental Health. For example, a lot of students lost parents/grandparents/friends and family that they were close with due to the past pandemic Covid-19. This could possibly make depression at the highest it’s ever been therefore leading to mental health challenges in the classroom and even in the community.
Personally, I know mental health has been a struggle for me throughout the pandemic and losing loved ones. This caused me to fall behind in school and skip classes to seek out help the school was not giving. This is not acceptable in a society where mental illness should be normalized because everyone struggles with mental health, especially children in schools. Children who get bullied especially have a hard time with finding resources within the school because they are scared to talk to a adult about what is happening, and this could potentially lead to a higher chance of suicide occurring.
Even though we have returned back to the “normal” way of living since Covid, many of the kids have not been mentally stable, and the increase of ER visits for mental health have skyrocketed since 2011. Possible solutions to this ongoing problem: Having more certified social workers, normalizing mental health and making it an everyday conversation especially in the classroom. Be open to talk about and not ashamed. Also take mental health health days when needed. They are really beneficial overall.